Feature: Add plugin installer

acapy_agent/admin/routes.py

@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 from ..core.plugin_registry import PluginRegistry
 from ..messaging.models.openapi import OpenAPISchema
+from ..utils.plugin_installer import get_plugin_version
 from ..utils.stats import Collector
 from ..version import __version__
 from .decorators.auth import admin_authentication
@@ -71,12 +72,32 @@ async def plugins_handler(request: web.BaseRequest):
         request: aiohttp request object
 
     Returns:
-        The module list response
+        The module list response with plugin names and versions
 
     """
     registry = request.app["context"].inject_or(PluginRegistry)
     plugins = registry and sorted(registry.plugin_names) or []
-    return web.json_response({"result": plugins})
+
+    # Get versions for external plugins only (skip built-in acapy_agent plugins)
+    external_plugins = []
+    for plugin_name in plugins:
+        if not plugin_name.startswith("acapy_agent."):
+            # External plugin - try to get version info
+            # Wrap in try/except to prevent failures from affecting the endpoint
+            try:
+                version_info = get_plugin_version(plugin_name) or {}
+            except Exception:
+                # If version lookup fails, just include plugin without version info
+                version_info = {}
+            external_plugins.append(
+                {
+                    "name": plugin_name,
+                    "package_version": version_info.get("package_version", None),
+                    "source_version": version_info.get("source_version", None),
+                }
+            )
+
+    return web.json_response({"result": plugins, "external": external_plugins})
 
 
 @docs(tags=["server"], summary="Fetch the server configuration")

acapy_agent/commands/start.py

@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
 from ..config.default_context import DefaultContextBuilder
 from ..config.util import common_config
 from ..core.conductor import Conductor
+from ..utils.plugin_installer import install_plugins_from_config
+from ..version import __version__ as acapy_version
 from . import PROG
 
 LOGGER = logging.getLogger(__name__)
@@ -60,6 +62,48 @@ async def run_app(argv: Sequence[str] = None):
     settings = get_settings(args)
     common_config(settings)
 
+    # Install plugins if auto-install is enabled and plugins are specified
+    external_plugins = settings.get("external_plugins", [])
+    if external_plugins:
+        auto_install = settings.get("auto_install_plugins", False)
+        plugin_version = settings.get("plugin_install_version")
+
+        if auto_install:
+            version_info = (
+                f"version {plugin_version}"
+                if plugin_version
+                else f"current ACA-Py version ({acapy_version})"
+            )
+            # Always print to console for visibility
+            plugins_str = ", ".join(external_plugins)
+            print(
+                f"Auto-installing plugins from acapy-plugins repository: "
+                f"{plugins_str} ({version_info})"
+            )
+            LOGGER.info(
+                "Auto-installing plugins from acapy-plugins repository: %s (%s)",
+                ", ".join(external_plugins),
+                version_info,
+            )
+
+            failed_plugins = install_plugins_from_config(
+                plugin_names=external_plugins,
+                auto_install=auto_install,
+                plugin_version=plugin_version,
+            )
+
+            if failed_plugins:
+                LOGGER.error(
+                    "Failed to install the following plugins: %s",
+                    ", ".join(failed_plugins),
+                )
+                LOGGER.error(
+                    "Please ensure these plugins are available in the "
+                    "acapy-plugins repository or install them manually before "
+                    "starting ACA-Py."
+                )
+                sys.exit(1)
+
     # Set ledger to read-only if explicitly specified
     settings["ledger.read_only"] = settings.get("read_only_ledger", False)
 

acapy_agent/config/argparse.py

@@ -705,6 +705,23 @@ def add_arguments(self, parser: ArgumentParser):
             ),
         )
 
+        parser.add_argument(
+            "--auto-install-plugins",
+            dest="auto_install_plugins",
+            nargs="?",
+            const=True,
+            default=False,
+            metavar="<version>",
+            env_var="ACAPY_AUTO_INSTALL_PLUGINS",
+            help=(
+                "Automatically install missing plugins from the "
+                "acapy-plugins repository. If specified without a value, uses "
+                "current ACA-Py version. If a version is provided (e.g., 1.3.2), "
+                "uses that version for plugin installation. "
+                "Default: false (disabled)."
+            ),
+        )
+
         parser.add_argument(
             "--storage-type",
             type=str,
@@ -803,6 +820,26 @@ def get_settings(self, args: Namespace) -> dict:
                     reduce(lambda v, k: {k: v}, key.split(".")[::-1], value),
                 )
 
+        # Auto-install plugins: can be True (use current version),
+        # version string (e.g., "1.3.2"), or False
+        if hasattr(args, "auto_install_plugins"):
+            auto_install_value = args.auto_install_plugins
+            if auto_install_value is True:
+                # Flag present without value - use current ACA-Py version
+                settings["auto_install_plugins"] = True
+                settings["plugin_install_version"] = None  # Use current version
+            elif isinstance(auto_install_value, str):
+                # Flag present with version value
+                settings["auto_install_plugins"] = True
+                settings["plugin_install_version"] = auto_install_value
+            else:
+                # False or None - disabled
+                settings["auto_install_plugins"] = False
+                settings["plugin_install_version"] = None
+        else:
+            settings["auto_install_plugins"] = False
+            settings["plugin_install_version"] = None
+
         if args.storage_type:
             settings["storage_type"] = args.storage_type