Plugin System

Sentinel uses an opt-in plugin system where extensions subscribe to lifecycle events by implementing specific interfaces. The base interface requires only a Name() method — all hooks are optional.

Base interface01

type Extension interface {
    Name() string
}

Lifecycle hooks02

There are 16 hook interfaces organized by category. Extensions implement only the hooks they need.

Eval lifecycle

Interface	Method	When it fires
`EvalRunStarted`	`OnEvalRunStarted(ctx, suiteID, runID, model)`	Evaluation run begins
`EvalRunCompleted`	`OnEvalRunCompleted(ctx, suiteID, runID, passRate, elapsed)`	Run finishes successfully
`EvalRunFailed`	`OnEvalRunFailed(ctx, suiteID, runID, err)`	Run fails with error

Case lifecycle

Interface	Method	When it fires
`CaseStarted`	`OnCaseStarted(ctx, runID, caseID)`	Case evaluation begins
`CaseCompleted`	`OnCaseCompleted(ctx, runID, caseID, score, elapsed)`	Case evaluation finishes
`CaseFailed`	`OnCaseFailed(ctx, runID, caseID, err)`	Case evaluation fails

Regression

Interface	Method	When it fires
`RegressionDetected`	`OnRegressionDetected(ctx, suiteID, baselineID, delta)`	Performance regression found

Baseline

Interface	Method	When it fires
`BaselineSaved`	`OnBaselineSaved(ctx, suiteID, baselineID)`	Baseline saved

Red team

Interface	Method	When it fires
`RedTeamStarted`	`OnRedTeamStarted(ctx, suiteID, attackCount)`	Red team evaluation begins
`RedTeamCompleted`	`OnRedTeamCompleted(ctx, suiteID, bypassCount, elapsed)`	Red team evaluation finishes

Persona evaluation

Interface	Method	When it fires
`PersonaEvalStarted`	`OnPersonaEvalStarted(ctx, runID, personaName)`	Persona-aware evaluation begins
`PersonaEvalCompleted`	`OnPersonaEvalCompleted(ctx, runID, personaName, dimensions)`	Persona-aware evaluation finishes

Prompt versioning

Interface	Method	When it fires
`PromptVersionCreated`	`OnPromptVersionCreated(ctx, suiteID, pvID, version)`	Prompt version created

Comparison

Interface	Method	When it fires
`ComparisonCompleted`	`OnComparisonCompleted(ctx, suiteID, models, elapsed)`	Multi-model comparison finishes

Shutdown

Interface	Method	When it fires
`Shutdown`	`OnShutdown(ctx)`	Graceful shutdown

Registry03

The plugin.Registry type-caches extensions at registration time:

registry := plugin.NewRegistry(logger)
registry.Register(metricsExt)
registry.Register(auditExt)

When events are emitted, only extensions implementing the relevant hook are called:

registry.EmitEvalRunStarted(ctx, suiteID, runID, model)
// Only calls extensions that implement EvalRunStarted

Error handling04

Hook errors are logged but never propagated. Hooks must not block the evaluation pipeline.

Built-in extensions05

observability.MetricsExtension — Counters for all lifecycle events
audithook.Extension — Bridges events to an audit trail backend

Writing a custom extension06

type SlackNotifier struct {
    webhookURL string
}

func (s *SlackNotifier) Name() string { return "slack-notifier" }

func (s *SlackNotifier) OnRegressionDetected(ctx context.Context, suiteID id.SuiteID, baselineID id.BaselineID, delta float64) error {
    return postToSlack(s.webhookURL, fmt.Sprintf("Regression detected in suite %s: %.1f%% drop", suiteID, delta*100))
}

// Register:
eng, _ := engine.New(
    engine.WithExtension(&SlackNotifier{webhookURL: "https://hooks.slack.com/..."}),
)

← Previous

MongoDB Store

Observability