Tell People What Your Script Needs

One of the best things about Grasshopper is the plugins. One of the worst things about Grasshopper is... also its plugins.

Plugins are amazing - they extend functionality beyond what's possible with native components. With plugins alone, you can use Grasshopper for urban analysis, simulate real world physics, you can even simulate particles.

But sharing scripts that use plugins is a nightmare. Especially if you are trying to share it to an entire company.

There are two ways to get plugins in Grasshopper:

1. Through Yak (Rhino's package manager)
2. Downloading files manually from Food4Rhino, Then place them in the "Libraries" folder.

Having two ways of getting plugins makes it confusing and it often causes conflicts between the two types. If you open a script with some missing plugins, you'll be met with this window.

It's not too bad, it even let's you download and install the plugins right there. Let's hit that and see what happens.

Well, that didn't work out too well. It found Metahopper which is exists on the Yak but not the TreeSloth, which is just a file. If you continue on, you’re now left with a blight on your script that you cannot do anything about.

You can't do anything, you can't select them or even delete them. Your only hope is to find the plugins that were used.

The Solution: Document Your Dependencies

Okay, it's not the best solution, but a good way to make this process less painful is to list your plugins somewhere. It's counterintuitive because the value only becomes apparent after you finish your script. But listing your plugins serves two crucial purposes:

1. It reminds you to tell others what they need before using your script
2. It helps you reduce unnecessary plugin usage (am I using this plugin because I need it, or just because I can?)

So because of that, I have this in my template.

How to Implement This

Well, like with the auto-colouring, there are two ways to do this. One through Python and one Metahopper . And yes, I prefer the Python way because it’s one less plugin to worry about but Metahopper has been good in a pinch and it's actually one of the regular plugins I always have.

The Metahopper way

Metahopper gives you a single component that splits out all third party plugins used in your script. Plug it into a panel and you have your list.

Funnily enough, if you only have this component on your script, it doesn't recognise metahopper as a third party plugin.

The Python way

This approach is also a single component. It takes in a button and a panel. It looks for a panel with the name "External Plug-ins" and updates it.

Final Thoughts

The real value isn't just knowing what plugins you're using (Grasshopper already tells you when they're missing), but being intentional about your choices. There are countless plugins that reinvent the wheel when perfect native solutions exist.

Maybe one day, I'll write something that bundles the script and needed plugins into a folder for easier distribution.

Okay, that’s all for this week.

Happy scripting, Braden.

P.S. If you have any specific workflows or resources you'd like me to break down in future emails, just reply and let me know!