Optionally load plugins config from environment

PLUGINS.md

@@ -3,11 +3,18 @@
 Plugins for Talk can take various forms, currently we are only supporting server
 side plugins.
 
-## Plugin Registration: `plugins.json`
+## Plugin Registration
 
-All plugins must be registered in the root file `plugins.json`.
+The parsing order for the plugin regsitration is as follows:
 
-The format for this file is thus:
+- `process.env.TALK_PLUGINS_JSON`
+- `plugins.json`
+- `plugins.default.json`
+
+If you need to "disable all plugins", you can simply provide `{}` as the
+contents of `process.env.TALK_PLUGINS_JSON` or the `plugins.json`.
+
+The format for this is thus:
 
 ```json
 {
@@ -18,7 +25,7 @@ The format for this file is thus:
 ```
 
 Where we have a `server` key with an array of plugins that match the folder
-name in the `plugins/` folder. For example, the above `plugins.json` would
+name in the `plugins/` folder. For example, the above config would
 require a plugin from `plugins/people`, which must provide a `index.js` file
 that returns an object that matches the Plugin Specification.
 

README.md

@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ available in the format: `<scheme>://<host>` without the path.
 - `TALK_INSTALL_LOCK` (_optional for dynamic setup_) - Defaults to `FALSE`. When `TRUE`, disables the dynamic setup endpoint.
 - `TALK_RECAPTCHA_SECRET` (*required for reCAPTCHA support*) - server secret used for enabling reCAPTCHA powered logins. If not provided it will instead default to providing only a time based lockout.
 - `TALK_RECAPTCHA_PUBLIC` (*required for reCAPTCHA support*) - client secret used for enabling reCAPTCHA powered logins. If not provided it will instead default to providing only a time based lockout.
+- `TALK_PLUGINS_JSON` (_optional_) - used to specify the plugin config via the environment
 
 Refer to the wiki page on [Configuration Loading](https://github.com/coralproject/talk/wiki/Configuration-Loading) for
 alternative methods of loading configuration during development.

plugins.js

@@ -14,8 +14,12 @@ let plugins = {};
 try {
   let defaultPlugins = path.join(__dirname, 'plugins.default.json');
   let customPlugins = path.join(__dirname, 'plugins.json');
+  let envPluginJSON = process.env.TALK_PLUGINS_JSON;
 
-  if (fs.existsSync(customPlugins)) {
+  if (envPluginJSON && envPluginJSON.length > 0) {
+    debug('Now using TALK_PLUGINS_JSON environment variable for plugins');
+    plugins = JSON.parse(envPluginJSON);
+  } else if (fs.existsSync(customPlugins)) {
     debug(`Now using ${customPlugins} for plugins`);
     plugins = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync(customPlugins, 'utf8'));
   } else {