Remix lets you redesign a native plugin's layout. TRMNL keeps fetching and parsing the data, aka the tedious part, and you just write new markup.
Prerequisites
Developer Edition on your account.
A native plugin, configured and saved, for example Weather or Google Calendar.
Step 1 - Open the plugin you want to remix
Visit Plugins, open a native plugin, then click Edit Markup in the top corner.
TRMNL will create a private plugin called "[your plugin name] Remix" and open its markup editor. You'll notice a message like "Your data is under {{ <plugin> }}." This is is the variable name with all the data we've fetched and parsed for that native plugin.
If the original plugin is not on a playlist or in a mashup, TRMNL adds it to your device's playlist as a hidden item. This keeps its data fresh for the remix without showing the original on your screen.
Step 2 - Redesign
Write your own markup with the data from Step 2.
The fastest way is with the Code Agent panel in the markup editor. Describe the layout you want, for example "show only today's high and low in large text," and it writes and edits the markup for you. Learn more about the AI Agent here.
When you're happy with the new design, save and add the remixed plugin to your playlist.
Step 4 - You're done!
To point your remix at a different instance of the source plugin later, for example a second calendar, open the remix plugin's settings page and choose another one.
Which plugins you can remix
Native plugins: yes. These are the plugins TRMNL builds and maintains.
Third party plugins: no.
Recipes: you do not need Remix. Recipes are already forkable. Open the recipe and fork it to get your own editable copy. Note that a fork no longer receives updates from the recipe author.
Private plugins: you already own the markup, so open Edit Markup on the plugin directly.
What happens under the hood
Remix does in one click what you could always do by hand. A remix is a private plugin with two parts:
The Plugin Merge strategy, which reads the parsed data of another plugin on your account. The same data is available from the Plugin Data API.
A custom form field of type plugin_instance_select, which lets you pick which copy of the native plugin to read from.
If you want to build this yourself, for example to read from more than one plugin in a single screen, follow those docs and set up the private plugin manually.
For ideas, see the community designs in Introducing Data Mode. Each one can be downloaded + imported to your account for testing and inspiration.
Troubleshooting
I click Edit Markup and land on the upgrade page.
Remix needs Developer Edition. Upgrade, then click Edit Markup again.
I do not see an Edit Markup button.
Save the plugin first. The button also shows only when your current device can display markup, so switch to your TRMNL device in the device menu if you have more than one.
My remix shows no data.
Open the original plugin and click Force Refresh. Your remix shows whatever the original last fetched, so if the original is empty, the remix is empty too.