Material Tools

Material tools operate on UE Material and Material Function expression graphs. Use material.palette for creation, graph tools for nodes and links, and node tools for expression properties.

Recommended Flow

1. Inspect the graph with material.graph.inspect.
2. Use material.palette before adding an expression node.
3. Use schema.inspect before material.graph.edit commands.
4. Use material.node.inspect before material.node.edit.
5. Run material.compile after meaningful graph or property changes.

Tool Summary

Tool	Purpose
material.list	List expressions in a material asset.
material.graph.inspect	Inspect expression nodes, pins, and links.
material.graph.edit	Apply explicit Material graph edit commands.
material.graph.layout	Format selected Material graph nodes.
material.compile	Compile a Material asset and return diagnostics.
material.node.inspect	Inspect one expression instance or expression class.
material.node.edit	Set one editable expression property.
material.palette	Search UE Material palette actions for expression creation.

material.list

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	yes	Material or Material Function asset path.

Use this for a quick expression list. Use material.graph.inspect when you need graph wiring or pins.

material.graph.inspect

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	yes	Material or Material Function asset path.
graph	no	Optional graph reference.
graphRef	no	Compatibility graph reference.
graphName	no	Compatibility graph name.
nodeIds	no	Restrict to expression ids.
nodeClasses	no	Restrict by expression class.
includeConnections	no	Include link detail.

material.palette

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	no	Material or Material Function asset path.
graph	no	Optional graph reference.
query	no	Fuzzy search over label, category, tooltip, keywords, and payload.
elementTypes	no	Palette element families.
limit	no	Defaults to 50, maximum 500.
offset	no	Paging offset.

Pass the selected palette entry to material.graph.edit rather than guessing expression classes.

material.graph.edit

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	yes	Material or Material Function asset path.
graph	no	Optional graph reference.
commands	yes	Ordered command envelopes with kind.
dryRun	no	Validate without applying.
returnDiff	no	Include diff when supported.
returnDiagnostics	no	Defaults to true.
expectedRevision	no	Optimistic mutation guard when supported.

Command-specific fields are intentionally omitted from tools/list. Call schema.inspect with domain: material, tool: material.graph.edit, and the selected operation.

material.node.inspect

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	no	Required for instance mode.
nodeId	no	Expression instance id from graph inspect.
nodeClass	no	Expression class path for class mode.

Use instance mode before editing an existing expression. Use class mode to learn properties before creating or editing a class of expression.

material.node.edit

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	yes	Material or Material Function asset path.
graph	no	Optional graph reference.
node	yes	{id} from inspect or {alias} from an earlier edit command.
property	yes	Editable property name from material.node.inspect.
value	yes	JSON scalar or {importText: "..."} for UE import text values.
dryRun	no	Validate without applying.
returnDiff	no	Include diff when supported.
returnDiagnostics	no	Defaults to true.
expectedRevision	no	Optimistic mutation guard when supported.

material.graph.layout

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	yes	Material or Material Function asset path.
graph	no	Optional graph reference.
scope	yes	Explicit node selection to format.
spacing	no	Layout spacing.
origin	no	Optional top-left layout anchor.

Layout changes positions only; it does not change graph semantics.

material.compile

Parameters

Field	Required	Notes
assetPath	yes	Material asset path.

Compile after graph edits or property edits that may affect shader output.