> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.kouch.dev/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.kouch.dev/mods-and-plugins/plugins.md).

# Plugins

Add features with plugins. Each runs sealed off and only does what you allow.

A **plugin** adds a feature to Kouch: new actions in the Quick Menu, something that happens when a game starts or stops, or, like the built-in **Steam library** plugin, a whole new tool.

Plugins are **sealed off**. A plugin can't touch your files, your network or the rest of your PC. It can only use the few things Kouch offers, and only the ones **you approve**.

![Settings › Plugins](https://3008865259-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FiaV8VKDYJngjWWkPZx0Q%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-8b985603c3f155a429fc4b991dc0f4d9e8b2fe5e%2Fsettings-plugins.png?alt=media)

## Turn a plugin on

1. Open **Settings › Plugins**.
2. Press **A** on a plugin. Kouch shows **Turn \<name> on?** and lists exactly what it will be able to do.
3. Choose **Allow and turn on**, or **Cancel**.

**A** again turns it off, at once. Every plugin starts **off**. If an update asks for more than you approved, it's turned off until you approve it again.

## What a plugin can ask for

| It may ask to…                                                               | Which means                                                       |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Add actions to the Quick Menu**                                            | New rows in the Quick Menu while a game runs.                     |
| **Know when a game starts and stops**                                        | React to a session.                                               |
| **Press the emulator's keyboard shortcuts**                                  | Send the emulator a key, like its quick-save key.                 |
| **Show messages**                                                            | Short notifications.                                              |
| **Keep a few settings of its own**                                           | Remember small settings between sessions.                         |
| **Read and change this emulator's saves** / **storage folder**               | Only that emulator's own folder, never anything else.             |
| **Add actions to this page**                                                 | Buttons on its row in Settings › Plugins.                         |
| **Read your game list (titles, systems, art)**                               | Never where the files are.                                        |
| **Change Kouch's shortcuts in your Steam library (you confirm each change)** | Only Kouch's own shortcuts, and you see and confirm every change. |

**Only for: …** means the plugin only works with the emulators listed. **Nothing beyond running when a game does** means it asks for nothing at all.

A plugin can **never** touch BIOS, firmware or keys, or read files outside what it was given. If it tries something it wasn't allowed, Kouch refuses and tells you.

## Built-in plugins

* **Steam library:** adds your games to Steam's library. See [Your games in Steam's library](/steam/steam/steam-library.md).

## Get more plugins

* **Get more plugins** browses the Workshop. It opens with Kouch's Steam release.
* A plugin can also come inside a `.kod` file, or as a folder you copy into Kouch's plugins folder: `%APPDATA%\kouch\plugins\` on Windows, `~/.config/kouch/plugins/` on the Steam Deck and Linux. The **Save slots** sample from the Kouch team, for example, adds **Quick save** and **Quick load** to the Quick Menu.

Want to write one? See [Write a plugin](/for-creators/creators/plugins.md).


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