# datasette-plugin-writer

> Claude/Codex skill by [@simonw](https://omgskills.com/library/simonw/index.md) · 795 stars · Updated 2026-10-31

Guide for writing Datasette plugins. This skill should be used when users want to create or develop plugins for Datasette, including information about plugin hooks, the cookiecutter template, database APIs, request/response handling, and plugin configuration.

## Install

```sh
git clone https://github.com/simonw/research /tmp/research && ln -s /tmp/research/datasette-plugin-skill ~/.claude/skills/datasette-plugin-writer
```

## From README

Writing Datasette Plugins Use this skill to build plugins for Datasette, the open source multi-tool for exploring and publishing data. with Cookiecutter Template Start a new plugin using the datasette-plugin cookiecutter template with newline-delimited variables: Example for a plugin called "my-cool-plugin": The last two y responses enable static/ and templates/ directories. After creating the plugin: Plugin Structure A typical plugin structure: Essential Plugin Hooks prepareconnection(conn, database, datasette) Register custom SQL functions. Called when SQLite connections are created: registerroutes(datasette) Add custom URL routes. Return list of (regex, viewfunction) pairs: View functions can accept: datasette, request, scope, send, receive.

## Links

- HTML page: https://omgskills.com/library/simonw/research/datasette-plugin-skill/
- GitHub: https://github.com/simonw/research
- Author: [@simonw](https://omgskills.com/library/simonw/index.md)

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