Elodin Editor Dev

Elodin Editor Development

The Elodin Editor is a 3D visualization and telemetry graphing tool built with Bevy (ECS game engine) and Egui (immediate-mode UI). It connects to Elodin-DB via Impeller2 for real-time data.

Running

# Standard
cargo run --bin elodin editor examples/three-body/main.py

# With hot-reload on editor code changes (requires cargo-watch)
cargo watch --watch libs/elodin-editor \
    -x 'run --bin elodin editor examples/three-body/main.py'

# Connect to a running database instead of a simulation
cargo run --bin elodin editor 127.0.0.1:2240

Environment Variables

Cargo features

Optional features declared in libs/elodin-editor/Cargo.toml (re-exported by apps/elodin/Cargo.toml):

• big_space (default): upstream big_space 0.12 floating-origin layer.
• inspector: adds the bevy-inspector-egui runtime entity inspector.
• debug: enables big_space's debug diagnostics.
• tracy: enables Tracy profiling (see .cursor/skills/elodin-tracy/SKILL.md).

Enable with cargo run -p elodin --features "<list>" -- editor ....

Source Layout

The editor is split across two crates:

libs/elodin-editor/ — Core library

src/
├── lib.rs              # Plugin registration, app setup
├── run.rs              # Main run loop and Bevy app builder
├── object_3d.rs        # 3D object spawning from KDL schematics
├── vector_arrow.rs     # Vector visualization (force/velocity arrows)
├── offset_parse.rs     # EQL viewport formula parsing
├── icon_rasterizer.rs  # Icon rendering
├── iter.rs             # Iterator utilities
├── ui/                 # Egui UI layer
│   ├── mod.rs          # Top-level UI orchestration
│   ├── tiles.rs        # Tiled panel layout system
│   ├── tiles/sidebar.rs
│   ├── inspector/      # Component inspector panels
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   ├── entity.rs   # Entity property inspector
│   │   ├── viewport.rs # Viewport panel
│   │   ├── graph.rs    # Graph panel configuration
│   │   ├── dashboard.rs
│   │   ├── monitor.rs
│   │   ├── object3d.rs # 3D object inspector
│   │   └── ...
│   ├── plot/           # Telemetry graph rendering
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   ├── data.rs     # Data fetching and buffering
│   │   ├── gpu.rs      # GPU-accelerated plot rendering
│   │   ├── widget.rs   # Egui plot widget
│   │   └── state.rs    # Plot state management
│   ├── plot_3d/        # 3D plot visualization
│   ├── schematic/      # KDL schematic loading and rendering
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   ├── load.rs     # KDL file parsing
│   │   └── tree.rs     # Schematic tree view
│   ├── timeline/       # Playback timeline
│   │   ├── mod.rs
│   │   ├── timeline_controls.rs
│   │   └── timeline_slider.rs
│   ├── command_palette/ # Command palette (Ctrl+P)
│   ├── video_stream.rs  # Live video rendering
│   ├── theme.rs         # Color theme
│   ├── colors/          # Color system and presets
│   └── ...
└── plugins/            # Bevy plugins
    ├── mod.rs
    ├── view_cube/      # 3D orientation cube
    ├── camera_anchor/  # Camera tracking and anchoring
    ├── gizmos/         # Transform gizmos
    ├── navigation_gizmo/
    ├── editor_cam_touch/ # Touch input for camera
    ├── asset_cache/    # Asset caching
    ├── env_asset_source/ # ELODIN_ASSETS_DIR integration
    ├── web_asset/      # Web asset loading
    └── logical_key/    # Keyboard input handling

apps/elodin/ — CLI binary

The main entry point that ties together the editor with nox-py, s10, and Impeller2. Handles CLI argument parsing (elodin editor, elodin run, etc.).

Key Subsystems

Bevy Plugin Architecture

The editor registers as a set of Bevy plugins. Each feature area (view cube, camera, gizmos) is a self-contained plugin with its own components, systems, and resources. New features should follow this pattern.

Egui UI Layer

The ui/ module contains all immediate-mode UI rendering. Egui runs inside Bevy via bevy_egui. The tile-based layout system (ui/tiles.rs) manages panel arrangement (viewports, graphs, inspectors).

Telemetry Data Flow

1. Impeller2 client subscribes to component streams from Elodin-DB
2. Data arrives as time-series samples
3. Plot system buffers and renders via GPU-accelerated rendering (ui/plot/gpu.rs)
4. Inspector panels show latest values

KDL Schematics

KDL files define 3D objects and viewport configurations. The loading pipeline:

1. ui/schematic/load.rs — Parses .kdl files
2. object_3d.rs — Spawns Bevy entities (meshes, GLB models, shapes)
3. offset_parse.rs — Evaluates EQL viewport formulas (rotate, translate)

Video Streaming

ui/video_stream.rs handles live H.264/AV1 video decoding and rendering as textures in the 3D viewport. Uses the video-toolbox crate on macOS for hardware acceleration.

Dependencies

Key crates used in the editor:

Development Tips

• Use cargo watch for fast iteration on UI changes
• The editor hot-reloads KDL schematics on file change
• Test with examples/three-body/main.py for a lightweight simulation
• GPU plot rendering is in ui/plot/gpu.rs — changes here affect all telemetry graphs
• The command palette (ui/command_palette/) is the entry point for user actions

Key References

• Bevy Tips (ECS): ../bevy/SKILL.md
• Editor README: apps/elodin/README.md
• KDL schematic syntax: docs/public/content/reference/schematic.md
• Command palette reference: docs/public/content/reference/command-palette.md

Source: elodin-sys/elodin — distributed by TomeVault.