What is the purpose of the Symlink step in the tutorial for creating a plugin?

[tristanfazio]

Don't quite understand this step. What purpose does it serve?
So far to me it seems like the dev loop is to code, build a release plugin, then add it to the stream deck. So what did this symlink step do?

[ChekTek]

Hi @tristanfazio,

Using a symlink allows developers to keep their projects stored wherever they like on their file system and still reload the plugin. You don't have to build a release plugin to see your code changes. If you navigate to your plugin on the debug page, you can reload the plugin on the fly. http://localhost:23654 This works great for legacy javascript plugins running in the Qt webengine, but we now also offer an SDK beta, which allows plugins to run in a Node.js environment.

If you are interested in the beta, you can install our CLI using NPM: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@elgato/cli. This should provide a much nicer developer experience. Let me know if you have any questions! requires Stream Deck 6.4+

[tristanfazio]

Hi @ChekTek!

Thanks for the reply.

So it seems I have misunderstood the docs then.

You sym link development repo folder, to the C:\Users%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Elgato\StreamDeck\Plugins\com.example.my-plugin.sdPlugin, so that the Streamdeck can pick it up.

Thank you for clarifying!