Skip to content

The Vendor Journey

From idea to deployment.

graph LR
  B["Build Plugin"] --> T["Test Locally"] --> S["Submit to Community"] --> U["Get Usage"]
  U --> A["Apply for Verified"] --> R["Pass Review"] --> E["Enterprise Distribution"]

Step 1: Build Your Plugin

Scaffold a new plugin in seconds:

meridian new signal --lang python --name my-analytics

This generates a working plugin skeleton with the correct directory structure, a meridian.yaml manifest, and a test harness ready to go.

Or start from the SDK directly if you prefer full control. The SDKs are available in Go, Python, Java, Rust, and C++.

Not sure what to build?

See What You Can Build for plugin types and inspiration. The First Plugin walkthrough will get you from zero to a running plugin in under 30 minutes.

Step 2: Test Locally

meridian test

The CLI auto-detects your plugin language and runs the full test suite. To run only the conformance tests required for marketplace submission:

meridian test conformance

Tests run against a FakeSidecar -- no infrastructure needed. Your laptop is the only requirement. The conformance suite validates messaging, lifecycle hooks, topic access, error handling, and state recovery. If it passes locally, it will pass in the marketplace review.

Step 3: Publish to Community

Free and self-serve. Submit via the CLI:

meridian publish \
  --vendor-id acme-analytics \
  --plugin-id my-analytics \
  --version 1.0.0 \
  --display-name "My Analytics Engine" \
  --pool-type SignalEnginePool \
  --plugin-image acme/my-analytics:1.0.0

Or declare everything in your meridian.yaml and run meridian publish:

vendor_id: acme-analytics
plugin_id: my-analytics
display_name: My Analytics Engine
pool_type: SignalEnginePool
plugin_image: acme/my-analytics:latest
description: Momentum alpha signal engine
tags: [signal, momentum]

Community plugins are available to all deployments immediately after automated checks pass.

Step 4: Grow Usage

Track adoption in the Vendor Portal:

  • Subscription counts -- how many deployments have installed your plugin
  • Version distribution -- which versions are in use across the fleet
  • Active deployments -- real-time status and health metrics

Use this data to prioritize features, plan updates, and identify your most engaged customers.

Step 5: Get Certified

Apply for Verified status when you are ready to unlock enterprise distribution.

  • Automated checks run first (full conformance suite, plus dependency and security scans)
  • A manual review follows -- completed within 48 hours
  • Certified plugins receive the Meridian Verified badge

See Marketplace for full details on what the review covers and what the badge unlocks.

Step 6: Enterprise Distribution

Certified plugins are visible to enterprise deployments and eligible for commercial distribution. For partnership and commercial terms, reach out directly.

Next Steps

Get help

Join #plugin-dev on Discord for real-time help from the community and the Meridian team. Or reach out directly at vendor@open-meridian.dev.