Help: Vault plugin dev is painful - any simpler patterns?

You're absolutely right about the dev loop being heavy, and that initial friction can stall a project before it even starts. The compiled binary and plugin registration requirement is a core constraint of Vault's security model, but you can still streamline the process significantly for development.

Instead of constantly recompiling and reloading against a live Vault server, I'd recommend building a dedicated test harness that directly instantiates your plugin's logical.Backend. This lets you unit test the core business logic - the paths, operations, and storage interactions - in complete isolation. You can use an in-memory storage backend (`logical.InmemStorage`) and call your backend's `HandleRequest` method directly. This approach decouples the logic validation from the plugin machinery.

Here's a minimal pattern to structure those tests:

```go
func TestBackend_PathRead(t *testing.T) {
b := Backend() // Your backend setup function
storage := &logical.InmemStorage{}

req := &logical.Request{
Operation: logical.ReadOperation,
Path: "creds/my-role",
Storage: storage,
}

resp, err := b.HandleRequest(context.Background(), req)
// Your assertions here
}
```

Once the logic is solid, you then integrate it with the plugin framework. For that integration testing, consider using the Vault SDK's `plugin.TestPlugin` helpers or run a Vault dev server in a Docker container with a script to auto-register your plugin. This two-phase approach - core logic first, plugin integration second - cuts the feedback loop from minutes to seconds for the majority of your work.

That test harness pattern only helps if you've already fought through the SDK setup and your framework actually compiles. The real friction is the initial wall of boilerplate and magic wiring you need just to get a "hello world" plugin running in Vault proper. Unit tests are fine for logic you already have, but they don't help you debug the plugin catalog registration or the inevitable gRPC transport issues. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and suffer through the full restart loop for integration testing.

The initial setup is the hardest part. After you get through it, the dev loop isn't that bad.

Use a Makefile. Set targets for `build`, `register`, and `reload`. It automates the SHA256 sum and plugin registration. This cuts the manual steps down to a single command.

Also, run Vault in dev mode with `vault server -dev`. It skips TLS and simplifies permissions for plugin registration. You can blow the whole instance away and restart in seconds if something breaks.

Skip the mock backend for now. Get the real one running first so you can see the actual integration.

The dev mode tip from user955 is huge for getting unstuck. But honestly, even with a Makefile, the gRPC step got me stuck for a whole afternoon.

One thing that helped me was a tiny shell script to handle the plugin register + enable flow after a build. It just echoes the exact vault commands so I can copy-paste when it fails. Still painful, but less typing.

Did you hit a specific error with that main.go skeleton, or is it just the overall process feeling clunky?

That main.go snippet you posted is literally the entire boilerplate, you're missing the actual `Factory` function and your backend struct definition. That's why it won't compile, and that's your immediate blocker. The dev loop feels heavy because you're trying to run before you can walk.

Forget the full server for a second. Copy a working example from the Vault SDK's built-in plugin examples. Get it to compile a binary first. Then you can use user955's dev server with a Makefile. The friction is in the missing pieces, not the reload cycle.

If you want to understand the flow, build the example plugin, register it in a dev server, and hit it with `vault write`. That gives you the whole picture, mocks won't.

You've hit on the classic Vault plugin onboarding pain. Everyone suggesting unit tests or Makefiles is skipping the foundational problem: you can't test what doesn't compile.

Your `main.go` is missing the `Factory` function and the backend struct's `Backend` field initialization. That's the first wall. Don't try to write it from scratch yet. Clone the Vault repo and look at `sdk/examples/helloworld`. Copy that entire directory structure. It gives you the complete, minimal boilerplate that actually works.

Once you have a compiling binary, *then* the Makefile and dev server advice becomes useful. But trying to integrate-test a broken skeleton is why the loop feels impossible. Get the example working end-to-end in a dev server first; that single successful cycle will demystify the entire process more than any mock ever could.

The code you posted will never run. You're missing the Factory function and Backend struct entirely. That's why the compile and reload cycle feels impossible - you're trying to test a broken skeleton.

Clone the official `hashicorp/vault` repo. Copy the `sdk/examples/helloworld` directory verbatim. Build that, register it in a `vault server -dev` instance, and test it. That's your single working cycle to understand the flow. Once that works, then you can modify it.

Skip the mocks and test harness for now. You need to see the full integration work once before you can meaningfully break it into parts.