README

composer-moodleorg is a Composer plugin that enables you to download and install plugins from the Moodle plugins directory.

Installation

Install the plugin with Composer:

composer global require vidalia/composer-moodleorg

Installing Packages

Moodle plugins aren't namespaced by default, which is a requirement for Composer packages. By default, plugins available from the plugins directory use the moodledotorg/ namespace.

For example, to install format_cards:

composer require moodledotorg/format_cards

Version Management

Moodle plugins aren't required to define SemVer versions, which is a requirement for Composer packages. Instead we munge the Moodle plugin integer version into a CalVer string that's compatible with SemVer. The Moodle version yyyymmddpp becomes yyyy.m.dpp, with leading zeroes removed.

For example, to install format_cards version 2024052100 you would use

composer require moodledotorg/format_cards:2024.5.2100

Rate limiting

The Moodle.org plugin directory is meant for human use, so automatically downloading a large number of packages triggers the rate limiter. By default, the plugin limits the number of concurrent HTTP requests by setting COMPOSER_MAX_PARALLEL_HTTP=1. It also imposes a 12-second cool-off period after downloading 12 files from Moodle.org.

The environment variables COMPOSER_MOODLEORG_THROTTLE_COUNT and COMPOSER_MOODLEORG_THROTTLE_SLEEP can be used to tweak the number of files to be downloaded, and the cool-off period in seconds.

You can disable throttling entirely with COMPOSER_MOODLEORG_NO_THROTTLE, which also prevents setting COMPOSER_MAX_PARALLEL_HTTP.