Birkly CMS downloads ship without bundled plugins. After a fresh install, the plugins/ folder is empty and you add extensions from the Birkly Marketplace. Official Birkly plugins (commerce, events, automation, user management) are free and install in one click from the CMS admin with no visible key. Paid official and third-party offers use Stripe checkout, then install from an entitlement with a fallback activation key.
From Guide: Open Guide → Journeys → Install your first Hub plugin for a short path through Hub Discover and Installed.
Fresh installs contain core CMS only: no commerce, events, automation, or user-management code in the download. Open Plugins → Hub in the admin to browse the catalog and install extensions. Free official plugins install in one click with a hidden entitlement. Paid official plugins show a price badge and Purchase CTA — complete checkout, then install from the entitlement or use the fallback activation key. Existing installs that already have plugin folders keep working; future updates for those plugins come from the marketplace (Hub tab).
Beginner
What changed
Older Birkly builds included official plugins inside the CMS zip. Current releases ship an empty plugins/ directory (with a short README). This keeps the core download small and lets you choose only the extensions you need.
First install workflow
- Download and deploy Birkly CMS (see Getting started).
- Log in to admin and complete onboarding if prompted.
- Open Plugins → Hub.
- Browse Official or filter the catalog for Birkly-published plugins.
- Click Install on a free official plugin (e.g. Commerce). No marketplace account or visible license key is needed.
- When install finishes, Enable the plugin if it is not enabled automatically.
- Repeat for other plugins you need. Install Commerce before Events if you plan to sell tickets (Events declares a soft dependency on Commerce for paid flows).
Onboarding hint
The setup wizard may suggest installing recommended plugins from the marketplace. You can skip this step and install later from Plugins → Hub.
Existing sites (grandfathered)
If you upgraded from an older build that already had plugins in plugins/, those copies continue to work. You are not required to reinstall them. When you want updates, use the Hub tab Update action (or reinstall from the marketplace) so checksums and entitlements stay in sync.
Official plugins
These four plugins are maintained by Birkly and listed on the marketplace as free offers:
| Plugin folder | Marketplace slug | What it does | Docs |
|---|---|---|---|
commerce | birkly-commerce | Payments, catalog, cart, checkout, orders | Commerce plugin |
events | birkly-events | Events, RSVP, paid tickets (uses Commerce) | Events functions |
automation | birkly-automation | Workflows, triggers, conditions, actions | Automation overview |
user_management | birkly-user-management | Registration, auth, tiers, permissions | User plugin |
Paid, trial, freemium, and subscription official offers (for example SEO Basics, Analytics Pro) also appear in the catalog with their pricing model. Paid checkout uses Stripe; no-card trials and freemium plans use entitlements without visible keys. See Marketplace — buyer entitlement and install.
Community plugins, themes, and template packs from other providers may be free or paid — see Marketplace — buyer entitlement and install.
Advanced Users
Release layout
The CMS distribution manifest excludes plugins/* except placeholder files. Official plugin source remains in the Birkly platform repository for development and CI; release zips are built separately and published to the marketplace registry API.
Dev and CI
Local development and automated tests use scripts/install-dev-plugins.sh in the Birkly repo to install plugin zips without the marketplace UI. Production and staging sites should use the marketplace client.
Registry and checksums
Each marketplace release includes a semver version, artifact URL, and SHA-256 checksum. The CMS verifies the checksum before extracting into plugins/. Paid installs also verify entitlement status and store a signed local token for offline grace. Override the marketplace base URL with BIRKLY_MARKETPLACE_URL or settings/marketplace.json for staging.
Production platform (Birkly Cloud)
| Surface | URL | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Public marketplace | https://marketplace.birkly.cloud | Catalog, registry API, buyer checkout |
| Provider Studio | https://providers.birkly.cloud | Seller signup, offers, Stripe Connect |
| Birkly Ops | https://ops.birkly.cloud | Staff admin, feedback inbox, install registry |
CMS installs use marketplace.birkly.cloud by default. Customer feedback relays to Ops when settings/platform.json includes feedback_relay_url (see docs/reviews/platform.json.example in the Birkly repo).
API gating
Core routes that depend on a plugin (e.g. automation webhooks, commerce APIs) return 404 or 503 when the plugin is not installed, instead of fatal errors.