# Plugins

Some organizations have unique use cases for tools, work with third parties that Cortex does not have an integration with, or need to pull in data from internal systems. For these uses, Cortex offers the ability to build a plugin.

Plugin code is stored as a single HTML file, which is injected into an iframe inside Cortex. To access external APIs and bypass CORS restrictions, Cortex provides plugins access to plugin proxies. Plugin proxies can be configured to enhance requests to designated URL prefixes with headers, including rules that have access to secrets. Cortex also provides plugins basic contextual information about where the plugin is running inside of the app.

{% hint style="success" %}
Looking to dive deeper? Check out the [Cortex Academy course on Plugins](https://academy.cortex.io/courses/understanding-plugins), available to all Cortex customers and POVs.
{% endhint %}

## View plugins

Click **Plugins** from the main nav to view your organization's plugins.

On the plugins page, you can filter by global context or entity context plugins.

<figure><img src="https://826863033-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FJW7pYRxS4dHS3Hv6wxve%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-ec5d8386c556727d5dc0a7073f93955645dc012c%2Fplugin-filters.jpg?alt=media" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

* Global plugins can be configured to appear in the main nav and as a tab on the [homepage](https://docs.cortex.io/streamline/homepage).
* Entity plugins appear in entity details pages.

### Configure where plugins appear in Cortex

Users with the `Configure plugin appearance` permission can configure where plugins appear. See [Customizing your workspace](https://docs.cortex.io/configure/settings/workspace-customization) for more information.

## Adding plugins

### Create a plugin

You can quickly spin up a new plugin repository using the Scaffolder tool in a Workflow. For instructions on creating a plugin, see [Creating a plugin](https://docs.cortex.io/streamline/plugins/creating-plugins).

{% hint style="warning" %}
If you created your plugin before April 2025 and your plugin is using components from `plugin-core/components`, we have updated these components to utilize `react-plugin-ui`. Please [upgrade plugin-core to 3.0.0-beta.4 or later](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cortexapps/plugin-core/v/3.0.0-beta.4?activeTab=versions) to migrate these components to the new design.
{% endhint %}

### Install a plugin from the Cortex Plugin Marketplace

Learn more in [Plugin Marketplace](https://docs.cortex.io/streamline/plugins/marketplace).