Build a git status widget with a single bash script — no compilation, no SDK. This recipe is based on the real git-info example at plugin/examples/git-info/.

A widget in the CLI info bar showing your git branch and uncommitted changes:

git:main ✓          # clean
git:feat/x Δ3       # 3 changed files
git: —               # not a git repo

~/.xbot/plugins/git-info/git-info.sh:

#!/bin/bash
# Output format: "style|text" (style: dim, ok, warn, err, info, accent)

set -euo pipefail

branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD 2>/dev/null) || true
if [ -z "$branch" ] || [ "$branch" = "HEAD" ]; then
    echo "dim|git: —"
    exit 0
fi

changes=$(git status --porcelain 2>/dev/null | wc -l | tr -d ' ') || changes=0
ahead=$(git rev-list --count @{u}..HEAD 2>/dev/null) || ahead=0
behind=$(git rev-list --count HEAD..@{u} 2>/dev/null) || behind=0

status=""
[ "$changes" -gt 0 ] && status="${status}Δ${changes} "
[ "$ahead" -gt 0 ]   && status="${status}↑${ahead} "
[ "$behind" -gt 0 ]  && status="${status}↓${behind} "

if [ -z "$status" ]; then
    echo "ok|git:${branch} ✓"
elif [ "$changes" -gt 0 ]; then
    echo "warn|git:${branch} ${status}"
else
    echo "info|git:${branch} ${status}"
fi

~/.xbot/plugins/git-info/plugin.json:

{
  "id": "git-info",
  "name": "git-info",
  "version": "1.2.0",
  "description": "Shows git branch and working tree status in the info bar.",
  "author": "xbot",
  "runtime": "script",
  "entry": "bash git-info.sh",
  "permissions": ["ui.contribute", "hooks.subscribe"],
  "contributes": {
    "ui": [
      {
        "id": "git-branch",
        "slot": "infoBar",
        "priority": 10,
        "description": "Git branch name and dirty/clean status",
        "refreshInterval": "30s",
        "triggers": [
          "PostToolUse:Shell*",
          "PostToolUse:Cd*",
          "PostToolUse:FileReplace*",
          "PostToolUse:FileCreate*"
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

The plugin is discovered from ~/.xbot/plugins/<id>/plugin.json at startup. Restart xbot and you will see git:main ✓ in the info bar.

1. runtime: "script" — plugin.NewScriptRuntime() (plugin/script_runtime.go) spawns entry as an external process with a 10s timeout per run, on a refresh loop and on hook triggers.
2. contributes.ui[].slot: "infoBar" — declares a widget slot. scriptPlugin.Activate wraps each UI contribution in a widgetAdapter (plugin/script_runtime.go:163) and registers it via ctx.ContributeUI(ui.ID, ui.Slot, adapter, ui.Priority).
3. refreshInterval: "30s" — the script re-runs every 30 seconds (shortest interval across widgets wins).
4. triggers: ["PostToolUse:Shell*", ...] — after any Shell*/Cd*/FileReplace* tool completes, the script re-runs immediately (plugin/script_runtime.go:508 subscribeTrigger).
5. Output format style|text — parseScriptOutput splits on the first |; ok/warn/dim/info/err/accent map to WidgetSpan styles. Output without a prefix is rendered as plain text.

The script runs with the session working directory as its CWD (cmd.Dir = workDir in runScript, plugin/script_runtime.go:683), so git sees the repository the agent is currently working in. Outputs are cached per workDir per widget (outputs map[string]map[string]string) so multiple CLI sessions each see their own branch.

mkdir -p ~/.xbot/plugins/git-info
# copy git-info.sh and plugin.json there

Useful environment variables available inside the script (injected by runScript):

Next: Script Plugin development guide for the full environment and output contract.