Create a Plugin

20 minutes. That’s all it takes to build a plugin that generates AI videos from text prompts. No boilerplate, no complex setup - just code that works.

Video Tutorial: Plugin Power: Add Superpowers to Your Agents

What We’ll Build

This guide shows how to build a fal.ai plugin that lets your agent generate 6-second, 768p videos from text prompts using the MiniMax Hailuo-02 model. For architectural concepts, see Plugin Architecture. You’ll learn:

Actions (what the agent can DO)
Progressive development (start simple, organize as you grow)
Local plugin testing (character.plugins array method)
Plugin testing (component and E2E tests)

For component details and patterns, see Plugin Components and Plugin Patterns.

Step 1: Quick Start

Create Project and Plugin

Create a project with a plugin inside using CLI commands:

Create project

Terminal

elizaos create --type project my-eliza-project

Configure when prompted:

Database: PgLite (perfect for local development)
Model: OpenAI

Terminal

cd my-eliza-project

Create plugin inside project

Terminal

elizaos create --type plugin plugin-fal-ai

When prompted, choose Quick Plugin (we don’t need frontend UI)Your structure now looks like:

my-eliza-project/
├── src/character.ts       # Default Eliza character
└── plugin-fal-ai/         # 👈 Plugin lives alongside project
    ├── src/
    │   ├── index.ts       # Plugin exports
    │   ├── plugin.ts      # Main plugin (start here)
    │   └── __tests__/     # Plugin tests
    └── package.json

Add plugin to character

In my-eliza-project/src/character.ts, add the local path to Eliza’s plugins array:

src/character.ts

export const character: Character = {
  name: 'Eliza',
  plugins: [
    '@elizaos/plugin-sql',
    '@elizaos/plugin-openai',
    '@elizaos/plugin-bootstrap',
    './plugin-fal-ai'
  ],
};

Connect and Test

Build plugin and test connection

The plugin needs to be built first to create the dist/ folder that ElizaOS loads from:

Terminal

# Build the plugin first
cd plugin-fal-ai
bun run build

# Go back to project and start
cd ..
elizaos start

Verify it’s loaded:

Check the console logs for Successfully loaded plugin 'plugin-fal-ai'
Visit http://localhost:3000 → click your agent → Plugins tab

Step 2: Development

Research the API

Let’s research what we want to build by exploring fal.ai for a good text-to-video model. MiniMax Hailuo-02 Text to Video looks pretty good.

Navigate to the JavaScript/Typescript section of the docs to see how to call the API:
- Install: bun add @fal-ai/client
- Import: import { fal } from "@fal-ai/client"
- Use: fal.subscribe("model-endpoint", { input: {...} })
- Returns: { data, requestId }

Now we know exactly what to build and how to call it, so let’s start developing our plugin.

Edit Default Plugin Template

Add fal.ai dependency

Terminal

cd plugin-fal-ai
bun add @fal-ai/client

This adds the fal.ai client package to your plugin dependencies.

Study the template structure

Open plugin-fal-ai/src/plugin.ts to see the sample code patterns for plugins:

quickAction - example Action (what agent can DO)
quickProvider - example Provider (gives agent CONTEXT)
StarterService - example Service (manages state/connections)
Plugin events, routes, models - other comprehensive patterns

Create your text-to-video action using plugin patterns

Copy the plugin file and rename it to create your action:

Terminal

mkdir src/actions
cp src/plugin.ts src/actions/generateVideo.ts

Now let’s edit the example plugin into our generateVideo action:Add the fal.ai import (from the fal.ai docs):

src/actions/generateVideo.ts

import {
  Action, ActionResult, IAgentRuntime, Memory, HandlerCallback, State, logger
} from '@elizaos/core';
import { fal } from '@fal-ai/client'; 

Update the action identity for video generation:

const quickAction: Action = { 
export const generateVideoAction: Action = { 
  name: 'QUICK_ACTION', 
  name: 'TEXT_TO_VIDEO', 
  similes: ['GREET', 'SAY_HELLO', 'HELLO_WORLD'], 
  similes: ['CREATE_VIDEO', 'MAKE_VIDEO', 'GENERATE_VIDEO', 'VIDEO_FROM_TEXT'], 
  description: 'Responds with a simple hello world message', 
  description: 'Generate a video from text using MiniMax Hailuo-02', 

Replace validation with API key check:

  validate: async (_runtime, _message, _state) => { 
    return true; // Always valid
  }, 
  validate: async (runtime: IAgentRuntime, message: Memory) => { 
    const falKey = runtime.getSetting('FAL_KEY'); 
    if (!falKey) { 
      logger.error('FAL_KEY not found in environment variables'); 
      return false; 
    } 
    return true; 
  }, 

Replace hello world logic with video generation:

  handler: async (_runtime, message, _state, _options, callback) => { 
    const response = 'Hello world!'; 
    
    if (callback) { 
      await callback({ 
        text: response, 
        actions: ['QUICK_ACTION'], 
        source: message.content.source, 
      }); 
    } 
    
    return { 
      text: response, 
      success: true, 
      data: { actions: ['QUICK_ACTION'], source: message.content.source } 
    }; 
  }, 
  handler: async ( 
    runtime: IAgentRuntime, 
    message: Memory, 
    state: State | undefined, 
    options: any, 
    callback?: HandlerCallback
  ): Promise<ActionResult> => { 
    try { 
      fal.config({ credentials: runtime.getSetting('FAL_KEY') }); 
      let prompt = message.content.text.replace(/^(create video:|make video:)/i, '').trim(); 
      if (!prompt) return { success: false, text: 'I need a description' }; 
      
      const result = await fal.subscribe("fal-ai/minimax/hailuo-02/standard/text-to-video", { 
        input: { prompt, duration: "6" }, logs: true
      }); 
      
      const videoUrl = result.data.video.url; 
      if (callback) await callback({ text: `✅ Video ready! ${videoUrl}` }); 
      return { success: true, text: 'Video generated', data: { videoUrl, prompt } }; 
    } catch (error) { 
      return { success: false, text: `Failed: ${error.message}` }; 
    } 
  }, 

Update examples for video conversations:

  examples: [ 
    [{ 
      name: '{{name1}}', 
      content: { text: 'Can you say hello?' } 
    }, { 
      name: '{{name2}}', 
      content: { text: 'hello world!', actions: ['QUICK_ACTION'] } 
    }] 
  ], 
  examples: [ 
    [{ name: '{{user}}', content: { text: 'Create video: dolphins jumping' } }, 
     { name: '{{agent}}', content: { text: 'Creating video!', actions: ['TEXT_TO_VIDEO'] }}] 
  ], 
};

Update index.ts to use your action

Finally, update src/index.ts to use our new plugin:

src/index.ts

import { Plugin } from '@elizaos/core';
import { generateVideoAction } from './actions/generateVideo'; 

export const falaiPlugin: Plugin = { 
  name: 'fal-ai', 
  description: 'Generate videos using fal.ai MiniMax Hailuo-02', 
  actions: [generateVideoAction], 
  providers: [], 
  services: [] 
}; 

export default falaiPlugin; 
export { generateVideoAction }; 

You can reference plugin.ts as well as other plugins from the Plugin Registry to see other plugin component examples (providers, services, etc.) as you expand your plugin.

Add Configuration

Get your fal.ai API key

Get an API key from fal.ai and copy/paste it into your .env:

.env

PGLITE_DATA_DIR=./.eliza/.elizadb
OPENAI_API_KEY=your_openai_key_here

FAL_KEY=your_fal_key_here

Step 3: Testing

Test Plugin Functionality

Verify your plugin works as expected:

Test the updated plugin

First rebuild your plugin to effect our changes, then start from project root:

Terminal

# Build the plugin first
cd plugin-fal-ai
bun run build

# Start from project root  
cd ..
elizaos start

Test video generation

Try your new action by chatting with Eliza in the GUI (http://localhost:3000):

"Create video: dolphins jumping in ocean"
"Make video: cat playing piano"
"Generate video: sunset over mountains"

You should see the video generation process and get a URL to view the result!

Plugin Component Tests

Plugins come default with component and E2E tests. Let’s add custom component tests:

Add a component test

Update plugin-fal-ai/src/__tests__/plugin.test.ts:

src/__tests__/plugin.test.ts

import { describe, it, expect } from 'bun:test';
import { falaiPlugin, generateVideoAction } from '../index'; 

describe('FAL AI Plugin', () => {
  it('action validates with FAL_KEY', async () => { 
    const mockRuntime = { 
      getSetting: (key: string) => key === 'FAL_KEY' ? 'test-key' : null
    }; 
    
    const isValid = await generateVideoAction.validate(mockRuntime as any, {} as any); 
    expect(isValid).toBe(true); 
  }); 
});

Run component tests

Terminal

cd plugin-fal-ai
elizaos test --type component

Plugin E2E Tests

Let’s also add a custom E2E test:

Add an E2E test

Update src/__tests__/e2e/plugin-fal-ai.e2e.ts:

src/__tests__/e2e/plugin-fal-ai.e2e.ts

export const FalAiTestSuite = { 
  name: 'fal-ai-video-generation', 
  tests: [{ 
    name: 'should find video action in runtime', 
    fn: async (runtime) => { 
      const action = runtime.actions.find(a => a.name === 'TEXT_TO_VIDEO'); 
      if (!action) throw new Error('TEXT_TO_VIDEO action not found'); 
    } 
  }] 
}; 

Run E2E tests

Terminal

cd plugin-fal-ai  
elizaos test --type e2e

Step 4: Possible Next Steps

Congratulations! You now have a working video generation plugin. Here are some ways you can improve it:

Enhance Your Action

Add more similes - Handle requests like “animate this”, “video of”, “show me a clip of”
Better examples - Add more conversation examples so Eliza learns different chat patterns
Error handling - Handle rate limits, invalid prompts, or API timeouts

Add Plugin Components

Providers - Give your agent context about recent videos or video history
Evaluators - Track analytics, log successful generations, or rate video quality
Services - Add queueing for multiple video requests or caching for common prompts

The possibilities are endless!

Publish a Plugin

Share your plugin with the elizaOS community

Contribute to Core

Help improve elizaOS by contributing to the core framework

Plugin Registry

Explore existing plugins and find inspiration

CLI Reference

Master all elizaOS CLI commands for plugin development

GETTING STARTED

GUIDES

PROJECTS

AGENTS

PLUGINS

RUNTIME

TOKEN

What We’ll Build

Step 1: Quick Start

Create Project and Plugin

Connect and Test

Step 2: Development

Research the API

Edit Default Plugin Template

Add Configuration

Step 3: Testing

Test Plugin Functionality

Plugin Component Tests

Plugin E2E Tests

Step 4: Possible Next Steps

Enhance Your Action

Add Plugin Components

See Also

Publish a Plugin

Contribute to Core

Plugin Registry

CLI Reference

GETTING STARTED

GUIDES

PROJECTS

AGENTS

PLUGINS

RUNTIME

TOKEN

Documentation Index

​What We’ll Build

​Step 1: Quick Start

​Create Project and Plugin

​Connect and Test

​Step 2: Development

​Research the API

​Edit Default Plugin Template

​Add Configuration

​Step 3: Testing

​Test Plugin Functionality

​Plugin Component Tests

​Plugin E2E Tests

​Step 4: Possible Next Steps

​Enhance Your Action

​Add Plugin Components

​See Also

Publish a Plugin

Contribute to Core

Plugin Registry

CLI Reference

What We’ll Build

Step 1: Quick Start

Create Project and Plugin

Connect and Test

Step 2: Development

Research the API

Edit Default Plugin Template

Add Configuration

Step 3: Testing

Test Plugin Functionality

Plugin Component Tests

Plugin E2E Tests

Step 4: Possible Next Steps

Enhance Your Action

Add Plugin Components

See Also