HackyInstaller is a client-side tool that automates the installation of Hackystat sensors and is designed with a "plugin" architecture so that adding support for new sensors is a relatively simple task. An extensible system was required because each Hackystat server has support for different sensors depending on the needs of the organization. The plugin architecture allows the core application to be extended without any modification to its source code.

Extending HackyInstaller involves several steps. The first step is to create an installer definition file, which specifies the properties of a sensor that are manipulated by the user. The second step is to implement a subclass of SensorInstaller with implementations of several abstract methods that integrate your sensor into the HackyInstaller framework. The third step is to implement any "validators" for ensuring the correctness of values provided by the user. The final step is to write unit tests to verify the functioning of your sensor installer.

HackyInstaller also contains a common definition file that stores all of the general settings. This definition file may be used to manage any common settings associated with HackyInstaller.