Maya Plugin Development

Build Maya plugins using msvc-kit without installing Visual Studio.

Requirements

Maya Version	MSVC Version	Windows SDK
Maya 2025	14.38	10.0.22621.0
Maya 2024	14.34	10.0.22000.0
Maya 2023	14.32	10.0.19041.0
Maya 2022	14.29	10.0.19041.0

Setup

1. Download MSVC

# For Maya 2025
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.38 --sdk-version 10.0.22621.0

# For Maya 2024
msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.34 --sdk-version 10.0.22000.0

2. Setup Environment

msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

3. Set Maya DevKit Path

$env:MAYA_DEVKIT = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2025\devkit"

Building a Simple Plugin

Plugin Source (helloWorld.cpp)

#include <maya/MSimple.h>
#include <maya/MGlobal.h>

DeclareSimpleCommand(helloWorld, "Autodesk", "1.0");

MStatus helloWorld::doIt(const MArgList&) {
    MGlobal::displayInfo("Hello, World!");
    return MS::kSuccess;
}

Compile

# Setup environment
msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

# Compile
cl /c /O2 /MD /EHsc /DWIN32 /D_WINDOWS /DNT_PLUGIN `
   /I"$env:MAYA_DEVKIT\include" `
   helloWorld.cpp

# Link
link /DLL /OUT:helloWorld.mll `
     helloWorld.obj `
     /LIBPATH:"$env:MAYA_DEVKIT\lib" `
     OpenMaya.lib OpenMayaAnim.lib OpenMayaUI.lib Foundation.lib

CMake Build

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)
project(MayaPlugin)

set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)

# Maya settings
set(MAYA_VERSION "2025" CACHE STRING "Maya version")
set(MAYA_DEVKIT "C:/Program Files/Autodesk/Maya${MAYA_VERSION}/devkit" 
    CACHE PATH "Maya DevKit path")

# Compiler flags for Maya
add_compile_options(
    /O2 /MD /EHsc
    /DWIN32 /D_WINDOWS /DNT_PLUGIN
    /D_USRDLL /D_WINDLL
)

# Plugin library
add_library(myPlugin SHARED
    src/plugin.cpp
    src/commands.cpp
)

target_include_directories(myPlugin PRIVATE
    ${MAYA_DEVKIT}/include
)

target_link_directories(myPlugin PRIVATE
    ${MAYA_DEVKIT}/lib
)

target_link_libraries(myPlugin
    OpenMaya
    OpenMayaAnim
    OpenMayaFX
    OpenMayaRender
    OpenMayaUI
    Foundation
)

# Output as .mll
set_target_properties(myPlugin PROPERTIES
    SUFFIX ".mll"
    PREFIX ""
)

Build

msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

cmake -B build -G "NMake Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build

Python API Extension

For Python-based Maya tools that need C++ performance:

pybind11 Extension

#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
#include <maya/MFnMesh.h>
#include <maya/MPointArray.h>

namespace py = pybind11;

std::vector<std::array<double, 3>> get_vertex_positions(const char* meshName) {
    // ... Maya API code ...
}

PYBIND11_MODULE(maya_native, m) {
    m.def("get_vertex_positions", &get_vertex_positions);
}

Build

msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

cl /c /O2 /MD /EHsc `
   /I"$env:MAYA_DEVKIT\include" `
   /I"path\to\pybind11\include" `
   /I"$env:MAYA_DEVKIT\include\Python" `
   maya_native.cpp

link /DLL /OUT:maya_native.pyd `
     maya_native.obj `
     /LIBPATH:"$env:MAYA_DEVKIT\lib" `
     OpenMaya.lib python310.lib

Library API Usage

use msvc_kit::{download_msvc, download_sdk, setup_environment, DownloadOptions};
use std::process::Command;
use std::path::PathBuf;

async fn build_maya_plugin(maya_version: &str) -> msvc_kit::Result<()> {
    // Version mapping
    let msvc_version = match maya_version {
        "2025" => "14.38",
        "2024" => "14.34",
        "2023" => "14.32",
        _ => "14.38",
    };
    
    let options = DownloadOptions {
        msvc_version: Some(msvc_version.to_string()),
        ..Default::default()
    };
    
    let msvc = download_msvc(&options).await?;
    let sdk = download_sdk(&options).await?;
    let env = setup_environment(&msvc, Some(&sdk))?;
    
    // Setup environment
    std::env::set_var("INCLUDE", env.include_path_string());
    std::env::set_var("LIB", env.lib_path_string());
    
    let maya_devkit = format!("C:\\Program Files\\Autodesk\\Maya{}\\devkit", maya_version);
    
    // Compile
    let cl = env.cl_exe_path().expect("cl.exe not found");
    Command::new(&cl)
        .args([
            "/c", "/O2", "/MD", "/EHsc",
            "/DWIN32", "/D_WINDOWS", "/DNT_PLUGIN",
            &format!("/I{}\\include", maya_devkit),
            "plugin.cpp"
        ])
        .status()?;
    
    // Link
    let link = env.link_exe_path().expect("link.exe not found");
    Command::new(&link)
        .args([
            "/DLL", "/OUT:plugin.mll",
            "plugin.obj",
            &format!("/LIBPATH:{}\\lib", maya_devkit),
            "OpenMaya.lib", "Foundation.lib"
        ])
        .status()?;
    
    Ok(())
}

CI/CD Example

name: Build Maya Plugin

on: [push]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: windows-latest
    strategy:
      matrix:
        maya: ['2024', '2025']
        include:
          - maya: '2024'
            msvc: '14.34'
          - maya: '2025'
            msvc: '14.38'
    
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      
      - name: Install msvc-kit
        run: cargo install msvc-kit
      
      - name: Download MSVC
        run: msvc-kit download --msvc-version ${{ matrix.msvc }}
      
      - name: Setup Environment
        run: msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression
      
      - name: Build Plugin
        run: |
          cmake -B build -G "NMake Makefiles" `
            -DMAYA_VERSION=${{ matrix.maya }}
          cmake --build build

Troubleshooting

"Cannot find Maya headers"

Ensure MAYA_DEVKIT is set correctly:

$env:MAYA_DEVKIT = "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Maya2025\devkit"
Test-Path "$env:MAYA_DEVKIT\include\maya\MFn.h"

"Unresolved external symbol"

Check that you're linking all required Maya libraries:

OpenMaya.lib OpenMayaAnim.lib OpenMayaFX.lib 
OpenMayaRender.lib OpenMayaUI.lib Foundation.lib

Runtime Crash

Ensure MSVC version matches Maya's build. Check Maya's about dialog for compiler info.