Blender Development for PyCharm

Blender Development for PyCharm is a comprehensive plugin that streamlines the creation and debugging of Blender extensions by enabling seamless launch and real-time reloading directly from the IDE. It features a dedicated management system for multiple Blender versions (LTS 4.2+, 5.0, & 5.1) and offers robust auto-reload capabilities powered by bidirectional TCP communication. With an integrated project wizard and multi-language support, it provides a powerful environment for developers to manage complex, multi-source projects with ease.

Documentation

• Installation Guide
• Operating Instructions
• Architecture Overview
• Contributing
• Localized Wiki Links
• Notices and Acknowledgments
• Full Documentation Wiki

Features

• Blender Status Bar Widget: Real-time indicator for Blender connection status and auto-reload status.
• Multiple Source Folders: Projects can now designate and manage multiple folders as Blender source directories.
• Auto-Reload: Real-time extension updates on file save with robust bidirectional TCP communication and heartbeat logic.
• Project Template: Integrated New Project Wizard for Blender extensions with automatic Python interpreter setup, VENV creation, and manifest configuration.
• Blender Management: Dedicated tool window for multi-version downloads (LTS 4.2+, 5.0, & 5.1), automatic fake-bpy-module linter installation, and sandbox management. Updated with modern Kotlin DSL for improved usability.
• Enhanced Blender Discovery: Improved system-wide detection of Blender installations across all supported platforms with faster scanning and better path resolution.
• Execution Validation: Integrated detection of filesystem execution restrictions (e.g., noexec on Linux) with direct links to troubleshooting guides for immediate resolution.
• Python Integration: VENV-based interpreter configuration that matches the Python version bundled with Blender, with automatic site-packages and linter path mapping. It includes a Virtual Environment Guardrail to ensure all Python operations run in a dedicated .venv.
• UI Improvements: Optimized Tool Window layout with scrollable tables and dedicated action buttons for easier Blender version management.
• Offline Telemetry: Local-only telemetry support to aid in debugging and stability monitoring.
• Internationalization: Full i18n support for 11 languages (Spanish, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Chinese).

Installation

Option 1: Install Prebuilt Binary (Recommended)

1. Download the latest plugin ZIP file from the GitHub Releases page.
2. In PyCharm, go to Settings > Plugins.
3. Click ⚙️ > Install Plugin from Disk....
4. Select the downloaded ZIP and restart PyCharm.

Option 2: Build from Source

1. Clone the repository: git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/Sakura-Sedaia/BlenderExtensions.git
2. Run build:
   • Windows: .\gradlew.bat buildPlugin
   • macOS/Linux: ./gradlew buildPlugin
3. Install the ZIP from build/distributions/ using the steps in Option 1.

Future Plans

• Enhanced UI: More granular control over symlink management and multi-extension projects.
• Deeper Integration: Better support for Blender's internal asset browser and library management.

License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0). See the LICENSE file for the full license text.

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For legal notices and acknowledgments, please see NOTICE.md.