> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.hollaex.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.hollaex.com/plugins/develop-plugins/development-walkthrough-hello-plugin/initialization.md).

# Initialization

{% hint style="info" %}
Initialization is a fairly simple step, but it does have a few options possible when defining the type of the plugin. Head over to the [*Advanced/Initialization*](/plugins/develop-plugins/advanced/initialization.md) section to see all the page types.
{% endhint %}

## First Step -  Dev Mode

To begin with, you are going to need to enable Dev mode. This is a vital step as it will allow 'on-the-fly-editing', giving the ability to see code changes quickly, without having to rebuild the exchange every time.

[Follow this page's steps,](/developers/run-dev-mode.md) and once you have the ability to see the 'hello-exchange' plugins information displayed on your browser (up to and including the '[*Checking Dev Mode is working*](/developers/run-dev-mode.md#checking-dev-mode-is-working)' section) come back here and let's get into making the new (very similar), '*hello-plugin*'.

## Initializing 'hello-plugin'

1. From the HollaEx root directory, in your terminal, access the plugins folder with: \
   `cd plugins`.
2. From the plugins folder, In order to initialize our *hello-exchange* plugin, run the following command:

<pre><code><strong>npm run add:plugin --plugin=hello-plugin --type=page
</strong></code></pre>

This command will create a *hello-plugin* folder in our plugins directory (`plugins/src/plugins/hello-plugin`), and will display a success message in the terminal (see below).

<figure><img src="/files/pI1b6MNDBiLOTvkK7okh" alt=""><figcaption><p>Accessing the plugins folder, and initializing the <em>hello-exchange</em> plugin</p></figcaption></figure>

Now the *hello-plugin* folder has been created for us (*hollaex-kit/plugins/src/plugins/hello-plugin*) with the command we just ran.&#x20;

Inside this *hello-plugin* folder will be a few other directories and files that will assist us, and where we will be adding our own files.

<figure><img src="/files/2bPI9MWASo6gZ3RabuFU" alt=""><figcaption><p>Our newly made hello-plugin, beside the hello-exchange that comes with the kit</p></figcaption></figure>