Copy Scene Tree

Ever tried to describe your Godot scene structure in a GitHub issue, a bug report, or an AI chat — and ended up typing it out by hand? This plugin fixes that.

Copy Scene Tree is a Godot 4.x editor plugin that copies any selected node's hierarchy as clean, readable text directly to your clipboard. One menu click, zero friction.

It is especially useful when asking AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini for help with your Godot project. Instead of describing your scene in prose, you can paste the exact structure and get answers grounded in your actual setup.

Features

• One-click copy of any selected node and its full subtree
• Clean tree-drawing characters (├──, └──, │) at any nesting depth
• Shows node names and Godot class names by default
• Displays attached script filenames when present, such as [player.gd]
• Shows [Built-in Script] for scripts embedded directly in a scene file
• Copies directly to the system clipboard
• Gives non-blocking feedback in the Output panel
• Editor-only addon with no runtime footprint in exported games
• Small formatter script that can be extended with additional output styles

Perfect For

• AI assistants — paste your scene into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and get precise, context-aware answers
• Bug reports — show exactly what your scene looks like without screenshots
• GitHub discussions — share hierarchy in issues or pull request descriptions
• Team collaboration — communicate scene structure clearly across your team
• Project documentation — drop accurate scene snapshots into wikis or design docs

Demo

See the demo GIF in the repository root on GitHub. Asset Library downloads include only the addon folder.

Repository Layout

addons/
└── copy_scene_tree/
    ├── plugin.cfg
    ├── plugin.gd
    ├── scene_tree_formatter.gd
    ├── icon.svg
    ├── icon.png
    ├── README.md
    └── LICENSE

Only the addons/ folder is included in Asset Library downloads. The repository root contains project metadata, documentation, and the demo GIF.

Installation

From the Godot Asset Library

Search for Copy Scene Tree in the Godot Asset Library and click Install.

Manual Installation

1. Copy the addons/copy_scene_tree/ folder into your project's addons/ directory.
2. Open your project in Godot 4.x.
3. Go to Project → Project Settings → Plugins.
4. Find Copy Scene Tree and set its status to Enabled.

Usage

1. Open a scene and select any node in the Scene dock.
2. Go to Project → Tools → Copy Scene Tree.
3. The hierarchy rooted at the selected node is copied to your clipboard.
4. Paste it anywhere: an AI chat, a GitHub issue, documentation, or a message to a teammate.

A confirmation message appears in the Output panel so you know the copy succeeded.

Why not the right-click context menu? Godot 4.x does not expose a public API for injecting items into the Scene dock's right-click PopupMenu. Doing so requires scanning internal editor nodes, which is fragile across engine versions. The Project → Tools menu is the stable, officially supported location for editor plugin actions.

Output Format

Default format: Names + Types + Scripts

Player (CharacterBody2D) [player.gd]
├── CollisionShape2D (CollisionShape2D)
├── AnimatedSprite2D (AnimatedSprite2D)
├── AnimationPlayer (AnimationPlayer)
└── Camera2D (Camera2D) [camera_controller.gd]

Deeper nesting is handled correctly at any level:

Root (Node2D) [main.gd]
├── HUD (CanvasLayer)
│   ├── HealthBar (ProgressBar)
│   └── ScoreLabel (Label)
└── World (Node2D)
    ├── Player (CharacterBody2D) [player.gd]
    └── Enemies (Node2D) [enemy_manager.gd]

Script filenames are shown only when a script is attached. Nodes without scripts are displayed normally. Scripts embedded directly in the scene, rather than saved as .gd files, show [Built-in Script].

The formatter lives in addons/copy_scene_tree/scene_tree_formatter.gd. Its Format enum is the single place to register new output styles.

Adding New Formats

1. Add a new entry to the Format enum in addons/copy_scene_tree/scene_tree_formatter.gd.
2. Add a match branch in _format_node().
3. Optionally expose a settings UI in addons/copy_scene_tree/plugin.gd that persists the user's preference.

No other files need to change.

Compatibility

Author

Created by Creative-banda.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.