NUI Plugin System — Schema Reference

This is the technical reference for the runtime plugin system. For a step-by-step guide, see Creating a Plugin.

Architecture

Plugins are external FiveM resources. They register at runtime via Lua exports and provide declarative schema trees that EasyAdmin renders using its built-in React components. No plugin code is ever compiled into EasyAdmin.

External resource
  │  exports['easyadmin']:RegisterPlugin(config)
  ▼
EasyAdmin (shared/plugin_api.lua)
  │  stores registration, networks to clients
  ▼
NUI (React)
  │  receives registration via SendNUIMessage
  │  renders nav items, dashboard widgets, player tabs
  │
  │  user opens a plugin page:
  │  pluginCall(pluginId, renderAction) → schema tree
  ▼
SchemaRenderer
  │  maps schema nodes to built-in components
  │  button click → pluginCall(pluginId, action, data)

NUI source files

File	Purpose
nui/src/plugins/schema.ts	Schema node type definitions
nui/src/plugins/types.ts	Runtime plugin registration types
nui/src/plugins/store.ts	Plugin registry + NUI message listeners
nui/src/plugins/usePlugins.ts	Hook: collects & permission-filters contributions
nui/src/plugins/usePluginSchema.ts	Hook: fetches & manages schema from Lua
nui/src/plugins/SchemaRenderer.tsx	Maps schema nodes → built-in components
nui/src/plugins/hosts.tsx	Page/widget/tab host components
nui/src/plugins/bridge.ts	pluginCall Lua bridge

Lua source files

File	Purpose
shared/plugin_api.lua	RegisterPlugin export, NUI sync, client networking
client/nui/plugins.lua	pluginCall NUI callback, client handler dispatch
server/_plugin_bridge.lua	Server handler dispatch

---

Schema components

Every render handler returns an array of schema nodes. Each node has a type field that determines which built-in component is rendered.

Layout

card

A styled card container.

{ "type": "card", "children": [ ... ] }

row

Horizontal flex layout.

{ "type": "row", "gap": 3, "wrap": true, "children": [ ... ] }

Field	Type	Default	Description
gap	0\|1\|2\|3\|4	—	Spacing between children
wrap	boolean	false	Allow wrapping

col

Vertical flex layout.

{ "type": "col", "gap": 2, "children": [ ... ] }

divider

Horizontal rule.

{ "type": "divider" }

Text

heading

{ "type": "heading", "text": "My Page", "level": 2 }

Field	Type	Default	Description
text	string	—	Heading text
level	1\|2\|3\|4	3	Heading size

text

{ "type": "text", "text": "Some text", "variant": "muted" }

Field	Type	Default	Description
text	string	—	Text content
variant	string	default	default, muted, small, large, mono

Interactive

button

Calls a Lua handler when clicked. If the handler returns a schema, the view re-renders with it. Otherwise the original renderAction is re-fetched.

{ "type": "button", "label": "Refresh", "action": "refresh", "icon": "refresh", "variant": "ghost", "size": "sm" }

Field	Type	Default	Description
label	string	—	Button text
action	string	—	Handler action name
data	any	—	Payload sent to handler
server	boolean	false	Route to server-side handler
icon	string	—	Icon name
variant	string	ghost	primary, secondary, ghost, danger
size	string	md	xs, sm, md
disabled	boolean	false	Disabled state

copy-button

Copy-to-clipboard button.

{ "type": "copy-button", "value": "hello", "label": "Copy" }

Data display

stat-card

Metric card with icon.

{ "type": "stat-card", "label": "Players", "value": "8", "icon": "users", "iconColor": "var(--accent-green)", "bgColor": "var(--bg-green)" }

Field	Type	Description
label	string	Metric label
value	string\|number	Metric value
subValue	string?	Optional sub-text
icon	string	Icon name
iconColor	string	CSS color (use var(--...))
bgColor	string	CSS color (use var(--...))

key-value-table

Key-value pairs table. Rows with an action are clickable.

{
  "type": "key-value-table",
  "rows": [
    { "key": "Name", "value": "John" },
    { "key": "License", "value": "abc123", "mono": true, "action": "revoke", "actionLabel": "Revoke" }
  ]
}

alert

Alert banner.

{ "type": "alert", "variant": "warning", "title": "Heads up", "children": [ ... ] }

variant: info, warning, success, error.

badge

Small status badge.

{ "type": "badge", "text": "Online", "variant": "online", "icon": "check-circle" }

variant: default, online, offline, admin, warning.

icon

Standalone icon.

{ "type": "icon", "name": "users", "size": "md" }

size: xs, sm, md, lg.

tooltip

Wraps children with a hover tooltip.

{ "type": "tooltip", "content": "Help text", "children": [ ... ] }

timeline-entry

Timeline-style entry with title, time, body, and footer.

{ "type": "timeline-entry", "title": "Warning", "time": "2h ago", "footer": "Admin", "children": [ ... ] }

Charts

bar-chart

Horizontal bar chart.

{
  "type": "bar-chart",
  "items": [
    { "label": "Mon", "value": 12 },
    { "label": "Tue", "value": 8, "color": "var(--accent-orange)" }
  ]
}

Loading

skeleton

Loading placeholder.

{ "type": "skeleton", "height": 48, "width": "100%" }

---

Available icons

users shield settings server alert-triangle x search chevron-left chevron-right chevron-down chevron-up chevron-double-left chevron-double-right chevron-double-up chevron-double-down arrow-left arrow-right zap eye map-pin snowflake volume-x volume-2 camera ban log-out clock calendar star menu home archive plus edit trash trash-2 check refresh message-square globe flag flag-triangle activity gauge layers box user-minus external-link arrow-up-circle play square code git-branch layout-grid compass sliders mouse-pointer-click grip-vertical chart-bar maximize minimize history book-open info check-circle alert-circle download trending-up arrow-down-circle hard-drive database loader-2 discord github

---

Browser dev mode

npm run dev:browser runs the NUI outside FiveM. Mock plugin registrations and schema responses are in nui/src/mock/domains/plugins.mock.ts.