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BytesAgain β€Ί Skills β€Ί blender-add-on-development
πŸ¦€ ClawHub

blender-add-on-development

by @seekerzero

Develop, debug, and upgrade Blender add-ons/plugins and `bpy` scripts with Blender 4.x and 5.x compatibility. Use when tasks involve generating new add-on co...

Versionv1.0.0
Downloads835
Installs2
#clawhub
TERMINAL
clawhub install blender-plugin-dev

πŸ“– About This Skill

name: blender-plugin-development description: Develop, debug, and upgrade Blender add-ons/plugins and bpy scripts with Blender 4.x and 5.x compatibility. Use when tasks involve generating new add-on code, scaffolding operators/panels, migrating deprecated Python API calls, resolving Blender version breakages, or validating scripts against Blender 4/5 API changes.

Blender Plugin Development

Quick Start

1. Confirm target Blender versions (minimum and maximum expected). 2. Read references/blender4_to_5_compat.md before writing or patching code. 3. Scaffold a new add-on package with scripts/scaffold_addon.py when requested. 4. Implement requested behavior with explicit compatibility guards for 4.x and 5.x. 5. Validate syntax and registration flow before returning code.

Workflow

1) Scope the task

  • Extract target behavior, UI location, operator names, and data model.
  • Ask for Blender version range if unspecified; default to >= 4.0 with 5.x awareness.
  • Decide whether output should be:
    • - A full add-on package. - A standalone bpy script. - A migration patch to existing code.

    2) Generate a baseline when creating a new add-on

  • Run:
    • - python3 scripts/scaffold_addon.py --name "" --output
  • Customize generated __init__.py, operators.py, ui.py, and compat.py for the feature request.
  • Keep bl_info["blender"] at the minimum supported version (for this skill, usually (4, 0, 0) or higher).

    • 3) Implement compatibility-safe code

  • Use bpy.app.version gates only when behavior truly diverges.
  • Prefer compatibility wrappers in compat.py over scattered version checks.
  • Avoid APIs called out as removed/deprecated in references/blender4_to_5_compat.md.
  • For operator context overrides, use context.temp_override(...).
  • For assets, prefer context.asset and AssetRepresentation.
  • For GPU drawing in 5.x, avoid bgl and migrate to gpu.

    • 4) Validate before returning code

  • Run python3 -m py_compile on changed Python files.
  • If Blender binaries are available, run headless smoke tests:
    • - blender --background --factory-startup --python
  • Check register/unregister order and operator bl_idname format.
  • Confirm no removed API names remain in generated output.

    • Script Generation Patterns

  • Generate small, composable files:
    • - operators.py for operators. - ui.py for panels/menus. - compat.py for version shims. - __init__.py for bl_info and registration entrypoints.
  • Use idempotent register/unregister functions.
  • Keep class lists explicit (tuple of classes) and unregister in reverse order.
  • Report actionable failures with self.report({"ERROR"}, "...") inside operators.
  • Avoid hard-coded context assumptions in poll() and execute().

    • Required Compatibility Rules

  • Avoid dict-like access for runtime-defined RNA properties in 5.0 when accessing add-on-defined data; use supported property access patterns documented in Blender 5.0 release notes.
  • Never depend on bundled private modules listed in Blender 5.0 notes (for example, bl_ui_utils, rna_info).
  • Treat scene.use_nodes as deprecated and avoid using it for new code.
  • Avoid UILayout.template_asset_view() in new code; use asset-shelf-compatible APIs.
  • Keep code ready for Blender 6.0 removals by addressing documented 5.0 deprecations proactively.

    • Resources (optional)

    scripts/

  • scripts/scaffold_addon.py: Generate a Blender 4/5-ready add-on package skeleton.

    • references/

  • references/blender4_to_5_compat.md: Blender 4.0 and 5.0 compatibility map with official sources.
  • references/script_generation_patterns.md: Reusable patterns for operators, panels, and background scripts.

    • πŸ’‘ Examples

    1. Confirm target Blender versions (minimum and maximum expected). 2. Read references/blender4_to_5_compat.md before writing or patching code. 3. Scaffold a new add-on package with scripts/scaffold_addon.py when requested. 4. Implement requested behavior with explicit compatibility guards for 4.x and 5.x. 5. Validate syntax and registration flow before returning code.