# How to install plugins without using a third-party host?

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-plugins-without-using-a-third-party-host/406009>\
**Category:** Self-hosting\
**Created:** [June 24, 2026, 11:12am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-plugins-without-using-a-third-party-host/406009 "2026-06-24T11:12:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 30

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Willy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/willy/32/499930_2.png) [@Willy](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Willy)\
**Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 5:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-plugins-without-using-a-third-party-host/406009/30 "2026-06-30T17:05:50Z")

</div>

@Falco @pfaffman Thank you, your answers resolved my doubts.

I’m leaving my `app.yml` configuration here in case it’s useful to anyone trying to load local plugins into Discourse from the host machine.

```yaml
## The Docker container is stateless; all data is stored in /shared
volumes:
  - volume:
      host: /var/discourse/shared/standalone
      guest: /shared
  - volume:
      host: /var/discourse/shared/standalone/log/var-log
      guest: /var/log
  - volume:
      host: /var/discourse/plugins
      guest: /var/plugins

## Plugins go here
## see https://meta.discourse.org/t/19157 for details
hooks:
  after_code:
    - exec:
        cd: $home/plugins
        cmd:
          - git clone https://github.com/discourse/docker_manager.git
          - cp -a /var/plugins/. $home/plugins/

```

In my setup, I keep all custom plugins in `/var/discourse/plugins` on the host.

The mounted directory becomes available inside the container as `/var/plugins`, and during the `after_code` hook, the command:

```bash
cp -a /var/plugins/. $home/plugins/

```

copies all mounted plugins into Discourse’s native plugins directory (`$home/plugins`, typically `/var/www/discourse/plugins`).

This makes it possible to manage plugins directly from the host without using git-based plugin installation or relying on third-party hosting services.

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/how-to-install-plugins-without-using-a-third-party-host/406009)._