Gatsby Plugins

Gatsby plugins are reusable Node.js packages that extend Gatsby's build and runtime. They hook into Gatsby's lifecycle (onCreateNode, onCreatePage, onBuild, etc.), modify the GraphQL schema, fetch/transform data, and optimize assets. Each plugin solves one problem: sourcing data from Shopify, transforming markdown to HTML, optimizing images, etc. Gatsby's plugin ecosystem lets developers focus on features instead of build infrastructure. 300+ official plugins (gatsby-source-shopify, gatsby-plugin-image, gatsby-source-filesystem) cover common use cases. Custom plugins handle proprietary needs.