Getting Started

Install your plugin, connect the MCP bridge, and send your first AI-powered command in under 5 minutes.

Quick Start (5 minutes)

Get from zero to your first AI-generated Blueprint or script in four steps.

1

Install the Plugin

Copy the BlueprintForge or com.ocr.manny folder into your project's Plugins/ (UE5) or Packages/ (Unity) directory and restart the editor.

2

Open the Dashboard

Go to Window > BlueprintForge > Dashboard (UE5) or Window > Manny > Dashboard (Unity). The MCP bridge starts automatically.

3

Enter an API Key

Open Settings > AI Providers and paste your API key. OpenRouter is recommended for beginners — one key, many models. Get a free key at openrouter.ai.

4

Send Your First Message

Switch to the Chat tab and type:
Create a health component Blueprint
Press Enter and watch the AI build it for you.

First time? The Onboarding Wizard walks you through setup step-by-step with guided prompts. It launches automatically on first open, or access it from the Dashboard sidebar.

1. Installation

Option A: Unity Package Manager (Recommended)

  1. Open Unity 2022.3 or newer
  2. Go to Window > Package Manager
  3. Click the + button in the top-left corner
  4. Select "Add package from git URL..."
  5. Enter the package URL:
    https://github.com/OpenCircuitRacing/manny.git
  6. Click Add and wait for the package to import
  7. Open the dashboard: Window > Manny > Dashboard

Option B: Unity Asset Store

  1. Search for "Manny - AI Automation Suite" on the Asset Store
  2. Click Add to My Assets, then Import in the Package Manager
  3. Open the dashboard: Window > Manny > Dashboard

2. Quick Start

Start the MCP Bridge

Manny uses a Node.js bridge to communicate with AI providers. The bridge starts automatically when you open the dashboard, but you can also start it manually:

  1. Ensure Node.js v18+ is installed on your system
  2. Open the Manny dashboard (Window > Manny > Dashboard)
  3. The bridge status indicator in the top bar shows green when connected
  4. If the bridge fails to start, click the Reconnect button or check the Console for error details

Configure Your API Key

  1. In the Manny dashboard, click the Settings tab in the sidebar (gear icon)
  2. Under AI Providers, select your preferred provider (Claude, Gemini, or OpenRouter)
  3. Paste your API key into the key field and click Save
  4. The provider status indicator turns green when the key is validated
Tip: OpenRouter gives you access to many models with a single API key, making it the easiest way to get started. You can get a free key at openrouter.ai.

Send Your First Message

  1. Click the Chat tab in the sidebar
  2. Type a message in the input field at the bottom, for example:
    Create a PlayerHealth MonoBehaviour with maxHealth, currentHealth, a TakeDamage method, and an OnDeath UnityEvent
  3. Press Enter or click Send
  4. Manny generates the C# script and creates it in your project's Assets folder
  5. The new script appears in your Project window, ready to attach to a GameObject

3. Speech-to-Text Setup

Manny supports real-time speech-to-text with two transcription providers. Speak your commands instead of typing them.

  1. Open Settings (gear icon) and switch to the STT tab
  2. Select a Provider:
    • OpenAI Whisper — Uses your existing OpenAI API key, supports auto language detection
    • Azure Speech Services — Requires a separate subscription key and region
  3. For Azure: Enter your Subscription Key and Region (e.g., eastus)
  4. Select your Microphone Device from the dropdown
  5. Click Test Microphone (3s) to verify audio capture
  6. In the Chat panel, click the microphone button to start recording
  7. Speak your command, then click Stop — the audio is automatically transcribed and inserted into the input field
Tip: Whisper is the easiest setup since it reuses your OpenAI key. Audio is recorded at 16kHz mono for optimal transcription accuracy.

3. Configuration

Server Port

Both plugins run a local HTTP server for MCP communication. The default port is 4000. If this port is already in use, you can change it in the Settings panel. The MCP bridge will automatically reconnect to the new port.

Provider Setup

You can configure multiple AI providers simultaneously. The AI Router automatically selects the best provider for each task type:

Task Type Providers API Key Source
LLM Chat & Code Generation Claude, Gemini, OpenRouter Anthropic, Google AI, or OpenRouter dashboard
PixelForge (Image & Texture) DALL-E, Stable Diffusion OpenAI or Stability AI dashboard
MeshWorks (3D Mesh) Meshy, Hyper3D Meshy or Hyper3D dashboard
AudioForge (Voice, Music, SFX) ElevenLabs, Suno ElevenLabs or Suno dashboard

External MCP Clients

You can connect Claude Code or Claude Desktop directly to your editor by pointing them at the MCP server. Add the following to your MCP client configuration:

{ "mcpServers": { "blueprint-factory": { "command": "node", "args": ["path/to/mcp-bridge/index.js"], "env": { "BF_PORT": "4000" } } } }

4. Text-to-Speech Setup

Both plugins include a full TTS system with 4 providers. SAPI works offline out of the box on Windows with no setup needed. For cloud providers, you will need an API key.

  1. Open Settings (gear icon in the sidebar, or the dedicated Settings window)
  2. Scroll to the Text-to-Speech section
  3. Toggle Enable TTS on
  4. Select a Provider — Windows SAPI (free, offline), ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS, or Azure Cognitive
  5. Choose a Voice from the dropdown
  6. Set Verbosity (Brief, Actions, Plan Briefs, Content, or Full)
  7. Click Test Voice to verify your setup
  8. Optionally enable Auto-Speak to have every response spoken automatically
Tip: Set a Fallback Provider to SAPI so TTS falls back to offline speech if your cloud provider fails.

See the full TTS documentation for provider setup details, verbosity level descriptions, and troubleshooting.

5. Tool Reference Overview

Both BlueprintForge and Manny share the same tool architecture organized into four categories. Each tool is callable through chat or directly via MCP protocol.

Core Tools (7)

Health check, status, asset search, cache, transactions

Planning Tools (7)

Phases, tasks, assets, platforms, plugins, agent memory

Dashboard Tools (8)

Stats, feedback, help, settings, provider config, key management

ScriptTools / BlueprintTools (26)

Code/Blueprint generation, scene management, materials

Workflow Tools (4)

Project query, enhanced input, console, level management

AnimTools (6)

State machines, transitions, blend trees, validation

AI Router (18+)

LLM, MeshWorks, PixelForge, AudioForge and provider config

Engine Swap

Beta

Cross-engine project conversion between UE5 and Unity

See the complete Tool Reference for every tool with parameters and usage examples.

6. Troubleshooting

Port 4000 is already in use

Another application is using port 4000. Open the plugin Settings and change the MCP server port to an unused port (e.g., 4001 or 4200). Make sure to update your MCP client configuration to match the new port. On Windows, you can check what is using the port by running netstat -ano | findstr :4000 in a terminal.

API key is invalid or rejected

Double-check that you copied the full API key without leading or trailing whitespace. Ensure the key has not expired or been revoked on the provider's dashboard. For OpenRouter keys, verify that your account has available credits. The Settings panel shows the exact error message returned by the provider.

MCP bridge server will not start

Confirm that Node.js v18 or newer is installed by running node --version in a terminal. The bridge requires Node.js to be accessible on your system PATH. If you installed Node.js after opening the editor, restart the editor so it picks up the updated PATH. Check the editor console (Unity Console or UE5 Output Log) for specific error messages from the bridge process.

Tools are not appearing in the chat response

Make sure the MCP bridge is connected (green indicator in the dashboard header). Verify that your API key is configured and validated. Some tools require the Pro tier -- check the Tools panel to see which tools are available on your current plan. If using an external MCP client, ensure the bridge is configured to forward tool calls to the editor server.

Unity: Package import fails or shows compile errors

Manny requires Unity 2022.3 LTS or newer. If you see assembly reference errors, close and reopen Unity to trigger a full recompile. If using Assembly Definition Files (.asmdef), ensure that com.ocr.manny references are added to your project assemblies. Delete the Library/ folder and reimport as a last resort.

UE5: Plugin fails to compile

BlueprintForge requires UE 5.3 or newer and MSVC 2022 on Windows or Xcode 15+ on macOS. Regenerate project files after adding the plugin. If you encounter linker errors, ensure all BlueprintForge modules are listed in your project's Build.cs dependencies. For systems with limited RAM (under 32 GB), add -MaxParallelActions=1 to your build command.

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