Installation
============

The plugin can be installed either by downloading a prebuilt binary or by building it from source.

Prebuilt Binary (Safe & Stable)
-------------------------------

Installing a prebuilt binary is the **safe and stable** option for most users.

- **Latest Release:** `GitHub Releases <https://github.com/Sakura-Sedaia/BlenderExtensions/releases>`_

1. Download the latest plugin ZIP file from the releases page.
2. In PyCharm, go to **Settings** (or **Preferences** on macOS) > **Plugins**.
3. Click the gear icon next to the "Installed" tab and select **Install Plugin from Disk...**.
4. Navigate to the downloaded ZIP file and click **OK**.
5. Restart PyCharm to complete the installation.

Building from Source (Most Up-to-Date)
--------------------------------------

Building from source provides the **most up-to-date** features but may be **unstable** as it reflects the current development state.

Prerequisites
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

- `JDK 21 <https://adoptium.net/temurin/releases/?version=21>`_ or later

Build Steps
~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Clone the repository:

   .. code-block:: bash

      git clone https://github.com/Sakura-Sedaia/BlenderExtensions.git
      cd BlenderExtensions

2. Build the plugin using the included Gradle wrapper:

   - **Windows**:

     .. code-block:: bash

        .\gradlew.bat buildPlugin

   - **macOS/Linux**:

     .. code-block:: bash

        ./gradlew buildPlugin

3. The built plugin ZIP file will be located in the ``build/distributions/`` directory.
4. Follow the installation steps from the **Prebuilt Binary** section to install the generated ZIP file.

Contributing
------------

If you wish to contribute to the development of this plugin, please see the `Contributing Guide <https://github.com/Sakura-Sedaia/BlenderExtensions/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md>`_ for detailed setup instructions, which include using **IntelliJ IDEA** with the **DevKit** plugin.

Configuration
-------------

After installation, go to **Settings** > **Tools** > **Blender Extension Integration** to enable **Auto-reload extension on save**.

Python Interpreter Setup
-------------------------

When a managed Blender version is downloaded via the plugin, it now automatically locates the bundled Python interpreter. This allows for immediate linting and stub support without manually finding the ``python.exe`` (or ``python`` binary) within the Blender installation folders.