# Using Plugins

```{versionadded} 0.3.0
Plugins were released in [0.3.0](https://github.com/xpublish-community/xpublish/releases/tag/0.3.0).
```

Much of the power of Xpublish comes from it's [ecosystem](../../ecosystem/index) of plugins, which can quickly extend Xpublish with new capabilities.

```{note}
For more details of the plugin system see the [plugin user guide](../../user-guide/plugins.md)
```

## What types of plugins are there?

Xpublish supports a few different categories of plugins, namely:

- Dataset routers
- Dataset providers
- App routers

Other types of plugins are possible as plugins can implement new ways to extend Xpublish that other plugins can build upon.

## How do I setup plugins?

Most Xpublish plugins use a the [Python entry points system](../../user-guide/plugins.md#entry-points) and have reasonable defaults set, which allows them to register themselves with Xpublish, and start responding to requests as soon as they are installed.

That makes new Xpublish functionality a `pip` or `conda install` away!

```{warning}
For the server admins that just started worrying about new functionality being injected into their servers, the entire plugin loading process can be explicitly managed.

See the [plugin user guide](../../user-guide/plugins.md#entry-points) or [deployment guide](../../user-guide/deployment/index.md) for more details.
```