PS_ProserveEditor/CLAUDE.md

PS_ProserveEditor - Project Guidelines

Project Overview

Unreal Engine 5.5 project with runtime editor plugin (PS_Editor). The plugin enables runtime scene editing in packaged builds: object placement, property editing, scenario definition, splines, lighting, and JSON scene save/load.

Architecture

• Plugin: PS_Editor (runtime plugin, must work in packaged builds)
• UI: UMG driven by C++ (Slate)
• Gizmos: Custom actor with BasicShapes + unlit material (InteractiveToolsFramework is editor-only)
• Serialization: JSON via Json/JsonUtilities modules (FJsonObjectConverter)
• Input: Enhanced Input system (AZERTY: arrows + A/Q movement, E/R/T modes)

Editor vs. Gameplay execution boundary — CRITICAL

The plugin runs in two distinct modes and it's essential never to leak editor-only code into the gameplay runtime loaded via UPS_Editor_SceneLoader::LoadScene (standalone).

Editor runtime mode

Activated when the APS_Editor_PlayerController + APS_Editor_HUD + UPS_Editor_MainWidget* stack is created (typical during authoring — the user is in the runtime editor).

• UPS_Editor_SceneLoader::bIsEditorModeActive == true
• The HUD widget drives property editing, catalogue spawn, save/load, simulate, timeline
• Interface methods called only by the widget (never in gameplay):
  • GetCustomOptionsForProperty / GetCustomOptionsWithValuesForProperty / GetCurrentDisplayForProperty
  • OnEditorModeChanged, OnEditorTick
  • OnEditorNeedsReinit, OnEditorNeedsRespawn

Gameplay mode

The project (PROSERVE) loads a scenario via UPS_Editor_SceneLoader::LoadScene from a GameMode BeginPlay, without ever instantiating the editor PlayerController / HUD / widget.

• UPS_Editor_SceneLoader::bIsEditorModeActive == false
• Actors spawn, their properties are applied from JSON, OnPropertiesLoaded fires once
• The timeline subsystem auto-plays if the scenario has tracks, driven server-side only

Interface methods that fire in BOTH modes

• OnPropertiesLoaded — after every scene load, editor or gameplay (applied once post-spawn)
• OnEditorPropertyChanged — fires both in editor (on UI edit via ApplyPropertyFromUI) AND in gameplay (on server when the timeline applies a new keyframe value via TimelineSubsystem::ApplyTrackAtTime). Despite the name, the "Editor" refers to the PS_Editor plugin — the event is the canonical hook for "a property changed at runtime". In gameplay only the server invokes it; client-side reaction must go through ReplicatedUsing=OnRep_X RepNotify on the replicated property.

Rule when adding new features

• Anything tied to property panel UI (new interface method, new widget logic, dropdown helpers, etc.) lives in the widget only — no extra work to scope it out of gameplay
• Anything added to the SceneLoader::LoadScene path runs in gameplay and must handle NM_Client, replication, and server-authority correctly (the timeline subsystem is the reference pattern)
• Expensive BP implementations of editor-UI interface methods (DataTable lookups, class resolution, etc.) can stay expensive — they never run outside the authoring session

How to guard code that could run in either mode

if (UPS_Editor_SceneLoader::IsInEditorMode())
{
    // editor-only behaviour
}

or gate on bIsCurrentlyLoading to skip BP init during JSON restore.

UI Modes — IMPORTANT for widget changes

The runtime editor ships with multiple widget implementations that must all stay in sync:

• PS_Editor_MainWidget.cpp/.h — modern UMG-based widget (primary target long-term)
• PS_Editor_MainWidget_Legacy.cpp/.h — Slate-only legacy widget (currently active as of April 2026)
• PS_Editor_MainWidget_UMG.cpp/.h — UMG variant

The user can switch between them via a UIMode setting. At any given time only one is running, but the project keeps all three compiled.

Rule: when changing any behavior inside a widget (new interface calls, new property row logic, new UI controls, bug fixes in RebuildDynamicProperties / ApplyPropertyFromUI / RefreshDynamicPropertyValues, etc.), apply the change to ALL widget implementations at the same time. Otherwise the user's current UIMode gets the fix and the others don't — the "it's like you didn't change anything" bug.

Symptom that the wrong widget was edited: logs you added don't appear in the Output Log despite the build being clean and the DLL being correctly loaded. Always grep for the function name across all PS_Editor_MainWidget*.cpp files before assuming a single edit is sufficient.

Naming Conventions

• All plugin files and classes use the PS_Editor_ prefix (e.g., PS_Editor_GameMode, PS_Editor_Pawn)
• Code and comments in English
• Standard UE5 prefixes: A for Actors, U for UObjects, F for structs, E for enums, I for interfaces

Code Quality

• Prefer correct, complete implementations over minimal ones.
• Use appropriate data structures and algorithms — don't brute-force what has a known better solution.
• When fixing a bug, fix the root cause, not the symptom.
• If something requires error handling or validation to work reliably, include it without asking.

Build

• Engine: Unreal Engine 5.5
• Plugin location: Unreal/Plugins/PS_Editor/
• Game module: PS_ProserveEditor (in Unreal/Source/PS_ProserveEditor/)
• CLI build command (Editor, Development):

  "<UE_INSTALL>/Engine/Build/BatchFiles/Build.bat" PS_ProserveEditorEditor Win64 Development -Project="<REPO>/Unreal/PS_ProserveEditor.uproject" -WaitMutex -FromMsBuild
  

  UE install path can be found via registry: HKLM\SOFTWARE\EpicGames\Unreal Engine\5.5 > InstalledDirectory

Project Memory

Shared project memory is stored in .claude/memory/ (versioned in the repository). When starting a new session on any machine, read these files to restore context:

• MEMORY.md — Index of all memory files with one-line summaries
• project_ps_editor.md — Project scope, technical decisions, current phase
• feedback_naming.md — Naming conventions and user preferences
• reference_build.md — Full build command and UE install path details