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P4 Server Administration Documentation | 2026.1

# Server Extension JSON manifest fields

The server extension manifest is a UTF-8 encoded JSON file containing supporting metadata that the P4 Serverr uses.

## Fields

Name | Description
--- | ---
`api_version` | The version of the API exposed to the runtime. Valid values are: '1' (2018.2) and '20191' (2019.1). This is a required field.
`compatible_products` | An array enumerating the list of Perforce P4 products the server extension works with. Valid values are `p4` or `p4d`. This is a required field.
`default_locale` | When no locale is specified or detected, use this value for translated messages. This is a required field.
`description` | A block of text giving a high-level description of the server extension. This is a required field.
`developer` | The name of the server extension developer (or company). This is a required field.
`homepage_url` | URL where information regarding the server extension can be found. This is a required field.
`key` | UUID for the server extension. The sample server extension created by the p4 extension --sample command creates a random value for this, but any valid UUID can be used. This is a required field.
`license` | The name of the license the server extension is released under. This is a required field.
`license_body` | The body of the license text.
`limit_instance` | When set to `multiple`, which is the default, users can create multiple instance configurations of the extension. When set to `single`, users receive a message that additional instance configurations of that extension are not allowed.
`manifest_version` | This number specifies the format of the manifest. Incompatible changes to the manifest in future server releases will increment it. Valid value is 1. This is a required field.
`name` | This is the name of the server extension. It must consist of the characters in [0-9a-zA-Z_-], that is, number, letters, underscore, and hyphen. No other special characters are allowed. The name is a required field.
`namespace` | This is the organization that authored the server extension. For example, ExampleInc. This, combined with the name field form the fully-qualified name for the server extension. For example, ExampleInc::extName and this is a required field.
`require_user` | This boolean determines whether the `ExtP4USER` specification field is required, which is the default in 2025.2 and later. For an Extension to run P4 commands against the server, the extension needs a P4 user account. If the extension does not need to run P4 commands, the `require_user` field can be set to `false`. and that extensions doe not need a user account. To learn more, see ExtP4USER under Fields that can be modified in the extension configuration spec.
`script_runtime` | Name and version of the scripting runtime. Valid values are: 'Lua' and '5.3'. For example, "language":"Lua", "version":"5.3"
`supported_locales` | List of locales the server extension will work with.
`update_url` | URL where automatic updates can be checked for.
`version` | This is the numeric version of the server extension. For example, 1.2.3 and this is a required field.
`version_name` | This is the named version string of the server extension. For example, '1.2.3 alpha' or "1.2.3 alpha" The ‘Perforce’ and ‘Helix’ names are reserved for Perforce, so do not use them for server extension that you write.

## Example manifest.json

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    {
        "manifest_version":1,
        "api_version":1,
        "script_runtime":{
        "language":"Lua",
        "version":"5.3"
        },
        "key":"aaaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaa-aaaaa",
        "name":"ExtName",
        "namespace":"ExampleInc",
        "version":"1.0",
        "version_name":"1.0 beta",
        "limit_instance":"single",
        "description":"Example Extension to illustrate concepts.",
        "compatible_products":[
    "p4d"
        ],
        "default_locale":"en",
        "supported_locales":[
            "en",
            "jp"
        ],
        "developer":{
            "name":"Example Extensions Inc.",
            "url":"https://p4-extensions.example.com/"
        },
        "homepage_url":"https://p4-extensions.example.org/ExtName",
        "license":"BSD",
        "license_body":"Redistribution and use in source and binary forms..."
    }

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