A plug-in bundles a number of scripts around one subject, together with the documentation, the support conditions and the requirements which hold for all of them. On the [[Invantive Runtime/Main Window|Main Window]] a plug-in is the group and each script within it is a tile.
A plug-in is a file with the extension `ipn` in the plug-ins folder of the configuration folder, which is `%USERPROFILE%\Invantive\Plugins` by default and can be moved with `INVANTIVE_CONFIGURATION_PLUGINS_FOLDER`; see [[Folders]]. Invantive Runtime watches that folder while it runs, so a plug-in which is added or changed appears without restarting the product.
A plug-in holds:
- its name, version and release notes;
- who made it: author name, e-mail address and company;
- how it is supported: support conditions, support e-mail address and support website;
- the documentation and the instructions shown before it is run;
- the requirements: the data containers and the providers it needs, which decide on which databases it appears;
- the scripts, each with its own name, statements, documentation, instructions and parameters.
Which plug-ins are visible therefore depends on the database connected to: a plug-in which requires a data container the database does not have stays out of view.