cometworks SE Dev Plugin Skill
Plugin development for Space Engineers version 1.
⚠️ CRITICAL: Commands run in UNIX shell. Use bash syntax. On Windows this is BusyBox; on Linux use native shell.
Examples:
- ✅
test -f file.txt && echo exists - ✅
ls -la | head -10 - ❌
if exist file.txt (echo exists)- Will NOT work
Actions:
- prepare: Run one-time preparation (
Prepare.baton Windows,prepare.shon Linux) - bash: Run UNIX shell commands via busybox
- search: Search plugin code using
search_plugins.py
Routing Decision
Check these patterns in order - first match wins:
| Priority | Pattern | Example | Route |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Empty or bare invocation | se-dev-plugin |
Show help |
| 2 | Prepare keywords | se-dev-plugin prepare, se-dev-plugin setup, se-dev-plugin init |
prepare |
| 3 | Bash/shell keywords | se-dev-plugin bash, se-dev-plugin grep, se-dev-plugin cat |
bash |
| 4 | Search keywords | se-dev-plugin search, se-dev-plugin find class, se-dev-plugin lookup |
search |
Getting Started
⚠️ CRITICAL: Before running ANY commands, read CommandExecution.md to avoid common mistakes that cause command failures.
If Prepare.DONE file missing in this folder, you MUST run one-time preparation steps first. See prepare action.
Essential Documentation
- CommandExecution.md - ⚠️ READ THIS FIRST - Windows command execution details; on Linux keep bash syntax and use
prepare.sh
Plugin Development Documentation
Read appropriate documents for further details:
- Plugin.md Plugin development (shared skills for both client and server)
- ClientPlugin.md Client plugin development (relevant on client side)
- ServerPlugin.md Server plugin development (relevant on server side)
- Guide.md Use this to answer questions about plugin development process in general.
- Review.md How to review a plugin for inclusion on PluginHub / MagnetarHub (manifest conformance, commit pin, security audit, from-source build).
- Publicizer.md How to use Krafs publicizer to access internal, protected or private members in original game code (optional).
- OtherPluginsAsExamples.md How to look into source code of other plugins as examples.
Harmony Patching Documentation
Progressive documentation for Harmony patching (start with basics, then read advanced topics as needed):
- Patching.md - Start here: patch types, prefix/postfix basics, common patterns
- PatchInjections.md - Special parameters:
__instance,__result,___fields,__state - AccessTools.md - Reflection utilities to find methods, fields, and types
- TranspilerPatching.md - IL-level patching for complex modifications
- PatchingSpecialCases.md - Finalizers, reverse patches, auxiliary methods, priority
- PreloaderPatching.md - Pre-JIT patching (Mono.Cecil, client only)
Targets: Client and Server
Plugins target one or both of:
- Client — runs inside game client, loaded by Pulsar, released on PluginHub.
- Server — runs inside dedicated server, loaded by Magnetar, released on MagnetarHub. Server plugins declare their configuration through Magnetar's PluginSdk; use
se-dev-plugin-sdkskill for that. Admins configure server plugins remotely via Quasar, the Magnetar control plane.
A client-only plugin uses client plugin template. A plugin that also needs server side companion (or is server-only) uses server plugin template, which has ClientPlugin target, ServerPlugin target and Shared project. See ServerPlugin.md.
Plugin Distribution
Client plugins released exclusively on PluginHub. All client plugins must be open source, since they are compiled on player's machine from GitHub source revision identified by its PluginHub registration. Plugins are reviewed for safety and security on submission, but only on best effort basis, without any legal guarantees. Plugins run native code and can do anything. When reviewing a submission (or update) to PluginHub or MagnetarHub, follow Review.md.
Use se-dev-game-code skill to search game's decompiled code. Need this to
understand how game's internals work and how to interface with it and patch it properly.
Graphify Graph
Preparation builds a separate Graphify graph for downloaded plugin sources under
Data/Sources (or SE_DEV_PLUGIN_PROJECT_ROOT). With the fast Rust clustering backend
(Python 3.12 via uv, provisioned automatically) prepare builds it automatically; this
corpus is small so it is quick either way. Where the fast backend is unavailable it stays
opt-in with SE_DEV_GRAPHIFY=1; SE_DEV_GRAPHIFY=0 disables it. Read on demand — skip
for normal search work: build via GraphifyPrepare.md, query
via GraphifyUsage.md.
References
- Pulsar Plugin loader for Space Engineers game client
- Pulsar Installer Installer for Pulsar on Windows
- PluginHub Public plugin registry for Pulsar
- Magnetar Plugin loader for Space Engineers dedicated server
- MagnetarHub Public plugin registry for Magnetar
Plugin Registries
Two registries are searched together, both using the same GitHub-plugin XML schema:
- PluginHub — client plugins (Pulsar).
<Id>isOwner/Repo. - MagnetarHub — server plugins (Magnetar).
<Id>is a GUID; the GitHub repo is in<RepoId>.
Preparation clones both into Data/PluginHub and Data/MagnetarHub. Refresh them with
uv run download_pluginhub.py and uv run download_magnetarhub.py. To point at a local
registry checkout instead of (or in addition to) the cloned ones, set
SE_PLUGIN_REGISTRY_DIR to a registry root (a folder containing Plugins/*.xml).
list_plugins.py, download_plugin_source.py and the indexer all read every configured
registry; list_plugins.py tags each entry with [PluginHub] or [MagnetarHub].
Plugin Code Search
Search source code of plugins from either registry for examples and patterns:
# List available plugins (tagged by registry), or search them
uv run list_plugins.py
uv run list_plugins.py --search "camera"
# Download a plugin's source (use the EXACT name, GUID/Id, or Owner/Repo from the list)
uv run download_plugin_source.py "Tool Switcher"
uv run download_plugin_source.py CometWorks/essentials
# Index downloaded plugins (automatic after download)
uv run index_plugins.py
# Search plugin code
uv run search_plugins.py class declaration Plugin
uv run search_plugins.py method signature Patch
# Count results before viewing (useful for large result sets)
uv run search_plugins.py class usage Plugin --count
# Limit number of results
uv run search_plugins.py class usage IPlugin --limit 20
The registries contain descriptions of all available plugins. Download sources for plugins that may help with your task, then index and search them.
See search action for complete documentation.
Action References
Follow detailed instructions in:
- prepare action - One-time preparation
- bash action - Run UNIX shell commands via busybox
- search action - Search plugin code for examples
Remarks
Original source of this skill: https://github.com/CometWorks/skills