By default, to add new assets to the Media Area through the interface, you can upload files from your computer. But plugins can define custom asset sources to allow contributors to upload assets from external providers.
For example, the Unsplash plugin present in the Marketplace allows to upload royalty-free high-resolution images:
Define custom asset sources Within a plugin you can define the assetSources
hook to expose new asset sources. Every source must specify an internal ID, and a name and a representative icon that will be shown in the interface.
import { connect } from 'datocms-plugin-sdk' ;
connect ( {
assetSources ( ) {
return [
{
id : 'unsplash' ,
name : 'Unsplash' ,
icon : {
type : 'svg' ,
viewBox : '0 0 448 512' ,
content :
'<path fill="currentColor" d="M448,230.17V480H0V230.17H141.13V355.09H306.87V230.17ZM306.87,32H141.13V156.91H306.87Z" class=""></path>' ,
} ,
modal : {
width : 'm' ,
} ,
} ,
] ;
} ,
} ) ;
Rendering the custom asset source When the user selects the custom source, a modal will be opened with the size you specified, and the renderAssetSource
hook will be called. Inside of this hook we initialize React and render a custom component called AssetBrowser
, passing down as a prop the second ctx
argument, which provides a series of information and methods for interacting with the main application:
import { connect } from 'datocms-plugin-sdk' ;
connect ( {
assetSources ( ) {
return [ { ... } ] ;
} ,
renderAssetSource ( sourceId : string , ctx : RenderAssetSourceCtx ) {
render ( < AssetBrowser ctx = { ctx } / > ) ;
} ,
} ) ;
As we just saw, a plugin might offer different asset sources, so we can use the sourceId
argument to know which one we are requested to render, and write a specific React component for each of them.
import { Canvas , RenderAssetSourceCtx } from 'datocms-react-ui' ;
type PropTypes = {
ctx : RenderAssetSourceCtx ;
} ;
function AssetBrowser ( { ctx } : PropTypes ) {
return (
< Canvas ctx = { ctx } >
Hello from the sidebar !
< / Canvas >
) ;
}
It is important to wrap the content inside the Canvas
component, so that the iframe will continuously auto-adjust its size based on the content we're rendering, and to give our app the look and feel of the DatoCMS web app.
We can use this component to render whatever we want. The important thing is to call the ctx.select
method to communicate to the main DatoCMS app the selected asset URL:
import { ButtonLink } from 'datocms-react-ui' ;
function AssetBrowser ( { ctx } : PropTypes ) {
const handleSelect = ( ) => {
ctx . select ( {
resource : {
url : 'https://unsplash.com/photos/yf8qPXQFDJE' ,
filename : ` sky.jpg ` ,
} ,
} ) ;
}
return (
< Canvas ctx = { ctx } >
< Button onClick = { handleSelect } > Select < / Button >
< / Canvas >
) ;
}
If you're generating your asset on the fly (ie. by rendering on a canvas), instead of a regular URL you can also pass a base64-encoded data URI:
ctx . select ( {
resource : {
base64 : 'data:image/png;base64,PD94bWwgd..' ,
filename : ` generated-image.png ` ,
} ,
} ) ;
You can also optionally specify some metadata to associate with the newly created upload:
ctx . select ( {
resource : {
url :
'https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1416339306562-f3d12fefd36f' ,
filename : 'man-drinking-coffee.jpg' ,
} ,
copyright : 'Royalty free (Unsplash)' ,
author : 'Jeff Sheldon' ,
notes : 'A man drinking a coffee' ,
tags : [ 'man' , 'coffee' ] ,
} ) ;
assetSources
Use this function to declare additional sources to be shown when users want
to upload new assets.
Return value The function must return an array of objects with the following structure:
Show structureProperties available in context The following information and methods are available:
ctx.currentRole The role for the current DatoCMS user.
ctx.currentUser The current DatoCMS user. It can either be the owner or one of the
collaborators (regular or SSO).
ctx.currentUserAccessToken The access token to perform API calls on behalf of the current user. Only
available if currentUserAccessToken additional permission is granted.
ctx.environment The ID of the current environment.
ctx.itemTypes All the models of the current DatoCMS project, indexed by ID.
ctx.plugin The current plugin.
ctx.site The current DatoCMS project.
ctx.ui UI preferences of the current user (right now, only the preferred locale is
available).
renderAssetSource
This function will be called when the user selects one of the plugin's
asset sources to upload a new media file.
Properties available in context The following information and methods are available:
ctx.account The account that is the project owner.
ctx.assetSourceId The ID of the assetSource that needs to be rendered.
ctx.currentRole The role for the current DatoCMS user.
ctx.currentUser The current DatoCMS user. It can either be the owner or one of the
collaborators (regular or SSO).
ctx.currentUserAccessToken The access token to perform API calls on behalf of the current user. Only
available if currentUserAccessToken additional permission is granted.
ctx.environment The ID of the current environment.
ctx.fields All the fields currently loaded for the current DatoCMS project, indexed by
ID. It will always contain the current model fields and all the fields of
the blocks it might contain via Modular Content/Structured Text fields. If
some fields you need are not present, use the loadItemTypeFields function
to load them.
ctx.fieldsets All the fieldsets currently loaded for the current DatoCMS project, indexed
by ID. It will always contain the current model fields and all the fields
of the blocks it might contain via Modular Content/Structured Text fields.
If some fields you need are not present, use the loadItemTypeFieldsets
function to load them.
ctx.itemTypes All the models of the current DatoCMS project, indexed by ID.
ctx.owner The account that is the project owner.
ctx.plugin The current plugin.
ctx.site The current DatoCMS project.
ctx.ssoUsers All the SSO users currently loaded for the current DatoCMS project, indexed
by ID. It will always contain the current user. If some users you need are
not present, use the loadSsoUsers function to load them.
ctx.theme An object containing the theme colors for the current DatoCMS project.
ctx.ui UI preferences of the current user (right now, only the preferred locale is
available).
ctx.users All the regular users currently loaded for the current DatoCMS project,
indexed by ID. It will always contain the current user. If some users you
need are not present, use the loadUsers function to load them.
Methods available in context The following information and methods are available:
ctx.alert() Triggers an "error" toast displaying the selected message.
ctx.createNewItem() Opens a dialog for creating a new record. It returns a promise resolved
with the newly created record or null if the user closes the dialog
without creating anything.
ctx.customToast() Triggers a custom toast displaying the selected message (and optionally a
CTA).
ctx.editItem() Opens a dialog for editing an existing record. It returns a promise
resolved with the edited record, or null if the user closes the dialog
without persisting any change.
ctx.editUpload() Opens a dialog for editing a Media Area asset. It returns a promise
resolved with:
The updated asset, if the user persists some changes to the asset itself
null, if the user closes the dialog without persisting any change
An asset structure with an additional deleted property set to true, if
the user deletes the asset.
ctx.editUploadMetadata() Opens a dialog for editing a "single asset" field structure. It returns a
promise resolved with the updated structure, or null if the user closes
the dialog without persisting any change.
ctx.loadFieldsUsingPlugin() Loads all the fields in the project that are currently using the plugin for
one of its manual field extensions.
ctx.loadItemTypeFields() Loads all the fields for a specific model (or block). Fields will be
returned and will also be available in the the fields property.
ctx.loadItemTypeFieldsets() Loads all the fieldsets for a specific model (or block). Fieldsets will be
returned and will also be available in the the fieldsets property.
ctx.loadSsoUsers() Loads all SSO users. Users will be returned and will also be available in
the the ssoUsers property.
ctx.loadUsers() Loads all regular users. Users will be returned and will also be available
in the the users property.
ctx.navigateTo() Moves the user to another URL internal to the backend.
ctx.notice() Triggers a "success" toast displaying the selected message.
ctx.openConfirm() Opens a UI-consistent confirmation dialog. Returns a promise resolved with
the value of the choice made by the user.
ctx.openModal() Opens a custom modal. Returns a promise resolved with what the modal itself
returns calling the resolve() function.
ctx.select() Function to be called when the user selects the asset: it will trigger the
creation of a new Upload that will be added in the Media Area.
ctx.selectItem() Opens a dialog for selecting one (or multiple) record(s) from a list of
existing records of type itemTypeId. It returns a promise resolved with
the selected record(s), or null if the user closes the dialog without
choosing any record.
ctx.selectUpload() Opens a dialog for selecting one (or multiple) existing asset(s). It
returns a promise resolved with the selected asset(s), or null if the
user closes the dialog without selecting any upload.
ctx.startAutoResizer() Listens for DOM changes and automatically calls setHeight when it detects
a change. If you're using datocms-react-ui package, the ``
component already takes care of calling this method for you.
ctx.stopAutoResizer() Stops resizing the iframe automatically.
ctx.updateFieldAppearance() Performs changes in the appearance of a field. You can install/remove a
manual field extension, or tweak their parameters. If multiple changes are
passed, they will be applied sequencially.
Always check ctx.currentRole.meta.finalpermissions.canedit_schema
before calling this, as the user might not have the permission to perform
the operation.
ctx.updateHeight() Triggers a change in the size of the iframe. If you don't explicitely pass
a newHeight it will be automatically calculated using the iframe content
at the moment.
ctx.updatePluginParameters() Updates the plugin parameters.
Always check ctx.currentRole.meta.finalpermissions.canedit_schema
before calling this, as the user might not have the permission to perform
the operation.