Node reference

Extension Before Update for Joomla

Extension Before Update is a Trigger in Joomla Events › Extension Events. Before an installed extension is updated.

Node reference

Overview

Extension Before Update is a Trigger in Joomla Events › Extension Events. Before an installed extension is updated.

Plugins can validate compatibility or backup settings.

Each run also includes who was logged in at the time and what kind of item was involved — see audit_user and audit_type in Payload Fields below.

This trigger is not connected yet — flows using it will not run until JOrchestrator adds support for this Joomla hook.

When this trigger fires, JOrchestrator starts the flow and passes the incoming event or request data to the next connected step. Configure filtering, payload shape, and security on the Design tab.

Why use this node

Extension Before Update is a trigger in the Joomla Events › Extension Events group. Triggers start a flow. They listen for an external signal — a CMS event, inbound HTTP call, payment notification, or schedule — and pass the incoming data to the first downstream step.

Typical reasons teams add Extension Before Update to a flow:

  • Automate backend work when Joomla fires ExtensionBeforeUpdate
  • Notify administrators or sync external systems on this CMS lifecycle event
  • Enrich or validate CMS data before it is persisted
  • Audit user, content, or extension activity without custom plugins

When it runs

Before an installed extension is updated.

Example workflows

Common patterns on the canvas:

  1. Extension Before Update → Send Notification (admin alert)
  2. Extension Before Update → Insert Row (audit log)
  3. Extension Before Update → If → Send Email / Update Article

Properties panel

The designer shows these tabs for this node:

TabPurpose
InfoPlain-language description and output payload fields for downstream steps
DesignTrigger configuration and payload schema

System (automatic — not edited by the user)

These fields are managed by the designer or runtime — you do not type into them directly:

Property keyLabelTypeRequiredVisible whenNotes
_nodeIdNode IDnode-idNo——

User-configured — General tab

Property keyLabelTypeRequiredVisible whenNotes
labelLabeltextNo—Node label

CMS site configuration (not on this node's properties panel)

Credentials, API keys, mailers, SMTP, and integration defaults are configured in the CMS plugin under Node Configuration, not per step on this node. Link the flow to a domain before testing CMS-backed fields.

Output payload fields

After this step runs, later nodes can reference these fields using placeholders such as {{extension_before_update.context}}.

Field keyTypeDescription
contextstringJoomla event context string.
subjectobjectEmail or notification subject line.
package.typestringNested field "package.type" from this node's output payload.
package.dirstringNested field "package.dir" from this node's output payload.
package.packagefilestringNested field "package.packagefile" from this node's output payload.
package.extractdirstringNested field "package.extractdir" from this node's output payload.
installerResultbooleanBoolean flag from this node's output.
messagestringHuman-readable status, error, or result summary.
audit_user.idnumberNested field "audit_user.id" from this node's output payload.
audit_user.usernamestringNested field "audit_user.username" from this node's output payload.
audit_user.emailstringNested field "audit_user.email" from this node's output payload.
audit_user.namestringNested field "audit_user.name" from this node's output payload.
audit_user.guestbooleanNested field "audit_user.guest" from this node's output payload.
audit_user.clientstringNested field "audit_user.client" from this node's output payload.
audit_typestringWhat kind of item triggered the event — for example article, category, or user.