# What exactly is a plugin? **URL:** \ **Category:** Plugins Development\ **Created:** [July 23, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/what-exactly-is-a-plugin/10064 "2020-07-23T22:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 2
**Author:** ![tiar](https://krita-artists.org/user_avatar/krita-artists.org/tiar/32/22_2.png) [@tiar](https://krita-artists.org/u/tiar)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://krita-artists.org/t/what-exactly-is-a-plugin/10064/2 "2020-07-24T01:37:10Z")
A plugin can define an action or a docker. If it’s an action, then you can assign a shortcut to it and when you use the shortcut, that action happens. If it’s a docker, then you get a docker with buttons and everything else, and those buttons can do stuff too. Scripts are kind of… you need to open the Scripter first to run it. With a plugin you already have all of it saved and you can access it more directly than going into a Scripter and then running a script. There is not really a way to access brush strokes though. There is lots of potential and lots of different purposes. You can check my Life Drawing Plugin for example - [Life Drawing Sessions plugin - version 0.9.1 (alpha) - update May 8th '20](https://krita-artists.org/t/life-drawing-sessions-plugin-version-0-9-1-alpha-update-may-8th-20/5798) - or there are also plugins to get nicer color selectors or other things. There is [Pigment.O plugin](https://krita-artists.org/t/pigment-o-plugin/4531) and [KanvasBuddy - a Minimalist Toolbar](https://krita-artists.org/t/kanvasbuddy-a-minimalist-toolbar/549) and lots of other things: [https://docs.krita.org/en/resources\_page.html#user-made-python-plugins](https://docs.krita.org/en/resources_page.html#user-made-python-plugins) There is a new scripting site in the making that has a section that shows all the actions and all the icons, you can get the link here: [New Krita Scripting website feedback](https://krita-artists.org/t/new-krita-scripting-website-feedback/10028) but it will be on [krita.org](http://krita.org) when it’s finished. --- _[View the full topic](https://krita-artists.org/t/what-exactly-is-a-plugin/10064)._