Installing plugins
Put a plugin folder where DNA scans for it, and check that it loaded.
A plugin adds nodes, panels or shaders, and it runs real code on your machine.
Installing
Unpack the plugin into its own folder inside your plugins folder:
~/.dna/plugins/<plugin-name>/That folder needs a plugin.toml at its root. Anything without one is skipped.
Then open View > Plugin Manager… and press Refresh, or restart. Every plugin directory is scanned at startup, so an installed plugin is back the next time you open the app.
There is no install dialogue. Dropping a .ntplugin bundle onto the app does nothing: the drop handler recognises images, video, audio, 3D models and .ntir node definitions, and logs anything else as unsupported. The bundle format, its Ed25519 signature check and the capability prompt that would go with them are written but not connected to any surface, so nothing inspects a plugin before its code loads. Unpack only what you would run.
The Plugin Manager
View > Plugin Manager… lists what loaded: display name, version, and a kind badge reading Rust, Shader, Native or Python, with how many nodes and panels it added.
Reload re-reads a Python or shader plugin from disk. Native and Rust plugins are refused and need a restart.
Remove unloads a plugin and unregisters its nodes.
Open Folder reveals that plugin's directory; Open Plugins Directory reveals the parent.
Refresh rescans everything.
A Failed to Load section lists plugins that did not start, with the error spelled out, so you can tell a version mismatch from a missing file or a trust refusal. Retry rescans them.
Saving a file does not reload anything. There is no file watcher on the plugins folder, so an edit takes effect when you press Reload.
Where DNA scans
Open Preferences > Plugins to see and extend the scanned set.
Plugin Directories lists the folders read at startup. The default folder is always shown; add your own with Add Directory… and remove ones you added with Remove. Native code in an added folder is loaded at startup, so only add folders you trust. The pane says so: Plugins load native code. Folders downloaded from the internet are blocked automatically. If your OS quarantined a folder, adding it is refused; relocate it or clear the quarantine first.
Installed Plugins repeats the loaded list with the same badges and the same errors, read-only.
Audio plugins (planned)
Installing DNA as an audio plugin (VST3, AU or CLAP) into your DAW's plugin folders is not available. The audio-plugin export target is declared but nothing constructs it, and the export panel offers only Media and Web. Audio reaches other apps today through the live outputs covered in Outputs.