diff --git a/mo2.cmake b/mo2.cmake
index 2c6e0d8..877c592 100644
--- a/mo2.cmake
+++ b/mo2.cmake
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ set(QT_TARGETS_FOLDER autogen)
 
 include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/mo2_cpp.cmake)
 include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/mo2_python.cmake)
+include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/mo2_extension.cmake)
 
 # mark as included
 set(MO2_DEFINED true)
diff --git a/mo2_extension.cmake b/mo2_extension.cmake
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8d69713
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mo2_extension.cmake
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
+
+#! mo2_configure_extension : configure a MO2 extension
+#
+# this function read the extension identifier from the metadata.json file and
+# expose it as a ${extension_identifier} variable
+#
+# this function also trigger the installation of the metadata file to the
+# extension directory
+#
+function(mo2_configure_extension)
+    set(METADATA_FILE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/metadata.json)
+
+    if(NOT (EXISTS ${METADATA_FILE}))
+        message(ERROR "metadata file ${METADATA_FILE} not found")
+    endif()
+
+    file(READ ${METADATA_FILE} JSON_METADATA)
+    string(JSON extension_identifier GET ${JSON_METADATA} id)
+    string(JSON extension_icon ERROR_VARIABLE extension_icon_error GET ${JSON_METADATA} icon)
+
+    set(MO2_EXTENSION_ID ${extension_identifier} PARENT_SCOPE)
+    install(FILES ${METADATA_FILE}
+        DESTINATION ${MO2_INSTALL_BIN}/extensions/${extension_identifier}/)
+
+    if (NOT ${extension_icon} MATCHES  "icon-NOTFOUND")
+        install(FILES ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${extension_icon}
+            DESTINATION ${MO2_INSTALL_BIN}/extensions/${extension_identifier}/)
+    endif()
+
+endfunction()
diff --git a/mo2_python.cmake b/mo2_python.cmake
index c8af496..0e51dd7 100644
--- a/mo2_python.cmake
+++ b/mo2_python.cmake
@@ -174,12 +174,6 @@ function(mo2_python_requirements TARGET)
 
 	file(MAKE_DIRECTORY "${MO2_LIBDIR}")
 
-	install(
-		DIRECTORY "${MO2_LIBDIR}"
-		DESTINATION "${MO2_INSTALL_BIN}/plugins/${TARGET}/"
-		PATTERN "__pycache__" EXCLUDE
-	)
-
 endfunction()
 
 #! mo2_configure_python_module : configure a Python plugin module
@@ -221,6 +215,8 @@ function(mo2_configure_python_module TARGET)
 	file(GLOB_RECURSE ui_files CONFIGURE_DEPENDS ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/*.ui)
 	mo2_python_uifiles(${TARGET} INPLACE FILES ${ui_files})
 
+    set(install_dir "${MO2_INSTALL_BIN}/extensions/${MO2_EXTENSION_ID}")
+
     # install requirements if there are any
 	if(EXISTS "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/plugin-requirements.txt")
 		mo2_python_requirements(${TARGET} LIBDIR "${lib_dir}")
@@ -229,14 +225,18 @@ function(mo2_configure_python_module TARGET)
 		)
 		source_group(requirements
 			FILES "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/plugin-requirements.txt")
-	endif()
 
-    set(install_dir "${MO2_INSTALL_BIN}/plugins/${TARGET}")
+		install(
+			DIRECTORY "${MO2_LIBDIR}/"
+			DESTINATION "${install_dir}/lib/"
+			PATTERN "__pycache__" EXCLUDE
+		)
+	endif()
 
 	# directories that go in bin/plugins/${name}
 	install(
-		DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/"
-		DESTINATION ${install_dir}
+		DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/${TARGET}/"
+		DESTINATION "${install_dir}/${TARGET}/"
 		FILES_MATCHING PATTERN "*.py"
 		PATTERN ".git" EXCLUDE
 		PATTERN ".github" EXCLUDE
@@ -247,8 +247,8 @@ function(mo2_configure_python_module TARGET)
 	# copy the resource directory if it exists
 	if(EXISTS "${res_dir}")
 		install(
-			DIRECTORY "${res_dir}"
-			DESTINATION ${install_dir}
+			DIRECTORY "${res_dir}/"
+			DESTINATION "${install_dir}/res/"
 		)
 	endif()