Open Blender from the navigation rail. If it is hidden, enable Blender under Settings → Features. Logistics ships only the manager and its release catalog; Blender is downloaded on the first launch of a configuration that needs it.
The main page shows one launch card per Blender version and preference preset. Click a card to launch that configuration. If Blender is missing, confirm its version and destination; Logistics installs it before launching. Configure Blender… and each card's Manage button open the feature's Settings.
Under Settings → Blender, Presets appears first. The second tab, Versions Definitions, is admin configuration for the catalog of Blender versions available to install, including their platform packages and download metadata. In Personal Settings, Presets creates and manages configurations, selects addons and provides Add Addon… for the selected preset only. The third tab, Addon Library, browses shared versions. Version/preset editing is kept off the main launch page. Manage opens the selected card's preset.
Click a configuration card or Launch Blender in Manage. If that version is missing, confirm the download and destination. Logistics installs it and then launches the selected preset automatically. Cancelling or a failed installation does not launch Blender. Installed versions launch without a download prompt. Logistics verifies the official package against its pinned SHA-256 before extracting it. Progress and cancellation are shown at the bottom of the page. Successful installation deletes the downloaded package; failure or cancellation discards temporary staging. Existing installation folders are never silently overwritten.
The catalog includes Blender 4.5.1 and 5.2.2, the stable release verified on October 12, 2026. Windows x64/ARM64 and macOS Apple Silicon have both versions; Intel Macs have 4.5.1. Linux x64 has both versions. These releases have no official Linux ARM64 package, and 5.2.2 has no Intel Mac package. The manager shows only packages for your OS/architecture. Blender's own OS and hardware requirements still apply; a matching package does not guarantee compatibility with older systems.
Release metadata is editable under Settings → Blender. Select the exact Blender version from the dropdown, then choose a platform tab across the top. The panel shows only that platform's download URL, SHA-256, package format, extracted bundle and executable path. Save Settings saves edits for the selected version; switching versions/platforms keeps unsaved edits.
Each version has its own catalog file, such as config-4.5.1.ini or
config-5.2.2.ini in Python/features/blender. The filename fixes the version;
platform section names identify the builds. To add a version, add a matching
config-<major.minor.patch>.ini with its official package metadata. The manager
does not silently replace installed releases.
The global Settings scope selects Personal Settings or Default Software Configuration. Personal edits save only explicit fields in the matching per-version personal INI; inherited fields follow software defaults. A matching explicit value remains an override until ↶ removes it and Save Settings commits the reset. Download URL, hash, format, bundle and executable must describe the same package; invalid metadata is rejected on Save. Existing personal fields from the old combined catalog migrate once to the matching version/platform; the old file is retained. Existing per-version choices take precedence. Migration failures preserve the old file and retry on a later launch. Switching scopes retains each scope's pending edits.
Open Settings → Blender → Presets. The list on the left shows all presets
with their Blender versions. Select one to configure its details on the right.
Click +, choose the Blender version and enter the preset name beneath it in
the same dialog, then launch from its card or Launch Blender.
Right-click a preset to rename, duplicate, copy it to another version, or delete it.
Deletion still asks for confirmation and keeps the shared addon library intact. Each preset has
independent config, scripts, extensions and datafiles folders. Blender's
userpref.blend and startup.blend belong in config; legacy addons belong in
scripts/addons, and scripts/keymap presets belong under scripts/presets.
Modern extensions retain Blender's repository/extension folder layout.
Blender receives the selected resource paths in its process environment. Normal Blender preferences outside Logistics are not selected by this launcher. Launching Blender directly outside Logistics does not automatically use these presets.
The More… menu in Manage contains these maintenance actions:
- Duplicate Preset makes an independent copy within the selected version.
- Copy to Another Version copies to another configured release after an explicit confirmation. Check addon and preference compatibility in the destination Blender.
- Rename Preset changes its folder name without rewriting preferences inside it.
- Open Preset Folder opens its files in your system file manager.
- Delete Preset permanently deletes that preset, preferences and addons after confirmation. There is no Undo; back up important presets before deletion.
Copying preserves file contents and symlinks. Blender preferences may contain absolute paths to assets, repositories or scripts: duplicating/renaming a preset does not rewrite those references. Close Blender before copying, renaming or deleting its preset. Logistics blocks these operations for instances it launched while they are running; it cannot track Blender instances started elsewhere.
Each preset resolves addons from two sources:
- Shared: the read-only studio/maintainer ZIP collection, defaulting to
Software/Blender_Addons_Library. ZIPs are discovered recursively; no manifest needs manual maintenance. - Preset provided: ZIPs imported with Settings → Blender → Presets → Add
Addon…. Choose a preset first. These ZIPs belong only to that preset and are
stored in its
addon-library/<identity>/<version>[--date]/addon.zipfolder.
The newest declared-compatible release across both sources wins. For matching identity/version, the preset's own package overrides the shared copy. Importing an older version does not hide a newer compatible shared version. The shared collection remains untouched. Duplicating or copying a preset includes its ZIPs; deleting the preset deletes its private ZIP library too. Unchecking an addon keeps the imported ZIP available for later selection in that preset.
Imports read metadata without running addon code. They do not automatically select the addon; check it in the preset's addon list and save the selection. Legacy add-on regex escape warnings are not printed during metadata inspection. Invalid metadata is still rejected; the add-on's source is left unchanged.
Older imports from the previous per-user library remain available to presets that already selected their identity, labelled User provided (legacy). They are retained on disk and are not newly offered to unrelated presets.
Legacy module names and extension manifest IDs identify addons, regardless of folder or display name. Keep these identities stable across releases. Exact reimports are harmless; conflicting contents for one identity/version/date are rejected. Different module names remain distinct even if display names match.
Metadata is read without importing addon code. Legacy packages use the literal
bl_info dictionary in __init__.py (or a single root Python file); its version
is the addon release and blender is the minimum Blender version. Modern
extensions use blender_manifest.toml, including version, blender_version_min,
optional exclusive blender_version_max, and optional platforms.
The manager chooses the numerically newest addon release whose declared Blender version range and platform match the configuration. A minimum is inclusive; an extension maximum is exclusive. Missing requirements appear as unknown in the library and are not automatically eligible for selection. Declared compatibility cannot guarantee that an addon works. ZIPs must contain exactly one identifiable addon; unsafe paths, symbolic links, duplicate paths and oversized packages are rejected. Unknown versions or metadata constructed by executing Python are rejected.
Open Settings → Blender → Presets (or a card's Manage shortcut), select addons under Addons, then click Save Addon Selection. This saves the choices without installing or launching Blender. The next launch copies the resolved releases into that preset, enables them in background Blender and saves preferences. Close Blender before saving or applying changes. Deselecting an addon disables and removes its library-managed files from that preset; the source ZIP stays in the shared folder or the preset's ZIP library. Existing addons installed outside the library are preserved; conflicting module paths must be moved manually before the library can manage that addon.
Selected addons are activated automatically in case-insensitive alphabetical order
by their displayed names, using their module names to break ties. The launcher passes
an ordered --addons argument and runs a startup script that disables/re-enables
only the managed addons in that order without removing their preference objects.
Blender's ordinary saved/default addons may initialize earlier; the controlled
activation step orders the managed selection and leaves unrelated addons alone.
This can call managed addon startup code again. The interactive startup step does not save preferences. Launch preparation applies
the saved selection and saves its enabled preferences in background Blender.
Launch cards resolve saved selections again, so a newly imported compatible release is used on the next launch. If a selection no longer has a compatible release, launch reports the problem; deselect it in Manage. Importing a ZIP alone does not change existing presets. Copies to another Blender version retain selections and resolve them for that destination on launch. The manager rolls back preset files and saved preferences when applying addons fails or is cancelled. Addon startup code can run during enabling and launch; effects outside the preset cannot be undone. Blender instances started outside Logistics cannot be tracked; close them yourself.
Private download credentials are planned for Credentials/blender_addons, but
credential manifests, private downloads and access management are not implemented.
Use local ZIP imports for now.
Blue Hole is a dedicated optional configuration above the normal addon list in Presets; it is omitted from the regular library list. Enable Blue Hole is on by default. Choose main, beta or alpha, and Deluxe: No / Yes. Deluxe defaults to No. Save the selection before launching.
Each launch with Blue Hole enabled resolves the channel’s compatible versioned
branch and checks its GitHub head. The
manager downloads that exact commit only when it is not already cached, using the
public ispaure/BlueHole repository. Branch snapshots have their own commit cache,
so two commits declaring the same addon version still remain distinct. Declared
Blender compatibility is checked before applying the snapshot. No GitHub access
or download happens merely by viewing the page or creating a preset. An invalid or incompatible
update stops launch and preserves the existing preset files/preferences. Network
failures can use the installed-copy fallback described below.
Deluxe copies overlays/deluxe/payload/userpref.blend into the preset's config
and payload/keyconfig/BH_Keymaps.py into its scripts/presets/keyconfig folder,
before applying addon selections. It replaces that preset's preferences; an existing
file is retained as config/userpref.before-bluehole-deluxe.blend. The payload is
stamped once, then again only if its contents change, preserving artist changes
between launches. No stops further stamping; it does not undo preferences/keymaps
already applied. Disable Blue Hole to omit it entirely. Existing presets without
an explicit Blue Hole choice inherit enabled/main/No on their next launch.
Manage's Installed files tab lists legacy files and extension manifests without importing them. Saved enabled state initially reads Unknown. More… → Refresh Addons starts Blender in background/offline mode to inspect saved preferences. It lists addon name, version, type, enabled state, source and location. Sources are Preset, Bundled and External; the latter two appear after Blender inspection. More… → Open Addon Folder opens the selected row. Save changes in Blender before refreshing. Inspection does not save or change preferences, but enabled addons may run their startup code. Failures fall back to filesystem rows with unknown enabled state.
Everything is under the per-user Logistics directory:
| OS | Logistics root |
|---|---|
| Windows | %APPDATA%/Logistics (home-directory fallback if APPDATA is unavailable) |
| macOS | ~/Library/Application Support/Logistics |
| Linux | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/logistics or ~/.config/logistics |
Installations use software/blender/<exact-version>. Presets use
preferences/blender/<exact-version>/<preset>. These paths are independent of
the older global software/resource directory settings. More… → Open Installation Folder
opens the selected installed application.
More… → Remove Installation deletes only a complete Logistics-managed installation
after confirmation; presets and their addons remain available for reinstallation.
Close Blender instances using it first. An incomplete/unrecognized folder is kept
for manual inspection rather than deleted automatically. If a previous process
crashed and left a .version.lock folder beside an installation, first ensure no
Logistics installation/removal is running, then remove that empty lock folder and retry.
macOS installations mount the downloaded DMG read-only, copy Blender.app while
preserving its metadata, then detach the mounted volume. Cancellation during a
native mount/copy waits for that bounded operation to finish before cleanup.
Removal/deletion finish their filesystem operation once begun; partial removal
after a filesystem error may require manual cleanup. Downloads need internet
access and enough disk space for the package, staging and extracted application.
Settings → Blender → Addon Library is the third tab, after Presets and
Versions Definitions. It browses shared packages, with one collapsed row per addon; expand it to see its
ZIP packages newest first,
including package dates, compatibility limits and original ZIP names. The shared
folder defaults to Software/Blender_Addons_Library; you can distribute that
folder and change Resources.blender_addons_path to its location.
In Settings → Blender → Presets → Addons, compare Installed with Latest compatible. Status indicates Up to date, Update available, Installation pending, Removal pending, incompatible packages, or missing files/library entries. Saving selection records what the next launch should apply. Installed files also shows addons placed directly in the preset, including those outside the library. The Library column says Shared for the supplied ZIP folder or Preset provided for a ZIP imported into this preset. Imported packages do not appear in the shared library tab or in other presets.
Keep future ZIPs inside the same addon folder. Filenames can include both the
addon version and date, for example Anytree_2.1.3_2026_10_12.zip. Logistics reads
version and compatibility from the ZIP, choosing the newest compatible declared
version; dated revisions distinguish packages that retain the same version.
library-inventory.json is a packaging snapshot, not the application index;
you do not need to edit it when adding ZIPs. Refresh the library tab to rescan it.
Unknown compatibility is not automatically selected. The package date alone does
not establish compatibility. Python caches are not needed in shared ZIPs.
Blue Hole's Currently installed row shows its installed branch, short commit
and version; hover to see the complete commit. The branch dropdown describes the
next launch, which may differ from what is installed now. Updating Blue Hole
refreshes envFiles/default and preserves the artist's other envFiles folders.
Non-addon backup data in _support is retained for manual use and not installed
as an addon.
Launching leaves unchanged addon packages in place, preserving files they created inside their folders. Changed versions still replace package files; keep important addon-local data backed up before a version update.
Disabling Blue Hole keeps your custom environments in the preset’s separate addon-data/bluehole folder. Re-enabling restores them; default remains supplied by Blue Hole. Copying a preset includes this data, and deleting the preset removes it.
Broken or conflicting ZIPs are skipped and listed as warnings in the library and preset views. Healthy packages stay available. If a preset cannot refresh, saving its addon choices is blocked until a successful refresh.
Installation uses a verified private copy of each package it replaces. If a ZIP changes during a sync before it can be copied, installation stops safely and asks you to refresh and try again.
If GitHub checking or downloading fails, Logistics can launch with the already installed, compatible Blue Hole copy and shows its actual branch and commit in a warning. Your selected branch remains requested for the next launch. Deluxe changes wait until an online update succeeds. First-time installation still needs internet access.
Blue Hole's Main/Beta/Alpha selection follows the Blender version being launched.
Blender 4.5.1 uses blender-4.5.1/main, /beta or /alpha; Blender 5.2.2
uses blender-5.2.2/main, /beta or /alpha, matching your selected channel.
The installed row shows the full resolved branch and commit. Selection uses the
newest available baseline at or below that Blender version, so older Blender
versions do not receive branches intended for newer baselines.
The 5.2.2 branches start from the 4.5.1 alpha code. They are available for testing; full 5.2.2 compatibility, including themes and Deluxe keymaps, remains in progress.