SE Dev — Space Engineers Development Overview

Applies only to Space Engineers version 1.

Entry point and table of contents for

se-dev-*

skills. Read this first to get big picture, then open specific skill the task needs. Does not perform searches or builds itself — routes you to the skill that does.

The three ways to extend the game

Layer	What it is	Runs as	Language limit	Skill
In-game script	Code in Programmable Block (PB)	Sandboxed, compiled by game	C# 6.0, PB API whitelist	`se-dev-script`
Mod	World/server content & scripts, Steam Workshop	Sandboxed, compiled by game	C# 7.3, Mod API whitelist	`se-dev-mod`
Plugin	Native DLL patching game with Harmony	Unsandboxed, full .NET	No limit ( `latestMinor` )	`se-dev-plugin`

Scripts and mods constrained by API whitelists and run inside game's sandbox. Plugins run native code with no sandbox — can do anything, which is why they are open source and reviewed before release.

Where plugins run: client vs server

A plugin targets the game client, the dedicated server, or both (sharing code).

	Game client	Dedicated server	Torch (legacy)
Loader	Pulsar	Magnetar	Torch
Registry	PluginHub	MagnetarHub	torchapi.net
Admin UI	in-game config dialog	Quasar (remote control plane)	Torch WPF UI
Skill	`se-dev-plugin` ( `ClientPlugin` )	`se-dev-plugin` ( `ServerPlugin` ) + `se-dev-plugin-sdk`	`se-dev-torch`

Pulsar — plugin & mod loader for game client. Lists and loads plugins from PluginHub. Compiles client plugins from source on player's machine.
Magnetar — plugin loader for dedicated server (hard fork of Pulsar). Lists and loads server plugins from MagnetarHub. Server plugins declare their configuration through Magnetar's PluginSdk.
Quasar — control plane with Web UI to manage Magnetar instances. Lists Magnetar-compatible server plugins from MagnetarHub and lets admins configure them remotely; configuration UI is the layout each plugin declares via PluginSdk.
Torch — older, separate dedicated-server host with its own plugin model. Torch plugins not compatible with Magnetar and vice versa. Covered only by
```
se-dev-torch
```
/
```
se-dev-torch-book
```
skills, kept for maintaining existing Torch plugins.

Skill map

Authoring skills (write scripts, mods, plugins)

se-dev-script — In-game (Programmable Block) script development. Search example PB scripts.
se-dev-mod — Mod development. Search example mod code; Mod API whitelist.
se-dev-plugin — Client and server plugin development (Harmony patching, transpilers, preloader). Search plugin source from PluginHub.
se-dev-plugin-sdk — Handbook for Magnetar's PluginSdk: declaring server config variables, UI layout Quasar renders, server-side chat commands, server lifecycle (save/reload/quit/restart), path resolution and environment-agnostic logging. Use together with
```
se-dev-plugin
```
for server plugins. (Lives in Magnetar repo.)
se-dev-torch — Torch plugin development (legacy server host). Torch-only; not Magnetar-compatible.

Graphify graphs (read on demand)

GraphifyPrepare.md — how each subskill builds its own per-subskill
```
graphify-out/
```
. Prepare installs Graphify on Python 3.12 with the fast native Rust Leiden clustering backend and, when that backend is available (Linux/Windows with
```
uv
```
), builds the graph automatically — clustering then takes ~1-2 minutes even for the game/server corpora. Where the fast backend cannot be provisioned, Graphify stays optional and only builds on opt-in with
```
SE_DEV_GRAPHIFY=1
```
(the slow single-core fallback adds ~10-30 minutes; prepare reports this).
```
SE_DEV_GRAPHIFY=0
```
disables it entirely. Also covers the health check that detects an unusable (unclustered) graph and the clean-and-rebuild flow.
GraphifyUsage.md — how to query an existing graph (
```
query
```
/
```
explain
```
/
```
path
```
/
```
affected
```
), the large-graph load cap, and the query test scripts.

These two docs are fetched on demand: skip them entirely unless the user specifically wants the Graphify graph, so the extra tooling never pollutes context during normal work.

Reference skills (read/search the game internals)

se-dev-game-code — Search decompiled C# of game client. Recommended companion for client mod/plugin work.
se-dev-server-code — Search decompiled C# of dedicated server. Companion for server-side mod/plugin work.

The

*-book

skills mentioned below (

se-dev-game-book

se-dev-server-book

se-dev-torch-book

) are private/internal handbooks distributed separately, not part of this public repository. Use them if they are installed; otherwise fall back to the corresponding

*-code

search skill.

How to pick

Programmable Block script? →
```
se-dev-script
```
(+
```
se-dev-game-code
```
/
```
se-dev-game-book
```
for API details).

Steam Workshop mod? →

se-dev-mod

se-dev-game-code

se-dev-server-code

as needed).

Client plugin? →

se-dev-plugin

se-dev-game-code

(and

se-dev-game-book

for orientation).

Server plugin (Magnetar)? →

se-dev-plugin

se-dev-plugin-sdk

se-dev-server-code

(and

se-dev-server-book

Maintaining a Torch plugin? →

se-dev-torch

se-dev-torch-book

(and

se-dev-server-code

Need to understand how the game does X? →
```
*-code
```
skills to search source,
```
*-book
```
skills for orientation.

Most non-trivial tasks pair an authoring skill with a reference skill: write with one, look up game's internals with the other.

Plugin templates

se-client-plugin-template — client-only plugin.
se-server-plugin-template — client + Magnetar server plugin (
```
ClientPlugin
```
,
```
ServerPlugin
```
,
```
Shared
```
). For Torch plugin, base it on template's
```
last-torch-compatible
```
tag, not
```
main
```
.

Remarks

Original source of these skills: https://github.com/CometWorks/skills

se-dev

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

SE Dev — Space Engineers Development Overview

The three ways to extend the game

Where plugins run: client vs server

Skill map

Authoring skills (write scripts, mods, plugins)

Graphify graphs (read on demand)

Reference skills (read/search the game internals)

How to pick

Plugin templates

Remarks