Developer documentation

How to extend SpriteGrid, read what it exports in a game, and connect AI assistants to it.

Effect plugins#

Every effect in SpriteGrid is a plugin: a manifest and a GLSL shader zipped into a .sgfx file. Put one in the effects folder and it's in the Effects panel's + menu. Save it again and it reloads while you work. No source code, compiler or restart. Start with Make an effect.

Themes#

A theme is a .sgtheme file: a name and 29 colors in JSON. Put one in the themes folder and it's in Edit ▸ Theme. Start with Make a theme.

File formats#

A slice sheet comes with a JSON file of each slice's place in the sheet, nine-slice guides, pivot and named points, for your game to read. See Slice sheet JSON, which has a JSON Schema for it too.

AI assistants#

SpriteGrid has an MCP server. Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, or any app that speaks the Model Context Protocol, can look at your documents and draw in them while you watch, with 63 tools. Every change is one step you can undo. Start with Connect an assistant.

Where the files go#

You don't have to find them yourself: the Effects panel's + menu has Open Effects Folder, and Edit ▸ Theme has Open Themes Folder.