Blender Add-on Template

This is a template for creating Blender add-ons. It uses uv to manage dependencies and virtual environments.

Getting Started

1. Change names and info in the following files (don't forget the copyright headers):

• pyproject.toml (including the path in the [tool.hatch.version] section)
• my_addon/__init__.py
• my_addon/auto_load.py (copyright header only)
• my_addon/panel_mypanel.py

2. Rename the my_addon directory to the name of your add-on. It should match the name in pyproject.toml

3. Install uv and run uv sync to initialize the virtual environment and install the dependencies:

uv sync

Developing your Add-on

1. Activate the virtual environment:

source .venv/bin/activate

2. Open your editor and start developing your add-on. Preferably, start your editor from inside of the virtualenv shell so that your editor's LSP is aware of the virtual environment and dependencies.

• For Neovim, the blender.nvim plugin is recommended.
• For VSCode, the blender_vscode extension is recommended.

Packaging

When you are ready to package your add-on for distribution, run the following command:

./scripts/build.sh

This will create a zip file in the dist directory which users can install in Blender.

Notes

• The my_addon/auto_load.py file is a helper which automatically discovers, registers, and unregisters your add-on classes. If you prefer a simpler approach, you can remove this file and manually register/unregister your add-on classes in the register and unregister functions in my_addon/__init__.py.

License

Blender Add-on Template © 2024 Maddison Hellstrom

GNU General Public License v2.0 or later