Setup

Everything you need to start using DigitalHeaven.

Setup boils down to creating your workspace.

Get Started

Studio

The easiest way to get started. Download and launch DigitalHeaven Studio.

1. Launch Studio

   Run the DigitalHeaven.Studio executable (or build it with dotnet run -p DigitalHeaven.Studio).

2. Configure your workspace

   Tip

   The defaults are sensible — it’s recommended to leave them as-is.

   On first launch, a Welcome dialog appears with three fields:

   Field	Default	Description
   Workspace Root	Documents/DigitalHeaven	Root directory for all DigitalHeaven data
   Source Directory	${WorkspaceRoot}/Source	Where source pallets live
   Pallets Directory	${WorkspaceRoot}/Pallets	Where compiled .pallet files go

   Click Initialize Workspace to create the directory structure.

Next: Using Pallets if you’re installing pallets, or Creating Pallets if you’re building your own.

CLI

Install the dh command-line tool and initialize your workspace from the terminal.

1. Clone the repo and pack the CLI as a .NET tool:

   dotnet pack DigitalHeaven.CLI -c Release -o ./nupkg

2. Install it globally:

   dotnet tool install -g dh --add-source ./nupkg

   This installs dh to ~/.dotnet/tools/ (Linux/macOS) or %USERPROFILE%\.dotnet\tools\ (Windows).

   Tip

   On Windows, the .NET SDK usually adds the tools directory to PATH automatically. On Linux/macOS, you may need to add ~/.dotnet/tools to your shell profile. See the Linux page for details.

3. Initialize your workspace:

   dh init

   Or double-click Initialize DigitalHeaven Workspace.bat if you have the repo cloned.

4. Verify it works:

   dh help

To update after pulling new changes, re-pack and reinstall:

dotnet pack DigitalHeaven.CLI -c Release -o ./nupkg
dotnet tool update -g dh --add-source ./nupkg

See the CLI reference for all commands and flags.

Next: Using Pallets if you’re installing pallets, or Creating Pallets if you’re building your own.

Using Pallets

If you have a built pallet (a .pallet file — like an avatar), install it by dropping it into the Pallets/ directory in your workspace.

Head over to Supported Games to find information about available DigitalHeaven integrations.

Creating Pallets

The Source/ directory in your workspace is where your projects live. Each pallet is a container for assets and definitions — models, textures, materials, and the .dh-* files that describe them.

Create pallets in the Studio app or by hand in any text editor. Build manually or enable auto-build (watch mode) in either Studio or the CLI. Built pallets are written to the Pallets/ directory, ready to use in-game.

During a build, any new or changed .fbx files are automatically converted to .glb using Blender in headless mode (cached by content hash, so unchanged files aren’t reconverted). The compiler auto-detects Blender from your PATH and common install locations, but you can set the path manually in dh-config.jsonc. A customizable conversion script (Scripts/fbx_to_glb.py) handles the import/export settings — the compiler won’t overwrite it once it exists, so you’re free to tweak it.

See Pallets & Assets for details on pallet structure, asset references, and inheritance.