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+# Sample Plugin
+
+This plugin serves as a reference guide for best practices, build scripts and samples when writing Mattermost plugins. It also doubles as a testbed for verifying plugin functionality during release testing. See [server/README.md](server/README.md) and [webapp/README.md](webapp/README.md) for more details.
+
+The example implementations are primarily meant as illustrations to assist with developing your plugin. Feel free to base your own plugin off this repository, removing or modifying components as needed.
+
+## Getting Started
+Shallow clone the repository to a directory matching your plugin name:
+```
+git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-plugin-sample com.example.my-plugin
+```
+
+Edit `plugin.json` with your `id`, `name`, and `description`:
+```
+{
+    "id": "com.example.my-plugin",
+    "name": "My Plugin",
+    "description": "A plugin to enhance Mattermost."
+}
+```
+
+Build your plugin:
+```
+make
+```
+
+This will produce a single plugin file (with support for multiple architectures) for upload to your Mattermost server:
+
+```
+dist/com.example.my-plugin.tar.gz
+```
+
+There is a build target to automate deploying and enabling the plugin to your server, but it requires configuration and [http](https://httpie.org/) to be installed:
+```
+export MM_SERVICESETTINGS_SITEURL=http://localhost:8065/
+export MM_ADMIN_USERNAME=admin
+export MM_ADMIN_PASSWORD=password
+make deploy
+```
+
+Alternatively, if you are running your `mattermost-server` out of a sibling directory by the same name, use the `deploy` target alone to  unpack the files into the right directory. You will need to restart your server and manually enable your plugin.
+
+In production, deploy and upload your plugin via the [System Console](https://about.mattermost.com/default-plugin-uploads).
+
+## Q&A
+
+### How do I make a server-only or web app-only plugin?
+
+Simply delete the `server` or `webapp` folders and remove the corresponding sections from `plugin.json`. The build scripts will skip the missing portions automatically.
+
+### How do I remove unwanted hooks from the server?
+
+Simply delete the corresponding implementations (or files). The Mattermost server automatically
+identifies which hooks have been implemented when the plugin is started.