orchardcore-module-creator

Orchard Core Module Creator

This skill is for contributing a module to the Orchard Core source repository. For a module owned by an application that consumes Orchard Core packages, use the orchardcore-modules skill instead.

Prerequisites

• OrchardCore repository (working directory)
• .NET SDK 10.0+ installed

Module Creation Workflow

Step 1: Determine Module Type

What kind of module are you creating?

Type	Description	Key Components
Content Part	Adds data/behavior to content items	Part, Driver, Views
Content Field	Custom field type	Field, Driver, Views
Settings	Site-wide configuration	SiteSettings, Driver
Admin Feature	Admin pages/tools	Controller, Views, Menu
API	REST endpoints	Minimal API endpoint class + Startup route registration
Background Task	Scheduled jobs	IBackgroundTask

Step 2: Create Module Directory

# Create module folder
mkdir src/OrchardCore.Modules/OrchardCore.YourModule
cd src/OrchardCore.Modules/OrchardCore.YourModule

Step 3: Create Required Files

Every module needs these three files:

1. Manifest.cs - Module metadata
2. Startup.cs - Service registration
3. OrchardCore.YourModule.csproj - Project file

See references/module-structure.md for templates.

Step 4: Add Components Based on Type

For Content Part modules:

Models/YourPart.cs
ViewModels/YourPartViewModel.cs
Drivers/YourPartDisplayDriver.cs
Views/YourPart.cshtml
Views/YourPart_Edit.cshtml

For Admin modules:

Controllers/AdminController.cs
Views/Admin/Index.cshtml
AdminMenu.cs
PermissionProvider.cs

For Data-storing modules:

Migrations.cs
Indexes/YourIndex.cs

See references/patterns.md for code templates.

Step 5: Register in Startup.cs

public override void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    // Content part
    services.AddContentPart<YourPart>()
        .UseDisplayDriver<YourPartDisplayDriver>();
    
    // Services
    services.AddScoped<IYourService, YourService>();
    
    // Migrations (if storing data)
    services.AddDataMigration<Migrations>();
    
    // Permissions (if securing features)
    services.AddPermissionProvider<PermissionProvider>();
    
    // Navigation (if adding admin menu)
    services.AddNavigationProvider<AdminMenu>();
}