feat: Add static plugin catalog sync

.github/pull_request_template.md

@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 - [ ] Plugin installs standalone (`uv pip install -e plugins/<plugin-dir>`)
 - [ ] Plugin docs regenerated if plugin docs, list, or metadata changed (`make plugin-docs`)
 - [ ] Documentation builds if docs changed (`make docs`)
+- [ ] `catalog/plugins.json` regenerated if plugin list or metadata changed (`make catalog`)
 - [ ] `.github/CODEOWNERS` regenerated if ownership changed (`make codeowners`)
 - [ ] Per-plugin `CODEOWNERS` file included (auto-created by `ddp new`)
 - [ ] NVIDIA SPDX headers on all files (`make check-license-headers`)

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.10"
           enable-cache: true
-      # test uses isolated venvs, not workspace sync
+      - run: make sync
       - run: make test
 
   validate:
@@ -60,5 +60,6 @@ jobs:
           path: |
             docs/plugins/**
             zensical.toml
+            catalog/plugins.json.new
             .github/CODEOWNERS.new
           if-no-files-found: ignore

AGENTS.md

@@ -198,5 +198,5 @@ Release facts:
 - [DataDesigner GitHub](https://github.com/NVIDIA-NeMo/DataDesigner)
 - [DataDesigner Latest Release Notes](https://github.com/NVIDIA-NeMo/DataDesigner/releases/latest)
 - [DataDesigner Plugin Authoring Guide](https://nvidia-nemo.github.io/DataDesigner/latest/plugins/overview/)
-- [data-designer-plugins authoring guide](docs/adding-a-plugin.md)
-- [data-designer-plugins plugin catalog](docs/catalog.md)
+- [data-designer-plugins authoring guide](docs/authoring.md)
+- [data-designer-plugins plugin catalog](catalog/plugins.json)

Makefile

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-.PHONY: sync lint format test validate docs docs-server plugin-docs check-plugin-docs codeowners check-codeowners check-license-headers update-license-headers check all bump release build-plugin validate-release test-plugin check-owner
+.PHONY: sync lint format test test-devtools test-plugins validate docs docs-server plugin-docs catalog check-plugin-docs check-catalog codeowners check-codeowners check-license-headers update-license-headers check all bump release build-plugin validate-release test-plugin check-owner
 
 # ── Setup ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
@@ -22,7 +22,12 @@ format:
 # Auto-discover plugins and test each in an isolated venv.
 # Catches dependency leaks that workspace-level testing misses.
 
-test:
+test: test-devtools test-plugins
+
+test-devtools:
+	uv run pytest devtools/ddp/tests/ -v
+
+test-plugins:
 	@failed=0; \
 	for pyproject in plugins/*/pyproject.toml; do \
 		plugin_dir="$$(dirname "$$pyproject")"; \
@@ -57,17 +62,23 @@ DOCS_DEV_ADDR ?= localhost:8000
 docs-server: plugin-docs
 	uv run zensical serve --dev-addr $(DOCS_DEV_ADDR)
 
-# ── Plugin docs & CODEOWNERS ──────────────────────────────────────────────
+# ── Plugin docs, catalog & CODEOWNERS ─────────────────────────────────────
 
 plugin-docs:
 	uv run ddp plugin-docs
 
+catalog:
+	uv run ddp sync catalog
+
 codeowners:
 	uv run ddp codeowners > .github/CODEOWNERS
 
 check-plugin-docs:
 	uv run ddp plugin-docs --check
 
+check-catalog:
+	uv run ddp sync catalog --check
+
 check-codeowners:
 	uv run ddp codeowners > .github/CODEOWNERS.new
 	diff .github/CODEOWNERS .github/CODEOWNERS.new
@@ -81,7 +92,7 @@ update-license-headers:
 
 # ── Aggregate targets ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 
-check: check-plugin-docs check-codeowners check-license-headers
+check: check-plugin-docs check-catalog check-codeowners check-license-headers
 
 all: lint test validate check docs
 

README.md

@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ This generates a complete plugin skeleton under `plugins/data-designer-my-plugin
 DataDesignerPlugins/
 |-- devtools/
 |   `-- ddp/                          # Monorepo management tooling (ddp CLI, dev-only)
+|-- catalog/                          # Machine-consumable plugin catalog data
 |-- plugins/                          # One directory per plugin (auto-discovered by uv)
 |   `-- data-designer-template/       # Reference implementation
 `-- docs/                             # Zensical documentation source
@@ -43,8 +44,9 @@ make lint               # Lint and format check (ruff)
 make format             # Auto-fix lint issues and reformat
 make test               # Test each plugin in an isolated venv
 make validate           # Run assert_valid_plugin on all entry points
-make check              # Verify generated plugin docs, CODEOWNERS, and license headers are up to date
+make check              # Verify generated plugin docs, catalog, CODEOWNERS, and license headers are up to date
 make plugin-docs        # Regenerate docs/plugins/ from per-plugin docs and metadata
+make catalog            # Regenerate catalog/plugins.json
 make docs               # Build the Zensical documentation site
 make docs-server        # Serve docs locally at http://localhost:8000
 make all                # lint + test + validate + check + docs (full local CI)
@@ -60,6 +62,7 @@ If you change plugin docs, plugin metadata, or ownership, regenerate derived fil
 
 ```bash
 make plugin-docs              # Regenerate plugin documentation site inputs
+make catalog                  # Regenerate catalog/plugins.json
 make codeowners               # Regenerate CODEOWNERS
 make update-license-headers   # Fix SPDX headers
 ```
@@ -71,6 +74,7 @@ The `ddp` command manages the monorepo. Run `uv run ddp --help` to see all subco
 | Command | Description |
 |---------|-------------|
 | `ddp new <name>` | Scaffold a new plugin |
+| `ddp sync catalog` | Sync the static plugin catalog JSON |
 | `ddp validate` | Validate all installed plugins |
 | `ddp plugin-docs` | Generate plugin docs site inputs |
 | `ddp codeowners` | Aggregate CODEOWNERS to stdout |

catalog/plugins.json

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+{
+  "schema_version": 1,
+  "plugins": [
+    {
+      "name": "text-transform",
+      "plugin_type": "column-generator",
+      "description": "Template Data Designer plugin \u2014 text transform column generator",
+      "package": {
+        "name": "data-designer-template",
+        "version": "0.1.0",
+        "path": "plugins/data-designer-template"
+      },
+      "entry_point": {
+        "group": "data_designer.plugins",
+        "name": "text-transform",
+        "value": "data_designer_template.plugin:plugin"
+      },
+      "compatibility": {
+        "python": {
+          "specifier": ">=3.10"
+        },
+        "data_designer": {
+          "requirement": "data-designer>=0.5.7",
+          "specifier": ">=0.5.7",
+          "marker": null
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  ]
+}

devtools/ddp/pyproject.toml

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 description = "Local dev-only monorepo management tooling for data-designer-plugins (not a runtime dependency)"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dependencies = [
+    "packaging>=24.0",
     # Backport of the stdlib `tomllib` (added in 3.11); only installed on 3.10.
     "tomli>=1.1.0; python_version < '3.11'",
 ]

devtools/ddp/src/ddp/__init__.py

@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@
 """Local dev-only monorepo management tooling for data-designer-plugins.
 
 This package is NOT a runtime dependency of any plugin.  It provides CLI
-tools for scaffolding, validation, plugin docs generation, CODEOWNERS
-aggregation, and license-header management across the monorepo.
+tools for scaffolding, validation, plugin docs generation, catalog syncing,
+CODEOWNERS aggregation, and license-header management across the monorepo.
 """