Install plugins in your non-Docker development environment

(This guide only covers non-docker dev install. For Docker dev :whale: see Install Discourse for development using Docker)

If you’ve followed the instructions to set up your local discourse, you can install a plugin locally:

  1. Stop your local server if it’s running.

  2. Download the plugin repo and save it your /plugins folder. Alternatively, you can use a symlink.

  3. If the plugin includes migrations (you’ll see them in db/migrate), run them with: LOAD_PLUGINS=1 bundle exec rake db:migrate from discourse root, not the plugin folder.

  4. Re-start the server.

  5. If the plugin has settings, you can edit them by going to http://localhost:4200/admin/plugins and clicking on “Settings” next to its name.

If you’d like to install a plugin in production, follow this guide.


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