Development & Testing

The “Testing” Run Configuration

Upon project creation, a Start Blender (Testing) configuration is created automatically. It is pre-configured for active development:

  • Blender Version Dropdown: Choose between Managed versions (automatically downloaded by the plugin, including 4.2+ and 5.0/5.1), System Discovered versions (found on your machine), or Custom/Pre-installed (where you manually provide a path).

  • Inline Download Button: If a selected Blender version is missing, an inline Download button appears next to the dropdown to fetch it instantly.

  • Enable Sandboxed Environment: (Recommended) Runs Blender using a project-local directory (.venv/blender_sandbox). This prevents your development settings from affecting your main Blender installation.

  • Import User Configuration: When sandboxing is enabled, check this to copy your main Blender preferences, startup file, and bookmarks into the sandbox.

  • Addon Source Directory: Specifies where your source code is located (defaults to src). This field supports multiple, comma-separated paths for projects with complex structures.

  • Addon Symlink Name: The name of the folder inside Blender’s extension repository that will point to your source.

Custom Splash Screens

In sandboxed mode, the plugin uses a default splash screen to remind you you’re in a development session. To use your own, simply place a splash.png file in your project root.

Unit & Integration Testing

The plugin includes a comprehensive test suite to ensure stability across different environments: - Unit Tests: Cover core plugin functionality, including path resolution and manifest parsing. - Headless Integration Tests: Specialized tests for the TCP heartbeat mechanism and hot-reload logic. These tests run a headless instance of Blender to verify bidirectional communication.

Offline Telemetry

To help with debugging without compromising privacy, the plugin includes local-only telemetry. This system records error reports and performance metrics within your project’s .blender-sandbox for manual inspection or troubleshooting assistance.