Plugins

A plugin is custom JavaScript code that extends the Serverless Framework with new features.

If you or your organization have a specific workflow, install a pre-written plugin or write one to customize the Framework to your needs.

Since the Serverless Framework is a group of "core" plugins, custom plugins are written exactly the same way as core plugins. Learn more about creating a custom plugin.

Explore existing plugins in the Serverless Framework Plugins repository.

Installing plugins

Plugins are installed per service. They are not applied globally.

To install a plugin, run the following command in a service directory:

serverless plugin install -n custom-serverless-plugin

This command will install the plugin via NPM and register it in serverless.yml.

You can also install the plugin manually via NPM:

npm install --save-dev custom-serverless-plugin

and then register it in serverless.yml in the plugins section:

# serverless.yml file

plugins:
  - custom-serverless-plugin

Some plugins require extra configuration. The custom section in serverless.yml is where you can add extra configuration for plugins (the plugin's documentation will tell you if you need to add anything there):

plugins:
  - custom-serverless-plugin

custom:
  customkey: customvalue

Note for plugin authors: read Extending the configuration to learn how to enhance serverless.yml with configuration validation.

Service local plugin

If you are working on a plugin, or have a plugin that is just designed for one project, it can be loaded from local files:

plugins:
  - ./local-directory/custom-serverless-plugin

The path must start with ./ and is relative to the root of your service.

Load Order

Keep in mind that the order you define your plugins matters. Serverless loads all the core plugins, and then the custom plugins in the order you've defined them.

# serverless.yml

plugins:
  - plugin1
  - plugin2

In this case plugin1 is loaded before plugin2.