Backstage plugin development 101: introduction and a basic example

Backstage is an open-source project developed by Spotify and donated to the CNCF, designed to revolutionize platform engineering by organizing infrastructure through a comprehensive software catalog and enabling developer self-service actions. At the heart of Backstage are its plugins, which allow platform engineering teams to tailor its functionalities to their needs, creating a marketplace for plugins and spurring significant development. Although Backstage is open-sourced, it has introduced a paid subscription for certain value-added plugins like Insights, Soundcheck, and RBAC. Backstage's architecture, comprising a React frontend and a NodeJS backend, allows for extensive customization, requiring technical skills and familiarity with React, NodeJS, and TypeScript, making it well-suited for technical teams willing to manage and code their internal developer portals. The article provides a tutorial on creating a basic plugin, demonstrating Backstage's flexibility and the necessary steps to integrate and modify plugins within the platform.