Shopware Extension Starter Templates

[lasomethingsomething]

(related to CLI; template would live in its own repo)

Goal: Provide an opinionated Shopware 6 extension starter that reflects real SWAG and production plugin patterns and supports LLM-assisted development without pretending to enable blind vibe coding. Users would be able create the plugins using the Shopware CLI. Aim is to reduce TCO by providing a templated guide to plugin design and eventual deployment.

Problem to solve

• Upgrade pain/high TCO
• Users with older SW versions may not have it, or all functionality. Always tied to your Shopware version.
• Devdocs plugin guide could be baked into the CLI itself, with plugin creation done via a <single command + plugin name>. Then: configure your plugin, add a listener, host events.

What we have

• bin/console plugin:create command (bin/console = CLI baked into Shopware core) to create plugins; is well-rounded (not really documented yet).
• command gives you multiple choices and you can get a different directory structure

Story 1: Scaffold a Structured Extension

As a Shopware developer, I want to generate a plugin with a production-aligned structure, so that I start from proven architectural patterns instead of inventing structure.

Acceptance Criteria

• Can use Shopware CLI to create the plugin
• Contains clear separation:
  • Core/Content (DAL entities)
  • Core/Service (business logic)
  • Core/Subscriber (event integration)
  • Resources/app/administration (admin module)
• Contains example admin navigation entry
• Contains example service and subscriber
• No business logic in bootstrap class
• Contains example entity
• Strict layer separation (no hidden coupling)
• Includes CHECKLIST.md for Store readiness

Story 2: Map Features to Existing Patterns

As a developer, I want clear integration points in the template, so that I can map my feature idea to an existing implementation pattern and reason about it (manually or with LLM assistance)

Acceptance Criteria

• Template documents:
  • How to add admin module
  • How to extend DAL entities
  • How to register event subscribers
  • Where to put business logic
• Architecture mirrors SWAG plugins and established 3rd-party plugins
• No “magic” abstraction layers beyond Shopware conventions
• Integration points are explicitly listed in README (e.g. “If you want X, go to Y”)
• Structure is predictable and stable enough for LLM reasoning
• No abstraction introduced solely for AI convenience
• Documentation clearly states:
  • LLMs assist but do not replace architectural understanding
  • Review responsibility remains with the developer
  • Production readiness requires domain knowledge

Non-Goals

• Enabling fully inexperienced developers to build Store-ready plugins without understanding Shopware
• Replacing architectural knowledge with AI tooling
• Automating production hardening

Examples/Inspiration

• https://github.com/shopware/braintree-app
• https://github.com/HEPTACOM/HeptacomShopwarePlatformAdminOpenAuth
• https://github.com/Adyen/adyen-shopware6
• https://github.com/shopwareLabs/us-dev-training

[lasomethingsomething]

See #872, and these proposed docs changes to the plugin guide:

• plugins/index.md
• plugins/plugins-base-guide
• creating-plugins