Plugins And Packages

Plugins extend the functionality of Cura through python code. Material packages add a set of material and quality files. Both are created and distributed in a similar way. Both are available through the Ultimaker Cura Marketplace since Cura 3.4. For more details on packages and their distribution, have a look at creating packages

Getting started

We made some example plugins to help people get started with creating their own plugins. Each of these contains documentation and in-line comments about the functionality of the plugin.

• Filereader Plugin
• Tool Plugin
• OutputDevice Plugin
• Extension Plugin

You can also look into the plugins directory of Cura. These are the plugins we ship with Cura by default and contains a wide variety of plugin types and functionality.

Even more details can be found on the Wiki of the underlying Uranium framework.

SDK

For details on how to interact with Cura from your plugin, have a look at our SDK section.

Examples of 3rd party plugins

See the following examples of plugins for more coding details:

• OctoPrint Plugin: Send print jobs directly to OctoPrint and monitor their progress in Cura.
• Barbarian Plugin: allows to quickly convert models in inches to metric
• Auto orientation: Calculate the optimal orientation for a model.
• X3G Writer: Adds support for exporting X3G files.