Distributing Maya plug-ins using the Autodesk App Store package format

Maya plug-ins can be packaged and distributed using the Autodesk App Store package format. This format bundles a plug-in's components together in one package along with a PackageContents.xml file.

The PackageContents.xml file contains version information, company information, links to the documentation, paths to the plug-ins in the package, and plug-in runtime requirements.

For more information, see The Autodesk App Store—information for Maya developers.

Maya plug-ins packaged using this format do not necessarily need to be distributed using the App Store.

About autoloading the plug-in

The AutoLoad option in the ComponentEntry definition takes precedence over the plug-in's autoload setting in the Maya Plug-In Manager.

<ComponentEntry ModuleName="./Contents/plug-ins/myNode.py" AutoLoad="True" />

This means that if AutoLoad is set to True, the plug-in will be autoloaded regardless of whether the autoload option has been unchecked in the plug-in manager.

To prevent this situation from occurring, the Maya-specific AutoLoadOnce option can be used instead:

<ComponentEntry ModuleName="./Contents/plug-ins/myNode.py" AutoLoadOnce="True" />

Setting AutoLoadOnce to True will result in the plug-in being autoloaded the first time Maya is started after it has been installed. However, if the plug-in's autoload option is unchecked in the plug-in manager, the plug-in will not be autoloaded on startup from that point on.

This setting is connected to preferences. If preferences are reset, the plug-in will once again be autoloaded into Maya.