---
title: UI Integration
sidebarTitle: UI Integration
---

## Extending the Spacedrive Interface

Extensions are not limited to background tasks and data processing; they can also add new elements to the Spacedrive user interface. This is done through a `ui_manifest.json` file that is packaged with your extension.

This declarative approach allows extensions to add UI components without needing to write any frontend code. The Spacedrive application interprets this manifest and renders the appropriate UI elements.

### `ui_manifest.json`

Here is an example of what a `ui_manifest.json` file might look like for a Photos extension:

```json
{
	"sidebar_sections": [
		{
			"id": "people",
			"label": "People",
			"icon": "assets/people_icon.png",
			"query": "tags LIKE '#person:%'",
			"render_type": "list"
		}
	],
	"views": [
		{
			"id": "places_map",
			"label": "Places",
			"component": "map_view",
			"data_source": "query:exif_gps"
		}
	]
}
```

### Sidebar Sections

You can add new sections to the main sidebar in Spacedrive. Each section is defined by:

-   `id`: A unique identifier for the section.
-   `label`: The text that will be displayed in the sidebar.
-   `icon`: The path to an icon to be displayed next to the label.
-   `query`: A VDFS query that provides the data for this section.
-   `render_type`: The type of component to use for rendering the data (e.g., `list`, `grid`).

### Views

Views are custom UI components that can be displayed in the main content area. They are defined by:

-   `id`: A unique identifier for the view.
-   `label`: The title of the view.
-   `component`: The name of a core-provided component to use for rendering (e.g., `map_view`).
-   `data_source`: The source of the data for the view, which can be a VDFS query or another data source.

By using these declarative UI components, extensions can provide a rich user experience that is consistent with the rest of the Spacedrive application.
