Build Workflow with x4cat

Recommended project structure

my_mod/
  content.xml          -- Extension manifest (loose file)
  src/                 -- Mod files (packed into catalog)
    md/                -- Mission Director scripts
    aiscripts/         -- AI scripts
    libraries/         -- Library diff patches
    t/                 -- Translation files
  dist/                -- Build output
  schemas/             -- Extracted XSD schemas (gitignored)
  tests/               -- Validation tests
  Makefile
  pyproject.toml       -- uv project with x4cat dev dependency

Use x4cat init <mod_id> to generate this structure automatically. See the mod project tutorial for a walkthrough.

Build commands

# Pack mod files into a catalog
x4cat pack ./src -o ./dist/ext_01.cat
cp content.xml ./dist/

# Or use the diff workflow for iterative development
x4cat diff --base ./base --mod ./src -o ./dist/ext_01.cat

Installation

Copy the contents of dist/ to <X4 install>/extensions/<mod_id>/.

The directory must contain at minimum content.xml. If using catalogs, also ext_01.cat and ext_01.dat.

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