Install Extensions

Jan comes with several pre-installed extensions that provide core functionalities. You can manually add custom third-party extensions at your own risk.

Create Extensions

Jan currently only accepts .tgz file format for extensions.

Heads Up:

Please use the following structure and setup as a reference only.

You're free to develop extensions using any approach or structure that works for your needs. As long as your extension can be packaged as a .tgz file, it can be installed in Jan. Feel free to experiment and innovate!

If you already have your own .tgz extension file, please move forward to install extension step.

Extension Structure

Your extension should follow this basic structure:


my-extension/
├── package.json           # Extension metadata and dependencies
├── dist/                 # Compiled JavaScript files
│   └── index.js         # Main extension entry point
├── src/                 # Source code
│   └── index.ts        # TypeScript source
└── README.md           # Extension documentation

Required package.json Fields


{
  "name": "@your-org/extension-name",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "main": "dist/index.js",
  "types": "dist/index.d.ts",
  "jan": {
    "type": "extension",
    "displayName": "Your Extension Name",
    "description": "Description of what your extension does"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc",
    "package": "npm pack"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    // List your dependencies
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "typescript": "^5.0.0"
  }
}

Example Extension Template

You can find a template for creating Jan extensions in our example repository (opens in a new tab).

Install Extensions

To install a custom extension in Jan:

Navigate to Jan Data Folder:
Copy .tgz extension file into the extensions directory
Extract the .tgz file into its own folder under the extensions directory
Restart Jan

After restart, the ~/jan/data/extensions/extensions.json file will be updated automatically to include your new extension.

Configure Extensions Troubleshooting