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mvt/docs/development/custom_commands.md
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Donncha Ó CearbhaillandDonncha Ó Cearbhaill 097766a63b Add namespaced plugin configuration support (#894)
* Add namespaced plugin configuration support

Plugin packages need somewhere to keep their own settings, but MVT
rewrites its config.yaml with only the fields it knows about, so any
foreign section is dropped. Add MVTPluginSettings, a pydantic-settings
base class that gives each plugin its own file under the MVT config
folder and its own MVT_PLUGIN_<NAME>_ environment variable namespace.

Settings resolve from constructor arguments, then the environment, then
the plugin file, then the field defaults. Saving skips the values the
environment currently supplies, so credentials passed as environment
variables are not copied to disk, and writes through a private temporary
file so a settings file is never partially written or briefly readable
by other users.

* Add per-plugin data folders

Plugins had no sanctioned place to keep the data they persist, so the
plugin configuration documentation suggested a CACHE_FOLDER setting
defaulting to ~/.cache/example-plugin. That is a Linux convention which
is wrong on macOS, nothing expands or creates it, and it turns a path
into a setting a user can be asked to configure.

Add plugin_data_folder(), which returns the folder a plugin should use
for caches, downloaded artifacts, synchronization state or anything
else it writes to disk, and creates it if it is missing. The plugin
name is validated before anything is created, so a name holding a path
separator raises an error and leaves no folder behind, and calling the
function again returns the same folder with its contents untouched.

The folder sits under plugin-data rather than under the plugins folder
which holds the settings files. On macOS the configuration folder and
the data folder are the same directory, so reusing the plugins name
would leave each plugin's data folder in among the settings files.

Both the plugin-data folder and the folder of each plugin are created
with 0700 permissions. MVT is a forensic tool, and what a plugin keeps
there, such as API responses or sample metadata, is private by default.
The path is resolved on every call, as the configuration folder already
is, so it follows the current environment rather than whatever it was
when MVT was imported.

The documentation now points plugins at the helper, and the example
settings class carries a plain integer setting in place of its cache
folder.

* Derive the data folder of a plugin from its settings class

A plugin with a settings class already names itself in `plugin_name`;
passing the name again to plugin_data_folder() repeats it and can drift.
Add a `data_folder()` class method on MVTPluginSettings which returns
plugin_data_folder() for the class's validated plugin name (works on the
class and on an instance); plugin_data_folder(name) stays as the function
underneath for plugins without a settings class.

---------

Co-authored-by: Donncha Ó Cearbhaill <google@donncha.is>
2026-08-27 14:47:13 +02:00

3.4 KiB

Custom CLI Commands

MVT can load additional top-level commands into mvt-ios and mvt-android. Custom commands are different from custom forensic modules: commands add new CLI operations, while modules add analysis steps to existing check-* commands.

!!! warning

Custom commands run as trusted Python code inside the MVT process. Install
or load commands only from sources you trust. MVT does not sandbox
third-party commands, and the MVT maintainers do not maintain them.

Install a Command Package

Python packages can register a Click command or group for either MVT CLI. A minimal package can expose this command from my_mvt_plugin.py:

import click


@click.command()
@click.argument("path", type=click.Path(exists=True))
def summarize(path):
    """Summarize an acquisition."""
    click.echo(f"Summarizing {path}")

Register the object in the package's pyproject.toml. The entry-point name is the command users invoke:

[project.entry-points."mvt.ios.cli_plugins"]
summarize = "my_mvt_plugin:summarize"

[project.entry-points."mvt.android.cli_plugins"]
summarize = "my_mvt_plugin:summarize"

Use only the iOS or Android group if the command is platform-specific. After installing the package in the same environment as MVT, it appears directly in the appropriate CLI:

mvt-ios summarize ./ios-backup
mvt-android summarize ./androidqf-output

For a pipx installation of MVT, inject the plugin into MVT's environment:

pipx inject mvt my-mvt-plugin

When MVT is installed in an active virtual environment, install the plugin with pip in that environment.

Command packages that need their own settings, such as an API key, should store them in a namespaced plugin configuration file rather than in MVT's own config.yaml.

Load a Command File

For local commands that are not packaged, create a Python file that exports one Click command or group named cli:

import click


@click.command("case-summary")
@click.argument("path", type=click.Path(exists=True))
def cli(path):
    """Summarize a case directory."""
    click.echo(f"Summarizing {path}")

Pass the file before the custom command name:

mvt-ios --load-command ./case_summary.py case-summary ./ios-backup

--load-command can be repeated and also accepts a folder. MVT loads non-hidden top-level *.py files in sorted order and skips __init__.py. Every loaded file must export one cli object.

To load a file or folder on every invocation, set the platform-specific environment variable:

export MVT_IOS_CUSTOM_COMMANDS=./ios_commands
export MVT_ANDROID_CUSTOM_COMMANDS=./android_commands

Naming and Errors

Built-in MVT commands cannot be replaced. External command names must also be unique; when installed packages or environment paths collide, MVT keeps the first command and logs a warning. A collision from an explicit --load-command is a usage error.

A package entry point or environment command that cannot be imported appears as a marked broken command without preventing other MVT commands from working. Invoke that command to see its package or file source and the underlying error. An invalid command supplied explicitly with --load-command fails immediately with a usage error.

Installed command packages use the entry-point name as the CLI command name. The entry point must resolve to a click.Command or click.Group.