Overview of OpenVINO Plugin Library

.. meta:: :description: Develop and implement independent inference solutions for different devices with the components of plugin architecture of OpenVINO.

.. toctree:: :maxdepth: 1 :caption: Converting and Preparing Models :hidden:

Implement Plugin Functionality <openvino-plugin-library/plugin> Implement Compiled Model Functionality <openvino-plugin-library/compiled-model> Implement Synchronous Inference Request <openvino-plugin-library/synch-inference-request> Implement Asynchronous Inference Request <openvino-plugin-library/asynch-inference-request> Provide Plugin Specific Properties <openvino-plugin-library/plugin-properties> Implement Remote Context <openvino-plugin-library/remote-context> Implement Remote Tensor <openvino-plugin-library/remote-tensor> openvino-plugin-library/build-plugin-using-cmake openvino-plugin-library/plugin-testing openvino-plugin-library/advanced-guides openvino-plugin-library/plugin-api-references

The plugin architecture of OpenVINO allows to develop and plug independent inference solutions dedicated to different devices. Physically, a plugin is represented as a dynamic library exporting the single create_plugin_engine function that allows to create a new plugin instance.

OpenVINO Plugin Library #######################

OpenVINO plugin dynamic library consists of several main components:

1. :doc:Plugin class <openvino-plugin-library/plugin>:

   • Provides information about devices of a specific type.
   • Can create an :doc:compiled model <openvino-plugin-library/compiled-model> instance which represents a Neural Network backend specific graph structure for a particular device in opposite to the ov::Model which is backend-independent.
   • Can import an already compiled graph structure from an input stream to a :doc:compiled model <openvino-plugin-library/compiled-model> object.

2. :doc:Compiled Model class <openvino-plugin-library/compiled-model>:

   • Is an execution configuration compiled for a particular device and takes into account its capabilities.
   • Holds a reference to a particular device and a task executor for this device.
   • Can create several instances of :doc:Inference Request <openvino-plugin-library/synch-inference-request>.
   • Can export an internal backend specific graph structure to an output stream.

3. :doc:Inference Request class <openvino-plugin-library/synch-inference-request>:

   • Runs an inference pipeline serially.
   • Can extract performance counters for an inference pipeline execution profiling.

4. :doc:Asynchronous Inference Request class <openvino-plugin-library/asynch-inference-request>:

   • Wraps the :doc:Inference Request <openvino-plugin-library/synch-inference-request> class and runs pipeline stages in parallel on several task executors based on a device-specific pipeline structure.

5. :doc:Plugin specific properties <openvino-plugin-library/plugin-properties>:

   • Provides the plugin specific properties.

6. :doc:Remote Context <openvino-plugin-library/remote-context>:

   • Provides the device specific remote context. Context allows to create remote tensors.

7. :doc:Remote Tensor <openvino-plugin-library/remote-tensor>

   • Provides the device specific remote tensor API and implementation.

.. note::

This documentation is written based on the Template plugin, which demonstrates plugin development details. Find the complete code of the Template, which is fully compilable and up-to-date, at <openvino source dir>/src/plugins/template.

Detailed Guides ###############

• :doc:Build <openvino-plugin-library/build-plugin-using-cmake> a plugin library using CMake
• Plugin and its components :doc:testing <openvino-plugin-library/plugin-testing>
• :doc:Quantized networks <openvino-plugin-library/advanced-guides/quantized-models>
• :doc:Low precision transformations <openvino-plugin-library/advanced-guides/low-precision-transformations> guide
• :doc:Writing OpenVINO™ transformations <transformation-api> guide
• Integration with AUTO Plugin <https://github.com/openvinotoolkit/openvino/blob/master/src/plugins/auto/docs/integration.md>__

API References ##############

• OpenVINO Plugin API <https://docs.openvino.ai/2026/api/c_cpp_api/group__ov__dev__api.html>__
• OpenVINO Transformation API <https://docs.openvino.ai/2026/api/c_cpp_api/group__ie__transformation__api.html>__