NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs · Lección

Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService

Explore y conecte proveedores en tiempo de ejecución mediante DiscoveryService y MetadataScanner para sistemas de plugins.

Lección 2 de 413 pasos

Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService es una lección gratuita de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs en CoddyKit. Esta es la lección 2 de 4. Puedes leer la lección completa abajo gratuitamente — luego la practicas en el navegador con un editor de código integrado y un tutor de IA 24/7. Forma parte de la ruta de aprendizaje de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs, y tu progreso se sincroniza en la web y la app de CoddyKit. El curso de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs incluye 4 lecciones en total.

Partes de esta lección aún no han sido traducidas y se muestran en inglés.

The Plugin Wiring Problem

In a plugin architecture, you don't know at compile time which handlers, strategies, or adapters will exist. A hexagonal core defines ports; plugins supply adapters. The challenge: how does the framework find and wire those adapters without you hand-registering each one?

  • Hard-coded arrays in a module are brittle — every new plugin edits core code.
  • You want providers to self-declare their role via decorators, then be discovered at runtime.

NestJS ships @nestjs/core's DiscoveryService and MetadataScanner exactly for this. They let you scan the live DI container and react to metadata.

Marking Providers with a Decorator

The pattern starts with a custom decorator that stamps metadata onto a class. We use SetMetadata (or Reflector.createDecorator) so the scanner can later filter for it.

Here a @Plugin() decorator tags a class as a discoverable plugin and carries a name so the registry can key on it.

import { SetMetadata } from '@nestjs/common';

export const PLUGIN_KEY = 'app:plugin';

export interface PluginMeta {
  name: string;
}

export const Plugin = (meta: PluginMeta): ClassDecorator =>
  SetMetadata(PLUGIN_KEY, meta);

// A plugin author writes:
@Plugin({ name: 'csv-exporter' })
export class CsvExporter {
  export(rows: unknown[]): string {
    return rows.map((r) => JSON.stringify(r)).join('\n');
  }
}

What DiscoveryService Gives You

DiscoveryService is exported by the DiscoveryModule. Inject it and you get two key methods:

  • getProviders() — every provider instance wrapper in the application container.
  • getControllers() — every controller wrapper.

Each item is an InstanceWrapper with .instance (the live object), .metatype (the class), and .name. You filter these wrappers by reading metadata off the metatype with a Reflector.

import { Module } from '@nestjs/common';
import { DiscoveryModule } from '@nestjs/core';
import { PluginRegistry } from './plugin.registry';

@Module({
  imports: [DiscoveryModule], // exposes DiscoveryService + MetadataScanner
  providers: [PluginRegistry],
  exports: [PluginRegistry],
})
export class PluginCoreModule {}

Scanning Providers on Bootstrap

Run discovery after the container is fully built. Implement OnModuleInit (or OnApplicationBootstrap if you need every module ready). Filter wrappers whose metatype carries your PLUGIN_KEY metadata.

Guard against null wrappers: some entries (value providers, request-scoped placeholders) have no metatype or no instance.

import { Injectable, OnModuleInit } from '@nestjs/common';
import { DiscoveryService, Reflector } from '@nestjs/core';
import { PLUGIN_KEY, PluginMeta } from './plugin.decorator';

@Injectable()
export class PluginRegistry implements OnModuleInit {
  private readonly plugins = new Map<string, object>();

  constructor(
    private readonly discovery: DiscoveryService,
    private readonly reflector: Reflector,
  ) {}

  onModuleInit(): void {
    for (const wrapper of this.discovery.getProviders()) {
      const { instance, metatype } = wrapper;
      if (!instance || !metatype) continue;
      const meta = this.reflector.get<PluginMeta>(PLUGIN_KEY, metatype);
      if (!meta) continue;
      this.plugins.set(meta.name, instance);
    }
  }

  get(name: string): object | undefined {
    return this.plugins.get(name);
  }
}

MetadataScanner for Method-Level Hooks

Sometimes the plugin point isn't the class but a method — e.g. @EventHandler('order.created') on individual methods. MetadataScanner walks every method of an instance's prototype so you can read per-method metadata.

Use getAllMethodNames(prototype) (modern API) and inspect each handler with the Reflector.

import { Injectable, OnModuleInit } from '@nestjs/common';
import { DiscoveryService, MetadataScanner, Reflector } from '@nestjs/core';

export const EVENT_KEY = 'app:event';

@Injectable()
export class EventBinder implements OnModuleInit {
  constructor(
    private readonly discovery: DiscoveryService,
    private readonly scanner: MetadataScanner,
    private readonly reflector: Reflector,
  ) {}

  onModuleInit(): void {
    for (const w of this.discovery.getProviders()) {
      if (!w.instance || !w.metatype) continue;
      const proto = Object.getPrototypeOf(w.instance);
      for (const method of this.scanner.getAllMethodNames(proto)) {
        const event = this.reflector.get<string>(EVENT_KEY, proto[method]);
        if (event) this.bind(event, w.instance, method);
      }
    }
  }

  private bind(event: string, target: object, method: string): void {
    // register target[method] as a listener for `event`
  }
}

The Method-Level Decorator

Pair the binder with a method decorator. Note it's a MethodDecorator — SetMetadata attaches the value to the method's descriptor.value, which is exactly what reflector.get(EVENT_KEY, proto[method]) reads.

This keeps the wiring declarative: a plugin author adds an annotation and the core binds it — no manual emitter.on(...) calls.

import { SetMetadata } from '@nestjs/common';
import { EVENT_KEY } from './event.binder';

export const OnEvent = (event: string): MethodDecorator =>
  SetMetadata(EVENT_KEY, event);

@Injectable()
export class InventoryPlugin {
  @OnEvent('order.created')
  reserveStock(payload: { orderId: string }): void {
    // adjust stock for payload.orderId
  }

  @OnEvent('order.cancelled')
  releaseStock(payload: { orderId: string }): void {
    // restore stock
  }
}

Modeling Discovery in Plain TypeScript

Strip away NestJS and the core idea is simple: a registry maps a key to an instance discovered from a list, then routes calls by key. This standalone model captures the registry semantics you'll wire to DiscoveryService.

The exact same Map-based lookup powers the real registry — only the source of instances differs.

interface Exporter {
  readonly name: string;
  export(rows: object[]): string;
}

class CsvExporter implements Exporter {
  name = 'csv';
  export(rows: object[]): string {
    return rows.map((r) => Object.values(r).join(',')).join('\n');
  }
}

class JsonExporter implements Exporter {
  name = 'json';
  export(rows: object[]): string {
    return JSON.stringify(rows);
  }
}

class Registry {
  private map = new Map<string, Exporter>();
  register(...plugins: Exporter[]): void {
    for (const p of plugins) this.map.set(p.name, p);
  }
  run(name: string, rows: object[]): string {
    const p = this.map.get(name);
    if (!p) throw new Error('Unknown exporter: ' + name);
    return p.export(rows);
  }
}

const reg = new Registry();
reg.register(new CsvExporter(), new JsonExporter());
const data = [{ id: 1, sku: 'A' }, { id: 2, sku: 'B' }];
console.log(reg.run('csv', data));
console.log(reg.run('json', data));

Discovery Timing and Lifecycle

Timing matters. The DI container is only complete at certain lifecycle phases:

  • onModuleInit — fires per module after its providers resolve. Fine if all plugins live in one module.
  • onApplicationBootstrap — fires once, after all modules initialized. Safest for cross-module plugin scanning.

Scanning too early yields an empty or partial provider list. Prefer onApplicationBootstrap when plugins can ship in feature modules loaded later.

import { Injectable, OnApplicationBootstrap } from '@nestjs/common';
import { DiscoveryService, Reflector } from '@nestjs/core';
import { PLUGIN_KEY, PluginMeta } from './plugin.decorator';

@Injectable()
export class PluginRegistry implements OnApplicationBootstrap {
  private readonly plugins = new Map<string, object>();

  constructor(
    private readonly discovery: DiscoveryService,
    private readonly reflector: Reflector,
  ) {}

  onApplicationBootstrap(): void {
    const found = this.discovery
      .getProviders()
      .filter((w) => w.instance && w.metatype)
      .map((w) => ({
        meta: this.reflector.get<PluginMeta>(PLUGIN_KEY, w.metatype!),
        instance: w.instance,
      }))
      .filter((x) => x.meta);
    for (const { meta, instance } of found) {
      this.plugins.set(meta!.name, instance);
    }
  }
}

Scope Pitfalls: REQUEST and TRANSIENT

Discovery sees singletons cleanly. Beware non-default scopes:

  • Scope.REQUEST / Scope.TRANSIENT providers may have wrapper.instance === null at bootstrap — there's no single instance to cache.
  • A discovered request-scoped instance would be stale and leak per-request state if you cache it.

Rule of thumb: keep plugins singleton-scoped. If a plugin truly needs request data, discover the class and resolve a fresh instance per request via ModuleRef.resolve() instead of caching the instance.

import { Injectable } from '@nestjs/common';
import { ModuleRef } from '@nestjs/core';

@Injectable()
export class ScopedPluginInvoker {
  constructor(private readonly moduleRef: ModuleRef) {}

  // metatype was discovered earlier; resolve fresh per request
  async invoke<T>(metatype: new (...a: any[]) => T): Promise<T> {
    return this.moduleRef.resolve(metatype, undefined, { strict: false });
  }
}

Validating and Guarding the Registry

A plugin system that silently swallows duplicates or missing contracts is a debugging nightmare. Add guards during discovery:

  • Duplicate names — throw, don't overwrite, so two plugins can't collide on one key.
  • Contract check — verify the instance implements the expected method shape before trusting it.

Failing fast at bootstrap turns a runtime plugin bug into a clear startup error.

private register(name: string, instance: object): void {
  if (this.plugins.has(name)) {
    throw new Error(`Duplicate plugin name: ${name}`);
  }
  if (typeof (instance as { export?: unknown }).export !== 'function') {
    throw new Error(`Plugin ${name} missing export()`);
  }
  this.plugins.set(name, instance);
}

Why This Fits Hexagonal Design

Discovery-based registration is the runtime glue of ports and adapters:

  • The core defines a port (an interface) and a registry keyed by capability.
  • Each adapter/plugin declares itself with a decorator — it depends on the core's contract, never the reverse.
  • Adding a capability means dropping in a new annotated provider; no edits to core wiring.

This inverts the dependency direction (the Dependency Inversion Principle) and keeps the core closed for modification but open for extension — the heart of plugin architecture.

Quick Check

You build a plugin registry that caches each discovered provider's .instance in a Map during onApplicationBootstrap. One plugin is declared with Scope.REQUEST. What goes wrong and what's the right fix?

Recap

You built a runtime plugin system on NestJS discovery primitives:

  • Tag plugins with a metadata decorator (SetMetadata + a PLUGIN_KEY), class-level for whole plugins, method-level for handlers.
  • Scan the container with DiscoveryService.getProviders(), filtering wrappers via Reflector; use MetadataScanner.getAllMethodNames() for per-method hooks.
  • Time it with onApplicationBootstrap for cross-module safety, and skip wrappers lacking instance/metatype.
  • Guard against duplicate keys and contract violations; keep plugins singleton-scoped, resolving via ModuleRef only when request scope is genuinely needed.

The payoff: a hexagonal core that's closed for modification yet open to new annotated adapters — zero core edits per plugin.

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Preguntas frecuentes

¿La lección «Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService» es gratis?

Sí — el texto completo de «Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService» es gratis para leer aquí en la web. Para practicarla de forma interactiva (editor de código integrado y tutor de IA 24/7) y desbloquear el resto del curso de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs, actualiza a CoddyKit PRO. El curso de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs incluye 4 lecciones en total.

¿Qué aprenderé en «Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService»?

Explore y conecte proveedores en tiempo de ejecución mediante DiscoveryService y MetadataScanner para sistemas de plugins. Practicas NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs con código real que ejecutas directamente en el navegador, y un tutor de IA 24/7 responde tus preguntas mientras trabajas en la lección.

¿Necesito experiencia previa para empezar NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs?

No se requiere experiencia previa. NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs en CoddyKit está estructurado para principiantes hasta estudiantes avanzados, así que puedes empezar aquí o desde el inicio y avanzar a tu ritmo. Esta es la lección 2 de 4.

¿Cuánto tiempo toma la lección «Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService»?

La mayoría de las lecciones de CoddyKit toman alrededor de 5–10 minutos. Cada una es compacta e interactiva, así que avanzas constantemente y retomas exactamente por donde dejaste en la web y la app.

¿Puedo escribir y ejecutar código en esta lección de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs?

Sí. Cada lección de NestJS Enterprise Backend APIs incluye un editor de código integrado, así que escribes y ejecutas código real directamente en tu navegador y obtienes retroalimentación instantánea de IA — sin configuración local necesaria.

Todas las lecciones de este curso

  1. Puertos y adaptadores para aislar el dominio
  2. Registro dinámico de proveedores con DiscoveryService
  3. Módulos cargados de forma diferida y feature toggles
  4. Puntos de extensión con la API de referencia de módulos
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