litestar-plugins

Pass plugin instances to the plugins list in the Litestar constructor, such as Litestar(plugins=[SQLAlchemyPlugin(config=...)]). Keep plugin configuration near app setup and back environment-specific values with a settings module.

Implement InitPluginProtocol with an on_app_init method that receives and returns the AppConfig. Mutate app_config to register routes, middleware, dependencies, or state, and expose the plugin via app_config.state for typed dependency injection.

First-party plugins include litestar-granian for the ASGI server, litestar-saq for task queues, litestar-vite for frontend integration, litestar-mcp for MCP tooling, litestar-email for email backends, and advanced-alchemy for SQLAlchemy repository patterns.

Use a plugin when you need lifecycle hooks, CLI integration, or reusable framework integration across apps. Prefer a plain provider or middleware when you only need request-scoped behavior without app initialization changes.

Plugins typically store themselves in app_config.state and register a Provide dependency. Handlers then declare the plugin as a typed parameter, and Litestar injects the shared instance at request time.