Creating the project files for the plugin

You can generate a .NET project for your plugin using the Loupedeck Plugin Tool. The tool is a .NET console application that can be used to manage Loupedeck plugins.

In the files generated by the Loupedeck Plugin Tool:

• The needed paths are set correctly, assuming the Loupedeck software is installed in the default location.
• The build output files are made accessible for the Loupedeck software (with Debug configuration).
• When the project is opened in Visual Studio, the Loupedeck software can be started from the IDE for debugging the plugin.

The tool can be downloaded from the Loupedeck site:

• Windows version
• macOS version

Once you have downloaded the tool, unpack it to some location, then execute the following commands on the command line (in Command Prompt on Windows and Terminal on macOS):

Windows

cd <PROJECTS LOCATION>
<TOOL LOCATION>\LoupedeckPluginTool.exe generate -name=<PLUGIN NAME>

Mac

cd <PROJECTS LOCATION>
chmod +x <TOOL LOCATION>/LoupedeckPluginTool
<TOOL LOCATION>/LoupedeckPluginTool generate -name=<PLUGIN NAME>

Where

• <PROJECTS LOCATION> is the directory path where your project files will be created to;
• <TOOL LOCATION> is the directory path where you have unpacked the Loupedeck Plugin Tool;
• <PLUGIN NAME> is the desired name for your plugin. Note that the tool automatically adds a 'Plugin' suffix to the name of the generated directory and project files.

The values for the directory paths can be for example:

Windows

• <TOOL LOCATION> is %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\LoupedeckPluginToolUnpacked
• <PROJECTS LOCATION> is %USERPROFILE%\Source (the default Visual Studio Project file location)

macOS

• <TOOL LOCATION> is ~/Downloads/LoupedeckPluginToolUnpacked
• <PROJECT LOCATION> is ~/source

Note that if the <PROJECT LOCATION> directory does not exist it needs to be created.