Plugins Overview

Automax plugins are the building blocks of your automation workflows. Each plugin performs a specific task and can be combined to create complex workflows.

Plugin Categories

Cloud Secrets Management

• AWS Secrets Manager - Retrieve, create, and update secrets from AWS Secrets Manager
• Azure Key Vault - Access secrets from Azure Key Vault using managed identity or service principal
• Google Secret Manager - Get secrets from GCP Secret Manager with service account or default credentials
• HashiCorp Vault - Integrate with HashiCorp Vault using token or AppRole authentication

System Operations

• Local Command - Execute local system commands with environment variables and working directory support
• SSH Command - Run commands on remote servers via SSH with password or key-based authentication

File Operations

• Read File Content - Read content from files with support for multiple encodings and binary data
• Write File Content - Write content to files with overwrite, append, or create-new modes
• Compress File - Compress files and directories to ZIP, TAR.GZ, or TAR.BZ2 formats
• Uncompress File - Extract files from compressed archives with password support

Network Operations

• Check TCP Connection - Test TCP connectivity to remote hosts and ports
• Check ICMP Connection - Test ICMP connectivity (ping) to remote hosts with latency metrics

Communication

• Run HTTP Request - Make HTTP API calls with headers, authentication, and JSON support
• Send Email - Send email notifications via SMTP with HTML content and attachments

Database

• Database Operations - Execute SQL queries and operations on PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and Oracle databases

Using Plugins

Plugins are configured in your workflow YAML files using the parameters section:

steps:
  - name: "get_database_password"
    plugin: "aws_secrets_manager"
    parameters:
      secret_name: "production/database/password"
      region_name: "us-east-1"
      action: "read"

Common Plugin Parameters

Most plugins support these common parameters: - action: Operation to perform (read, write, create, execute, etc.) - timeout: Operation timeout in seconds - Authentication credentials specific to each service

Error Handling

All plugins provide structured error responses:

{
  "status": "error",
  "error": "Descriptive error message",
  "details": "Additional context for troubleshooting"
}

Best Practices

1. Use secrets management for credentials and sensitive data
2. Implement error handling in your workflows
3. Set appropriate timeouts for network operations
4. Validate inputs before executing operations
5. Use structured logging for debugging and monitoring

Plugin Examples

Complete Workflow Example

steps:
  - name: "get_api_credentials"
    plugin: "hashicorp_vault"
    parameters:
      vault_url: "https://vault.example.com"
      secret_path: "api/credentials"
      action: "read"
      vault_token: "${VAULT_TOKEN}"

  - name: "call_external_api"
    plugin: "run_http_request"
    parameters:
      url: "https://api.example.com/data"
      method: "GET"
      headers:
        Authorization: "Bearer ${steps.get_api_credentials.output.data.token}"
      timeout: 30

  - name: "save_results"
    plugin: "write_file_content"
    parameters:
      file_path: "/tmp/api_response.json"
      content: "${steps.call_external_api.output.body}"
      mode: "overwrite"

  - name: "send_notification"
    plugin: "send_email"
    parameters:
      smtp_server: "smtp.gmail.com"
      smtp_port: 587
      from_address: "automax@example.com"
      to_addresses: ["admin@example.com"]
      subject: "API Sync Completed"
      body: "External API data has been successfully retrieved and saved."
      username: "${EMAIL_USER}"
      password: "${EMAIL_PASSWORD}"

Creating Custom Plugins

See the Creating Plugins guide for instructions on developing your own plugins.

Troubleshooting

For plugin-specific issues, refer to the individual plugin documentation pages linked above. Each plugin documentation includes: - Authentication and permission requirements - Common error messages and solutions - Configuration examples and best practices - Network and connectivity requirements