Engine Plugin Boundaries

Use when

Engine modules form circular dependencies or extensions require private internal state and fragile load ordering.

Workflow

1. Draw the dependency graph and identify stable concepts versus implementation-owned data.
2. Assign ownership for initialization, shutdown, resources, event delivery, errors, and version negotiation.
3. Define narrow capability-based interfaces and validate extension metadata before loading executable content.
4. Test missing, stale, partially initialized, and failing plugins with explicit cleanup expectations.

Required output

A module graph, public API map, lifecycle contract, and extension compatibility test plan.

Validation

• Core modules can compile/test without unrelated engine subsystems.
• Initialization and shutdown order are deterministic and observable.
• Failure of an optional plugin does not corrupt the engine core.

Guardrails

Do not load untrusted native plugin binaries in-process without a deliberate trust and isolation model.