quartz/DESIGN_DOCUMENT_DECOUPLING.md

Design Document: Plugin Decoupling Strategy

Executive Summary

This document outlines a comprehensive strategy for decoupling the plugin architecture in Quartz. The goal is to reduce tight coupling between transformers, filters, emitters, and components, enabling better modularity, maintainability, and extensibility. The decoupling will standardize data exchange through the vfile data property while minimizing direct dependencies on utility functions and other plugins.

1. Current State Analysis

1.1 Plugin Architecture Overview

Quartz currently has three main plugin types:

1. Transformers (QuartzTransformerPlugin): Transform markdown/HTML content during the build process

   • Can provide textTransform, markdownPlugins, htmlPlugins, and externalResources
   • Examples: FrontMatter, TableOfContents, CrawlLinks, ObsidianFlavoredMarkdown

2. Filters (QuartzFilterPlugin): Determine which content should be published

   • Implement shouldPublish method
   • Examples: RemoveDrafts, ExplicitPublish

3. Emitters (QuartzEmitterPlugin): Generate output files from processed content

   • Implement emit and optionally partialEmit methods
   • Can provide getQuartzComponents and externalResources
   • Examples: ContentPage, ComponentResources, Assets, ContentIndex

1.2 Current Data Flow

Content Files → Transformers → Filters → Emitters → Output Files
                     ↓            ↓          ↓
                 vfile.data   vfile.data  vfile.data

1.3 Identified Coupling Issues

1.3.1 Direct Utility Dependencies

Issue: Plugins are tightly coupled to utility modules in quartz/util/:

• Path utilities (util/path.ts): Nearly all plugins import path manipulation functions

  • slugifyFilePath, simplifySlug, transformLink, splitAnchor, pathToRoot
  • Used in: all transformers, most emitters

• Resource utilities (util/resources.tsx): Emitters depend on resource management

  • StaticResources, JSResource, CSSResource
  • Used in: ComponentResources, all page emitters

• BuildCtx (util/ctx.ts): Shared context passed to all plugins

  • Contains: argv, cfg, allSlugs, allFiles, buildId, incremental
  • Provides global state access to all plugins

Impact:

• Changes to utility functions require updates across many plugins
• Hard to test plugins in isolation
• Difficult to version or swap utility implementations

1.3.2 Cross-Plugin Dependencies

Issue: Plugins directly import and depend on other plugins:

• Component dependencies in transformers:

  • transformers/ofm.ts imports component scripts: callout.inline, checkbox.inline, mermaid.inline
  • Creates tight coupling between content transformation and UI components

• Plugin data dependencies:

  • Emitters access data set by specific transformers (e.g., toc, links, frontmatter)
  • No formal contract for what data transformers provide
  • Breaking changes in one transformer can break dependent emitters/components

Impact:

• Cannot reorder or remove plugins without checking dependencies
• Difficult to create alternative implementations
• Hidden dependencies make refactoring risky

1.3.3 Component-Plugin Coupling

Issue: Bidirectional dependencies between components and plugins:

• Components depend on plugin data:

  • components/Date.tsx, components/PageList.tsx import QuartzPluginData
  • components/scripts/explorer.inline.ts imports ContentDetails from emitters/contentIndex

• Plugins depend on components:

  • emitters/componentResources.ts imports component scripts and styles
  • emitters/contentPage.tsx imports layout components

• Emitters construct component instances:

  • getQuartzComponents() method creates tight coupling between emitters and components

Impact:

• Cannot change component interface without updating plugins
• Cannot swap rendering engines easily
• Component reusability is limited

1.3.4 VFile Module Augmentation Pattern

Issue: Plugins extend the vfile DataMap through module augmentation:

Current approach (7 augmentations found):

declare module "vfile" {
  interface DataMap {
    links: SimpleSlug[]
    toc: TocEntry[]
    frontmatter: { ... }
    // etc.
  }
}

Problems:

• No central registry of available data properties
• Type declarations scattered across plugin files
• No validation that required data exists
• Difficult to track data flow between plugins

Impact:

• Hard to understand what data is available at each stage
• No compile-time guarantees about data presence
• Plugin authors must read all transformer code to know available data

1.3.5 BuildCtx as Global State

Issue: BuildCtx provides global mutable state:

interface BuildCtx {
  buildId: string
  argv: Argv
  cfg: QuartzConfig
  allSlugs: FullSlug[]  // Mutable array
  allFiles: FilePath[]  // Mutable array
  trie?: FileTrieNode<BuildTimeTrieData>
  incremental: boolean
}

Problems:

• Plugins can mutate allSlugs array (seen in FrontMatter plugin)
• Side effects not clearly tracked
• Difficult to parallelize plugin execution
• Hard to test plugins without full BuildCtx

Impact:

• Race conditions in concurrent scenarios
• Unpredictable plugin behavior
• Testing requires complex mocking

1.4 Dependency Graph Analysis

Plugins Layer
├── Transformers
│   ├── → util/path (high coupling)
│   ├── → util/escape (medium coupling)
│   ├── → components/scripts (medium coupling)
│   └── → vfile.data (correct pattern)
│
├── Filters
│   ├── → util/path (low coupling)
│   └── → vfile.data (correct pattern)
│
└── Emitters
    ├── → util/path (high coupling)
    ├── → util/resources (high coupling)
    ├── → util/theme (medium coupling)
    ├── → components/* (high coupling)
    ├── → other emitters (low coupling)
    └── → vfile.data (correct pattern)

Components Layer
├── → plugins/vfile (high coupling)
├── → plugins/emitters (medium coupling)
└── → util/path (medium coupling)

1.5 Current Strengths

Despite coupling issues, the current architecture has strengths to preserve:

1. VFile-based data passing: Using vfile.data for inter-plugin communication is sound
2. Plugin instance pattern: Functional plugin factories with options are flexible
3. Unified processing: Using unified/remark/rehype ecosystem is appropriate
4. Type safety: TypeScript provides good type checking for plugin interfaces
5. Clear plugin categories: Separation into transformers/filters/emitters is logical

2. Decoupling Goals

2.1 Primary Objectives

1. Isolate plugin logic: Each plugin should be independently testable
2. Minimize shared dependencies: Reduce coupling to utility modules
3. Standardize data contracts: Formalize vfile data schema
4. Remove cross-plugin imports: Eliminate direct plugin-to-plugin dependencies
5. Decouple components: Separate component definitions from plugin logic

2.2 Non-Goals

1. Not changing the unified/remark/rehype pipeline architecture
2. Not removing the BuildCtx concept entirely (it provides necessary context)
3. Not breaking the transformer → filter → emitter processing order
4. Not requiring complete rewrites of existing plugins (incremental migration)

3. Decoupling Strategy

3.1 Phase 1: VFile Data Contract Formalization

3.1.1 Create Central Data Schema Registry

Action: Create quartz/plugins/vfile-schema.ts to centralize all vfile data definitions.

// quartz/plugins/vfile-schema.ts

import { FullSlug, FilePath, SimpleSlug } from "../util/path"

/**
 * Core data set by the processing pipeline before any plugins
 */
export interface CoreVFileData {
  slug: FullSlug
  filePath: FilePath
  relativePath: FilePath
}

/**
 * Table of Contents entry structure
 */
export interface TocEntry {
  depth: number
  text: string
  slug: string // anchor slug (without "#" prefix, e.g., "some-heading")
}

/**
 * Data contributed by transformer plugins
 */
export interface TransformerVFileData {
  // From FrontMatter transformer
  frontmatter?: {
    title: string
    tags?: string[]
    aliases?: string[]
    created?: string
    modified?: string
    published?: string
    description?: string
    socialDescription?: string
    publish?: boolean | string
    draft?: boolean | string
    lang?: string
    enableToc?: boolean | string
    cssclasses?: string[]
    socialImage?: string
    comments?: boolean | string
    // ... other frontmatter fields
  }
  aliases?: FullSlug[]
  
  // From TableOfContents transformer
  toc?: TocEntry[]
  collapseToc?: boolean
  
  // From CrawlLinks transformer
  links?: SimpleSlug[]
  
  // From Description transformer
  description?: string
  
  // Add other transformer data here
}

/**
 * Data contributed by emitter plugins
 */
export interface EmitterVFileData {
  // Emitters typically don't add to vfile.data
  // but may read from it
}

/**
 * Complete vfile data map
 */
export interface QuartzVFileData extends CoreVFileData, TransformerVFileData, EmitterVFileData {}

declare module "vfile" {
  interface DataMap extends QuartzVFileData {}
}

Benefits:

• Single source of truth for vfile data structure
• IDE autocomplete for available data
• Easy to see what each plugin contributes
• Compile-time type checking for data access

3.1.2 Document Data Dependencies

Action: Each plugin should declare its data dependencies in a comment header.

/**
 * @plugin TableOfContents
 * @category Transformer
 * 
 * @reads vfile.data.frontmatter.enableToc
 * @writes vfile.data.toc
 * @writes vfile.data.collapseToc
 * 
 * @dependencies None
 */
export const TableOfContents: QuartzTransformerPlugin = ...

3.2 Phase 2: Utility Function Abstraction

3.2.1 Create Plugin Utility Interface

Action: Create an abstraction layer for utility functions passed through context.

// quartz/plugins/plugin-context.ts

import { FullSlug, FilePath, SimpleSlug, RelativeURL, TransformOptions } from "../util/path"
import { JSResource, CSSResource } from "../util/resources"
import { QuartzConfig } from "../cfg"
import { Argv } from "../util/ctx"

export interface PluginUtilities {
  // Path operations
  path: {
    slugify: (path: FilePath) => FullSlug
    simplify: (slug: FullSlug) => SimpleSlug
    transform: (from: FullSlug, to: string, opts: TransformOptions) => RelativeURL
    toRoot: (slug: FullSlug) => RelativeURL
    split: (slug: FullSlug) => [FullSlug, string]
    join: (...segments: string[]) => FilePath
  }
  
  // Resource management
  resources: {
    createExternalJS: (src: string, loadTime?: "beforeDOMReady" | "afterDOMReady") => JSResource
    createInlineJS: (script: string, loadTime?: "beforeDOMReady" | "afterDOMReady") => JSResource
    createCSS: (resource: CSSResource) => CSSResource
  }
  
  // Other utilities as needed
  escape: {
    html: (text: string) => string
  }
}

export interface PluginContext {
  // Read-only configuration
  readonly config: QuartzConfig
  readonly buildId: string
  readonly argv: Readonly<Argv>
  
  // Shared data (read-only for plugins)
  readonly allSlugs: ReadonlyArray<FullSlug>
  readonly allFiles: ReadonlyArray<FilePath>
  
  // Utility functions
  utils: PluginUtilities
}

Benefits:

• Plugins don't directly import util modules
• Can mock utilities for testing
• Can version utility interfaces separately
• Clearer what capabilities plugins have access to

3.2.2 Gradual Migration Path

Action: Allow both old and new patterns during transition.

// Support both patterns
export const CrawlLinks: QuartzTransformerPlugin<Options> = (userOpts) => {
  return {
    name: "LinkProcessing",
    htmlPlugins(ctx) {
      // New pattern (preferred)
      const simplify = ctx.utils?.path.simplify ?? simplifySlug
      
      // Old pattern (still works)
      // import { simplifySlug } from "../../util/path"
      
      return [/* ... */]
    }
  }
}

3.3 Phase 3: Component Decoupling

3.3.1 Separate Component Registry

Action: Create a component registry independent of emitters.

// quartz/components/registry.ts

import { QuartzComponent } from "./types"

export interface ComponentRegistry {
  register(name: string, component: QuartzComponent): void
  get(name: string): QuartzComponent | undefined
  getResources(): {
    css: string[]
    beforeDOMLoaded: string[]
    afterDOMLoaded: string[]
  }
}

// quartz/plugins/types.ts

import { PluginContext } from "./plugin-context"
import { ProcessedContent } from "./vfile"
import { StaticResources } from "../util/resources"
import { FilePath } from "../util/path"

export type QuartzEmitterPluginInstance = {
  name: string
  emit: (ctx: PluginContext, content: ProcessedContent[], resources: StaticResources) => Promise<FilePath[]> | AsyncGenerator<FilePath>
  partialEmit?: (ctx: PluginContext, content: ProcessedContent[], resources: StaticResources, changeEvents: ChangeEvent[]) => Promise<FilePath[]> | AsyncGenerator<FilePath> | null
  externalResources?: (ctx: PluginContext) => Partial<StaticResources> | undefined
  
  // Instead of getQuartzComponents:
  requiredComponents?: string[]  // Array of component names
}

Benefits:

• Components defined once, referenced by name
• Emitters don't construct component instances
• Easier to swap component implementations
• Component resources collected independently

3.3.2 Move Component Scripts Out of Transformers

Action: Register component scripts with components, not import in transformers.

// Current problem:
// quartz/plugins/transformers/ofm.ts
import calloutScript from "../../components/scripts/callout.inline"

// New approach:
// quartz/components/Callout.tsx
const Callout: QuartzComponentConstructor = (opts) => {
  const component: QuartzComponent = (props) => { /* ... */ }
  component.afterDOMLoaded = calloutScript
  return component
}

export default Callout

// Note: Transformers don't need requiredComponents - this is only for emitters.
// The transformer would just process the markdown, and the emitter would declare
// which components are needed for rendering.

3.4 Phase 4: Remove BuildCtx Mutation

3.4.1 Make BuildCtx Immutable

Action: Prevent plugins from mutating shared state.

// quartz/util/ctx.ts
export interface BuildCtx {
  readonly buildId: string
  readonly argv: Readonly<Argv>
  readonly cfg: QuartzConfig
  readonly allSlugs: ReadonlyArray<FullSlug>  // Changed from mutable array
  readonly allFiles: ReadonlyArray<FilePath>  // Changed from mutable array
  readonly trie?: FileTrieNode<BuildTimeTrieData>
  readonly incremental: boolean
}

3.4.2 Handle Alias Registration Differently

Action: FrontMatter plugin currently mutates ctx.allSlugs. Instead, collect aliases separately.

// In parse.ts or similar orchestration code
const parseResult = await parseMarkdown(ctx, filePaths)
const { parsedFiles, discoveredAliases } = parseResult

// Update context immutably
const updatedCtx = {
  ...ctx,
  allSlugs: [...ctx.allSlugs, ...discoveredAliases]
}

3.5 Phase 5: Plugin Lifecycle Hooks

3.5.1 Add Initialization Hook

Action: Allow plugins to declare initialization needs without side effects.

export interface QuartzTransformerPluginInstance {
  name: string
  
  // New: declare what this plugin will contribute
  init?: (ctx: PluginContext) => {
    vfileDataKeys?: string[]  // What keys this plugin writes to vfile.data
    aliases?: FullSlug[]       // Any aliases this plugin discovers
  }
  
  textTransform?: (ctx: PluginContext, src: string) => string
  markdownPlugins?: (ctx: PluginContext) => PluggableList
  htmlPlugins?: (ctx: PluginContext) => PluggableList
  externalResources?: (ctx: PluginContext) => Partial<StaticResources> | undefined
}

Benefits:

• Plugins declare their effects upfront via init() method
• Build system can collect all aliases before processing
• Runtime resources still provided via externalResources() method
• Better static analysis of plugin behavior

3.6 Phase 6: Testing Infrastructure

3.6.1 Plugin Test Helpers

Action: Create utilities for testing plugins in isolation.

// quartz/plugins/test-helpers.ts

import { VFile } from "vfile"
import { PluginContext } from "./plugin-context"
import { QuartzVFileData } from "./vfile-schema"
import { FullSlug, FilePath, SimpleSlug, RelativeURL, TransformOptions } from "../util/path"
import { QuartzConfig } from "../cfg"
import { Argv } from "../util/ctx"
import { PluginUtilities } from "./plugin-context"
import { JSResource, CSSResource } from "../util/resources"

export function createMockPluginContext(overrides?: Partial<PluginContext>): PluginContext {
  return {
    config: createMockConfig(),
    buildId: "test-build",
    argv: createMockArgv(),
    allSlugs: [],
    allFiles: [],
    utils: createMockUtilities(),
    ...overrides
  }
}

export function createMockVFile(data?: Partial<QuartzVFileData>): VFile {
  const file = new VFile("")
  file.data = {
    slug: "test" as FullSlug,
    filePath: "test.md" as FilePath,
    relativePath: "test.md" as FilePath,
    ...data
  }
  return file
}

// Helper functions to be implemented
function createMockConfig(): QuartzConfig {
  return {
    configuration: {
      pageTitle: "Test Site",
      baseUrl: "test.com",
      locale: "en-US",
      enableSPA: true,
      enablePopovers: true,
      analytics: null,
      ignorePatterns: [],
      defaultDateType: "created",
      theme: {
        typography: {
          header: "Schibsted Grotesk",
          body: "Source Sans Pro",
          code: "IBM Plex Mono",
        },
        colors: {
          lightMode: {
            light: "#faf8f8",
            lightgray: "#e5e5e5",
            gray: "#b8b8b8",
            darkgray: "#4e4e4e",
            dark: "#2b2b2b",
            secondary: "#284b63",
            tertiary: "#84a59d",
            highlight: "rgba(143, 159, 169, 0.15)",
            textHighlight: "#fff23688",
          },
          darkMode: {
            light: "#161618",
            lightgray: "#393639",
            gray: "#646464",
            darkgray: "#d4d4d4",
            dark: "#ebebec",
            secondary: "#7b97aa",
            tertiary: "#84a59d",
            highlight: "rgba(143, 159, 169, 0.15)",
            textHighlight: "#b3aa0288",
          },
        },
        fontOrigin: "googleFonts",
        cdnCaching: true,
      },
    },
    plugins: {
      transformers: [],
      filters: [],
      emitters: [],
    },
  } as QuartzConfig
}

function createMockArgv(): Argv {
  return {
    directory: "content",
    verbose: false,
    output: "public",
    serve: false,
    watch: false,
    port: 8080,
    wsPort: 3001,
  }
}

function createMockUtilities(): PluginUtilities {
  return {
    path: {
      slugify: (path: FilePath) => path as unknown as FullSlug,
      simplify: (slug: FullSlug) => slug as unknown as SimpleSlug,
      transform: (from: FullSlug, to: string, opts: TransformOptions) => to as RelativeURL,
      toRoot: (slug: FullSlug) => "/" as RelativeURL,
      split: (slug: FullSlug) => [slug, ""],
      join: (...segments: string[]) => segments.join("/") as FilePath,
    },
    resources: {
      createExternalJS: (src: string, loadTime?: "beforeDOMReady" | "afterDOMReady") => ({
        src,
        contentType: "external" as const,
        loadTime: loadTime ?? "afterDOMReady",
      }),
      createInlineJS: (script: string, loadTime?: "beforeDOMReady" | "afterDOMReady") => ({
        script,
        contentType: "inline" as const,
        loadTime: loadTime ?? "afterDOMReady",
      }),
      createCSS: (resource: CSSResource) => resource,
    },
    escape: {
      html: (text: string) => text.replace(/[&<>"']/g, (m) => `&#${m.charCodeAt(0)};`),
    },
  }
}

// Usage in tests:
describe("TableOfContents", () => {
  it("should generate TOC from headings", () => {
    const ctx = createMockPluginContext()
    const file = createMockVFile({
      frontmatter: { enableToc: true }
    })
    
    const plugin = TableOfContents()
    const [markdownPlugin] = plugin.markdownPlugins!(ctx)
    
    // Test the plugin...
  })
})

4. Implementation Roadmap

4.1 Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-2)

Deliverables:

• Create vfile-schema.ts with centralized data definitions
• Document existing plugins' data dependencies
• Create plugin test helper utilities
• Write tests for 2-3 representative plugins using new helpers

Risks: Low - purely additive changes

4.2 Phase 2: Utility Abstraction (Weeks 3-4)

Deliverables:

• Create plugin-context.ts with PluginUtilities interface
• Implement utility wrappers
• Update BuildCtx to include utils
• Migrate 1-2 simple plugins to use new pattern
• Document migration guide for plugin authors

Risks: Medium - requires careful API design

4.3 Phase 3: Component Decoupling (Weeks 5-7)

Deliverables:

• Create component registry system
• Move component scripts from transformers to components
• Update emitters to use component references instead of construction
• Migrate ComponentResources emitter
• Update all page emitters

Risks: High - touches many files, requires coordination

4.4 Phase 4: Immutability & Safety (Weeks 8-9)

Deliverables:

• Make BuildCtx immutable
• Refactor alias registration in FrontMatter
• Update orchestration code to handle discovered aliases
• Add runtime checks for mutation attempts

Risks: Medium - may reveal unexpected mutation patterns

4.5 Phase 5: Full Migration (Weeks 10-12)

Deliverables:

• Migrate all remaining transformers to new pattern
• Migrate all filters to new pattern
• Migrate all emitters to new pattern
• Update all documentation
• Add deprecation warnings for old patterns

Risks: Medium - requires comprehensive testing

4.6 Phase 6: Cleanup (Weeks 13-14)

Deliverables:

• Remove deprecated direct utility imports
• Consolidate module augmentations
• Performance benchmarks comparing before/after
• Final documentation updates

Risks: Low - cleanup phase

5. Migration Guide for Plugin Authors

5.1 VFile Data Access

Before:

// Hope this exists and is the right type
const toc = file.data.toc

After:

import { QuartzVFileData, TocEntry } from "../vfile-schema"

// Type-safe access with explicit type
const toc: TocEntry[] | undefined = file.data.toc

5.2 Utility Usage

Before:

import { simplifySlug, transformLink } from "../../util/path"

const simple = simplifySlug(file.data.slug!)
const link = transformLink(file.data.slug!, dest, opts)

After:

// No imports needed - use ctx.utils

const simple = ctx.utils.path.simplify(file.data.slug!)
const link = ctx.utils.path.transform(file.data.slug!, dest, opts)

5.3 Component Dependencies

Before:

// In transformer plugin
import calloutScript from "../../components/scripts/callout.inline"

export const MyTransformer: QuartzTransformerPlugin = () => ({
  name: "MyTransformer",
  externalResources: () => ({
    js: [{ script: calloutScript, loadTime: "afterDOMReady", contentType: "inline" }]
  })
})

After:

// Transformer no longer imports component scripts
export const MyTransformer: QuartzTransformerPlugin = () => ({
  name: "MyTransformer",
  // Transformers just transform content, no component dependencies
})

// Component resources are declared in the component itself
// Emitters declare which components they need via requiredComponents
export const MyEmitter: QuartzEmitterPlugin = () => ({
  name: "MyEmitter",
  requiredComponents: ["Callout"],  // Component system handles resources
  async emit(ctx, content, resources) {
    // ...
  }
})

5.4 Data Declaration

Before:

// At bottom of plugin file
declare module "vfile" {
  interface DataMap {
    myData: MyDataType
  }
}

After:

// In plugin file - export your custom type
export interface MyDataType {
  someField: string
  anotherField: number
}

// In vfile-schema.ts (centralized) - import and use the type
import { MyDataType } from "../plugins/transformers/myPlugin"

export interface TransformerVFileData {
  myData?: MyDataType
  // ... other fields
}

// In plugin file - document what you write
/**
 * @writes vfile.data.myData
 */
export const MyPlugin = ...

6. Success Criteria

6.1 Quantitative Metrics

• Import reduction: 80% reduction in direct utility imports from plugins
• Test coverage: All plugins have unit tests with mocked context
• Type safety: Zero any types in vfile data access
• Module augmentations: Reduce from 7+ scattered declarations to 1 central registry
• Build time: No regression in build performance (±5% acceptable)

6.2 Qualitative Metrics

• Developer experience: Plugin authors report easier development
• Maintainability: Can modify utility functions without touching plugins
• Testability: Plugins can be tested in isolation without full build setup
• Documentation: Clear contracts for plugin data dependencies
• Extensibility: Third-party plugins can be developed without deep codebase knowledge

7. Risk Mitigation

7.1 Breaking Changes

Risk: Existing plugins and user configurations may break.

Mitigation:

• Maintain backward compatibility during transition
• Provide deprecation warnings, not hard errors
• Offer automatic migration script where possible
• Extensive documentation for manual migration

7.2 Performance Regression

Risk: Abstraction layers may slow down build process.

Mitigation:

• Benchmark before and after changes
• Keep utility wrappers thin (inline where possible)
• Profile hot paths
• Accept minor overhead for significant maintainability gains

7.3 Incomplete Migration

Risk: Some plugins may not get migrated, leaving inconsistent codebase.

Mitigation:

• Start with high-value, frequently-used plugins
• Set a timeline for migration completion
• Make old patterns emit warnings in development mode
• Eventually make old patterns build errors for new plugins

7.4 Testing Coverage Gaps

Risk: Migration may introduce bugs not caught by tests.

Mitigation:

• Write tests before refactoring
• Use existing build as integration test baseline
• Test against real content repositories
• Beta period with early adopters

8. Alternative Approaches Considered

8.1 Complete Plugin Rewrite

Approach: Redesign plugin system from scratch with new API.

Pros: Could achieve ideal architecture immediately.

Cons:

• Massive breaking change
• All existing plugins would break
• User configurations would need updates
• High risk, long timeline

Decision: Rejected in favor of incremental migration.

8.2 Monolithic Utility Library

Approach: Create single PluginUtils class with all helper methods.

Pros: Simple, one import for plugins.

Cons:

• Tight coupling to monolithic class
• Harder to test individual utilities
• Namespace pollution

Decision: Rejected in favor of categorized utility interface.

8.3 Dependency Injection Framework

Approach: Use DI framework like InversifyJS for plugin dependencies.

Pros: Industry-standard pattern, very flexible.

Cons:

• Adds complexity and runtime overhead
• Steep learning curve for plugin authors
• Overkill for current needs

Decision: Rejected in favor of simpler context-based approach.

9. Open Questions

1. Component Script Loading: Should component scripts be eagerly loaded or lazy loaded? Need to balance bundle size vs. HTTP requests.

2. Plugin Ordering: Should plugins be able to declare ordering constraints (e.g., "run after FrontMatter")? Or continue relying on config order?

3. Parallel Processing: After decoupling, should we enable parallel transformer execution? Would require analysis of data dependencies.

4. Plugin Versioning: Should plugins declare compatible API versions? How to handle version mismatches?

5. Hot Reload: Can decoupling enable better hot module replacement during development?

10. Future Enhancements

10.1 Plugin Marketplace

With decoupled plugins, could create:

• NPM packages for individual plugins
• Community plugin registry
• Plugin dependency management
• Semantic versioning for plugin APIs

10.2 Plugin Performance Profiling

With clear plugin boundaries:

• Per-plugin performance metrics
• Identify slow plugins
• Optimize critical path
• Conditional plugin execution

10.3 Plugin Composition

With standardized interfaces:

• Higher-order plugins that compose others
• Plugin pipelines
• Conditional plugin chains
• Plugin templates

10.4 Alternative Renderers

With component decoupling:

• Support React instead of Preact
• Support Vue components
• Support custom rendering engines
• Multi-framework support

11. Conclusion

The proposed decoupling strategy balances the need for cleaner architecture with pragmatic migration concerns. By executing this plan in phases over approximately 14 weeks, we can significantly improve the maintainability and extensibility of the Quartz plugin system while minimizing disruption to existing users.

The key principles guiding this effort are:

1. Incremental Migration: No big-bang rewrites; gradual, testable changes
2. Backward Compatibility: Support old patterns during transition
3. Clear Contracts: Formalize data and dependency contracts
4. Enhanced Testability: Enable isolated plugin testing
5. Preserved Strengths: Keep what works (vfile, unified, TypeScript)

Success will be measured not just by code metrics, but by improved developer experience for both core maintainers and plugin authors. A well-decoupled plugin system will enable faster iteration, easier debugging, and broader community participation in extending Quartz.

Appendix A: Affected Files

Core Plugin System

• quartz/plugins/types.ts - Plugin type definitions
• quartz/plugins/index.ts - Plugin exports and utilities
• quartz/plugins/vfile.ts - VFile type augmentations

Transformers (13 files)

• quartz/plugins/transformers/citations.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/description.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/frontmatter.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/gfm.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/lastmod.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/latex.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/linebreaks.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/links.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/ofm.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/oxhugofm.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/roam.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/syntax.ts
• quartz/plugins/transformers/toc.ts

Filters (2 files)

• quartz/plugins/filters/draft.ts
• quartz/plugins/filters/explicit.ts

Emitters (14 files)

• quartz/plugins/emitters/componentResources.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/contentPage.tsx
• quartz/plugins/emitters/tagPage.tsx
• quartz/plugins/emitters/folderPage.tsx
• quartz/plugins/emitters/contentIndex.tsx
• quartz/plugins/emitters/aliases.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/assets.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/static.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/404.tsx
• quartz/plugins/emitters/favicon.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/cname.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/ogImage.tsx
• quartz/plugins/emitters/helpers.ts
• quartz/plugins/emitters/index.ts

Components (~30 files)

All files in quartz/components/ that import from plugins/

Utilities

• quartz/util/ctx.ts
• quartz/util/path.ts
• quartz/util/resources.tsx
• quartz/util/theme.ts
• quartz/util/escape.ts

Build System

• quartz/build.ts
• quartz/processors/parse.ts
• quartz/processors/filter.ts
• quartz/processors/emit.ts

Total Estimated Files to Modify: ~71 files

Appendix B: References

• VFile Documentation
• Unified Collective
• Remark Plugins
• Rehype Plugins
• TypeScript Module Augmentation