Getting Started

This guide walks through writing the smallest possible mod and verifying it loads in the editor.

1. Create the folder

Inside your game project:

<gameRoot>/Plugins/MakerStudio/003_Editor/Mods/hello-world/
├── manifest.json
└── index.js

If the Mods folder does not exist, create it. The editor will scan it on every project load.

Alternatively, place your mod in the global mods directory at <APPDATA>/maker-studio/Mods/hello-world/ to make it available across all projects. Project mods take priority over global mods with the same id.

2. Write the manifest

manifest.json:

{
  "id": "com.example.hello-world",
  "name": "Hello World",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "authors": [{ "name": "You" }],
  "description": "Says hello when a map loads.",
  "apiVersion": "1.0.0",
  "main": "index.js"
}

Required fields:

Field	Notes
id	Reverse-DNS, must be unique. Used as the folder identity.
name	Display name in the Mod Manager.
version	Semver. Your mod’s version.
apiVersion	Editor API version your mod targets (semver).
main	Path to the JS entry, relative to the mod folder.

Optional: authors (array of {name, url?} — supports multiple authors), description, homepage, requires (unified mod + plugin dependencies — see the API reference), permissions.

3. Write the mod

index.js:

export function activate(ctx) {
  ctx.log.info("Hello World mod loaded.");

  ctx.bus.on("map.loaded", (e) => {
    ctx.ui.showToast({ message: `Loaded map ${e.mapId} (${e.width}x${e.height})` });
  });
}

export function deactivate() {
  // Optional cleanup. Disposables registered via ctx are auto-disposed.
}

Key points:

• activate(ctx) is required. It runs once when the mod loads.
• Use ctx.bus.on(...) to react to editor events. The returned Disposable is auto-cleaned on mod unload.
• ctx.ui.showToast(...) pops a transient notification.
• ctx.log.info(...) writes to the mod’s log buffer (visible in the Mod Manager panel).

4. Reload the editor

Re-open your project. Open Mods → Mod Manager. You should see Hello World listed as active. Click it to view logs.

Now load any map — a toast should appear in the bottom-right.

5. Iterate

While developing, click Reload on your mod row in the Mod Manager to re-scan its files without restarting the editor.

Next steps

• Browse the API Reference for all available methods.
• Add a menu item via ctx.menu.registerMenuItem({ menu: "Mods", label: "...", handler: ... }).
• Add a context menu item via ctx.ui.registerContextMenuItem({ context: "map-tile", label: "...", handler: ... }).
• Add a canvas overlay via ctx.ui.registerOverlay({ id, render }).
• Register keyboard shortcuts via ctx.ui.registerShortcut(key, handler).
• Toggle view options via ctx.editor.viewOptions() / setViewOptions(...).
• Add a Dockview panel via ctx.ui.registerPanel({ id, title, render }).
• Call any Tauri command directly via window.__TAURI__.core.invoke("command_name", args) — see the Available Tauri Commands section.
• Check the API Changelog for what’s new in each version.
• Look at examples/mods/ for nine bundled mods with annotated walkthroughs.