How to Create Extensions#

Creating an extension takes only a few steps:

Open the directory containing the add-on code or theme file.
Add a blender_manifest.toml file with all the required meta-data (name, maintainer, ...).
Use the Blender command-line tool to build the extension .zip file.

How to publish to the Blender Extensions Platform:

Install from Disk to test if everything is working well.
Upload the .zip file (this step requires Blender ID).

The extension will be held for review, and published once the moderation team approves it.

Extension files#

An extension is shared as a .zip archive containing a manifest file and other files. The expected files depend on the extension type.

Add-on extension#

Add-ons need at least the manifest and an __init__.py file, while more complex add-ons have a few different .py files or wheels together.

my_extension-0.0.1.zip
├─ __init__.py
├─ blender_manifest.toml
└─ (...)

Theme extension#

A theme extension only needs the manifest and the .xml theme file.

my_extension-0.0.1.zip
├─ blender_manifest.toml
└─ theme.xml

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Extensions can optionally have all its files inside a folder (inside the archive). This is a common behavior when saving a repository as ZIP from version-control platforms.

Manifest#

A manifest is a file with all the meta-data required for an extension to be processed. This example is a good starting point to the blender_manifest.toml that should be inside the .zip.

schema_version = "1.0.0"

# Example of manifest file for a Blender extension
# Change the values according to your extension
id = "my_example_extension"
version = "1.0.0"
name = "My Example Extension"
tagline = "This is another extension"
maintainer = "Developer name <[email protected]>"
# Supported types: "add-on", "theme"
type = "add-on"

# # Optional: link to documentation, support, source files, etc
# website = "https://extensions.blender.org/add-ons/my-example-package/"

# # Optional: tag list defined by Blender and server, see:
# # https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/tags.html
# tags = ["Animation", "Sequencer"]

blender_version_min = "4.2.0"
# # Optional: Blender version that the extension does not support, earlier versions are supported.
# # This can be omitted and defined later on the extensions platform if an issue is found.
# blender_version_max = "5.1.0"

# License conforming to https://spdx.org/licenses/ (use "SPDX: prefix)
# https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/licenses.html
license = [
  "SPDX:GPL-3.0-or-later",
]
# # Optional: required by some licenses.
# copyright = [
#   "2002-2024 Developer Name",
#   "1998 Company Name",
# ]

# # Optional: list of supported platforms. If omitted, the extension will be available in all operating systems.
# platforms = ["windows-x64", "macos-arm64", "linux-x64"]
# # Other supported platforms: "windows-arm64", "macos-x64"

# # Optional: bundle 3rd party Python modules.
# # https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/python_wheels.html
# wheels = [
#   "./wheels/hexdump-3.3-py3-none-any.whl",
#   "./wheels/jsmin-3.0.1-py3-none-any.whl",
# ]

# # Optional: add-ons can list which resources they will require:
# # * files (for access of any filesystem operations)
# # * network (for internet access)
# # * clipboard (to read and/or write the system clipboard)
# # * camera (to capture photos and videos)
# # * microphone (to capture audio)
# #
# # If using network, remember to also check `bpy.app.online_access`
# # https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/addons.html#internet-access
# #
# # For each permission it is important to also specify the reason why it is required.
# # Keep this a single short sentence without a period (.) at the end.
# # For longer explanations use the documentation or detail page.
#
# [permissions]
# network = "Need to sync motion-capture data to server"
# files = "Import/export FBX from/to disk"
# clipboard = "Copy and paste bone transforms"

# # Optional: advanced build settings.
# # https://docs.blender.org/manual/en/dev/advanced/extensions/command_line_arguments.html#command-line-args-extension-build
# [build]
# # These are the default build excluded patterns.
# # You only need to edit them if you want different options.
# paths_exclude_pattern = [
#   "__pycache__/",
#   "/.git/",
#   "/*.zip",
# ]

Required values:

blender_version_min:

Minimum supported Blender version - use at least 4.2.0.

id:

Unique identifier for the extension.

license:

List of licenses, use SPDX license identifier.

maintainer:

Maintainer of the extension.

name:

Complete name of the extension.

schema_version:

Internal version of the file format - use 1.0.0.

tagline:

One-line short description - cannot end with punctuation.

type:

"add-on", "theme".

version:

Version of the extension - must follow semantic versioning.

Optional values:

blender_version_max:

Blender version that the extension does not support, earlier versions are supported.

website:

Website for the extension.

copyright:

Some licenses require a copyright, copyrights must be "Year Name" or "Year-Year Name".

tags:

List of tags. See the list of available tags.

platforms:

List of supported platforms. If omitted, the extension will be available in all operating systems. The available options are ["windows-x64", "windows-arm64", "macos-x64", "macos-arm64", "linux-x64"]

wheels:

List of relative file-paths Python Wheels.

permissions:

Add-ons can list which resources they require. The available options are files, network, clipboard, camera, microphone. Each permission should be followed by an explanation (short single-sentence with no end punctuation (.)).

Optional values for "build":

These values are only used by the build sub-command.

paths:

A list of file-paths relative to the manifest to include when building the package.

paths_exclude_pattern:

A list of file-path patterns to exclude include when building the package.

The pattern matching is compatible with gitignore.

Note that setting this value isn't supported when paths is also declared.

If the [build] table isn't declared the following default is used:
[build]
paths_exclude_pattern = [
  "__pycache__/",
  ".*",
  "*.zip",
]

Reserved:

These values must not be declared in a TOML and are reserved for internal use.

[build.generated]

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All the values present in the manifest file must be filled (i.e., cannot be empty, nor text "", nor list []).

If you don't want to set one of the optional values just exclude it from the manifest altogether.

Command-line#

Extensions can be built, validated & installed via command-line.

To build the package defined in the current directory use the following commands:

blender --command extension build

See build docs.

---

To validate the manifest without building the package:

blender --command extension validate

You may also validate a package without having to extract it first.

blender --command extension validate add-on-package.zip

See validate docs.

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Extensions Command Line Arguments.

Third party extension sites#

If you want to host the extensions yourself, see the Creating an Extensions Repository docs.