OBS Plugin Template

Introduction

The plugin template is meant to be used as a starting point for OBS Studio plugin development. It includes:

• Boilerplate plugin source code
• A CMake project file
• GitHub Actions workflows and repository actions

Supported Build Environments

Platform	Environment
Windows	Visual Studio 17 2022
macOS	Xcode 16
Ubuntu	Ubuntu 24.04

Quick Start

This project utilizes CMake Presets to simplify the configuration and build process.

1. Prerequisites

Ensure the following tools are installed on your system:

• CMake (3.28 or newer)
• C++ Compiler (Visual Studio 2022, Xcode 16, or GCC/Clang)

2. Build Instructions

Execute the following commands in your terminal to install dependencies, build the plugin, and install the artifacts.

Step 1: Install Dependencies

Windows and macOS: Run the helper script to download OBS Studio headers, Qt6, and other pre-built dependencies automatically.

cmake -P scripts/download-deps.cmake

Ubuntu: Install the required packages via apt.

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install \
  cmake \
  libgles2-mesa-dev \
  libqt6svg6-dev \
  libsimde-dev \
  ninja-build \
  obs-studio \
  pkg-config \
  qt6-base-dev \
  qt6-base-private-dev

Step 2: Configure, Build, and Install

Select the appropriate preset for your platform.

Windows (PowerShell): Installs artifacts to a local release directory. To use the plugin, copy the contents of the release directory to your OBS Studio installation path (typically C:\Program Files\obs-studio).

# Configure
cmake --preset windows-x64

# Build
cmake --build --preset windows-x64

# Install (to a local 'release' folder)
cmake --install build_x64 --prefix release

macOS: Installs directly to the OBS Studio plugins folder, allowing immediate use.

# Configure
cmake --preset macos

# Build
cmake --build --preset macos

# Install (to OBS Studio plugins folder)
cmake --install build_macos --prefix "$HOME/Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins"

Ubuntu: Installs to the system directory (/usr).

# Configure
cmake --preset ubuntu-x86_64

# Build
cmake --build --preset ubuntu-x86_64

# Install (to /usr)
sudo cmake --install build_x86_64 --prefix /usr

Packaging and Release

Packaging is handled automatically via GitHub Actions. The repository includes configured workflows for Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD):

• Build: Triggered on push to main and master and Pull Requests.
• Release: Triggered when a tag is pushed (e.g., 1.0.0). This workflow builds, signs, and creates a Draft Release with artifacts.

macOS Code Signing and Notarization

For information regarding macOS code signing and notarization setup (required for distribution), please refer to Codesigning on macOS.

Documentation

Comprehensive documentation is available in the Plugin Template Wiki.

• Getting Started
• Build System Requirements
• CMake Build System Options