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C.Cella
C.Cella
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May 21, 2025
Answered

Safe to use suffix .lrdevplugin

  • May 21, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 286 views

A Question.

Is it safe to use the suffix .lrdevplugin or it is always better to package the plug-ins using the suffix .lrplugin

SDK manual says: "For convenience, you can use the suffix .lrdevplugin during development, and change the extension to .lrplugin for delivery. The .lrdevplugin suffix is recognized by Lightroom Classic but does not trigger the package behavior in the macOS Finder."

No mention of "side effects" but I wonder if anyone has experienced some issues.

Question is perhaps silly.

 

Correct answer johnrellis

As that quote alludes, I've never seen any difference in LR's behavior between using .lrdevplugin and .lrplugin. The only difference is on Mac, where the LR app has told Finder to consider folders ending with ".lrplugin" as "packages". Packages kind-of-sort-of look like single files to the end user, and as you know, the only way to see inside a package in Finder is to right-click and do Show Package Contents.   Finder treats .app folders containing Mac applications the same way.

 

In my own plugins, I use the convention that plugins running in a .lrdevplugin folder automatically enables debugging mode in my debugging toolkit, whereas when it's running in a .lrplugin folder, it's in "release" mode without debugging enabled.  

1 reply

johnrellis
johnrellisCorrect answer
Legend
May 21, 2025

As that quote alludes, I've never seen any difference in LR's behavior between using .lrdevplugin and .lrplugin. The only difference is on Mac, where the LR app has told Finder to consider folders ending with ".lrplugin" as "packages". Packages kind-of-sort-of look like single files to the end user, and as you know, the only way to see inside a package in Finder is to right-click and do Show Package Contents.   Finder treats .app folders containing Mac applications the same way.

 

In my own plugins, I use the convention that plugins running in a .lrdevplugin folder automatically enables debugging mode in my debugging toolkit, whereas when it's running in a .lrplugin folder, it's in "release" mode without debugging enabled.  

C.Cella
C.CellaAuthor
Legend
May 22, 2025

Thanks @johnrellis 

I find myself opening the package nearly every day for one of my plug-ins and so since it is safe I think I will start using .lrdevplugin, this way I dont have to do to do "Show Package Contents"


 

 

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