The dev kit

Part	For
Kiln.Sdk	the MSBuild SDK for mod projects
Templates	a working project for each kind of mod
The kiln command	new, build, cook, deploy, run, reload, test, debug, lint, pack, logs, catalog
Lint and analyzers	checks on your JSON and your C#
VS Code extension	schemas, lint, game ids, tests, logs, a debugger, Impact assembly
Catalogs	the game’s ids from your own install
Testing	tests that run inside the server
Debugging	breakpoints in a running server, logs, crash reports

Use the SDK/MDK download matching your Kiln runtime (the SDK packages, the kiln command and the VS Code extension are under Mod authors on the download page), or build it from source. The folder holding its .nupkg files is the local package “feed”; pass it to kiln new with --feed <folder> or set $KILN_FEED.

Kiln.Sdk

Use the full version from your MDK pack (0.2.0-dev.22 for this release); local packs have their own version.

<Project Sdk="Kiln.Sdk/0.2.0-dev.22">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <KilnModId>my-mod</KilnModId>
    <Version>1.0.0</Version>
    <KilnServices>Players;Chat</KilnServices>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <KilnDependency Include="sample-lib" Version="^1.2" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

It targets .NET 10 and references Kiln’s API and your services without copying them. NuGet dependencies are copied next to your mod. Without a kiln.mod.json, the build writes one from the properties; with one, it checks it.

Property	Sets
KilnModId, KilnModName, Version, Description, Authors	identity
KilnSide, KilnClients	where it runs, what players need
KilnServices	the services you use, and Testing
KilnServer	your test server’s folder
KilnTestsAutoRun	run tests at server start and after reloads
KilnModFolders	data folders to ship; default content;assets;skills;quests;blocks;icons;impact;audio;vfx;models
KilnAnalyzers, KilnGameIds	analyzers, game-id constants

Items: KilnDependency, KilnLoadBefore, KilnLoadAfter, KilnIncompatible.

The kiln command drives the targets, which also work alone: dotnet build -t:KilnDeploy, -p:KilnReload=true, -t:KilnPack.

Templates

kiln new <template> <Name>, or dotnet new kiln-<template>. The dev.22 CLI lists 23 templates with kiln new --list.

Template	Gives you	Side, clients
mod	a code mod; tests=true adds tests	server, none
datapack	content/*.json edits	server, none
items	new items and recipes, with icons	both, mod
creature	a creature clone with level, scale and spawning	both, kiln
ability	an ability; impact=true adds a program	both, none
ui	a game UI overlay	client, mod
model	a glTF model and its recipe	both, mod
body	a creature with its own skinned body, animations, AI and attack	both, mod
sound	sounds, cues and their recipe	both, mod
talents	a talent tree	both, mod
native	a C++ mod	both
test	a separate test mod; target=<mod> depends on it	server, none
service	a native + managed service, inside Kiln’s source

New in 0.2.0-dev.20: block-first templates item-blocks, world-blocks, creature-blocks, npc, cosmetic, building-material, ability-blocks, quest; UI blocks with kiln new ui MyUi --set blocks=true. They supply typed blocks and/or blocks/*.json, so keep the form you need. The items and creature templates remain available for clone-based changes no block expresses. Confirm options with kiln new --list from the installed MDK; older dev.19 installations lack these additions. Building blocks

Run kiln cook before the first build of model, sound and ability with Impact. kiln build does it when a recipe is out of date.

dotnet new makes new GUIDs each time. Recreate a project under the same name and a world that saw the first keeps its items as placeholders. Use a fresh world or another name.

If you rebuild Kiln’s packages without changing their version, clear ~/.nuget/packages/kiln.* first.