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Native runtime development

The installed mod lives in:

MortalShell2/Binaries/Win64/ue4ss/Mods/CustomShellSystem/
  state/state.json       CSS settings, selections, favorites and saved looks
  state/state.json.bak   Previous valid state
  catalog/              Optional developer catalogs (normal outfits embed theirs)
  cache/packages/       Rebuildable package artwork and color-mask cache
  assets/               Original CSS interface artwork
  cores/                Versioned native core DLLs
  core.json             Requested core version
  runtime/              Live acknowledgements and diagnostics

State writes use temporary files, flushes, replacement and backup recovery. Settings include invert_orbit_x, invert_orbit_y and auto_apply. Edit settings with the game closed, or use the native development tab while running. Core reload reads saved settings again.

From this project directory:

python3 tools/css.py build
python3 tools/css.py reload
python3 tools/css.py open
python3 tools/css.py inspect
python3 tools/css.py close

reload builds and stages only the reloadable core, refreshes PNGs and catalogs, and waits for the exact version acknowledgement from the running game. It closes an active wardrobe cleanly. Loader ABI or mounted IoStore asset changes still require a restart; native core development does not.

This build targets UE5.6 and the installed UE4SS 97b7e501 GameShippingWin64 runtime, with retained d7e7826d headers and a separately generated runtime import library. It uses clang-cl, the xwin Windows SDK, C++23 and the dynamic release CRT. The Python tools target Python 3.14. See SDK notes before changing toolchain or UE4SS versions, and repository conventions for tracked files, dependency patches and local checks.

Host ABI 2: writes off the game thread (1.0.0-beta.5)

The core may not own threads (it is hot-swapped and unloaded), so the permanent loader owns a writer thread instead (native/src/file_writer.hpp) and offers it through CssHost::write_file (host ABI 2). Every write_runtime_json and atomic_json in the core then hands its bytes over (css::async_file_writer) instead of writing on the game thread; the writer does the temp file, read-back check, optional .bak and atomic replace, applies writes to one path in order, and skips a write that a newer one for the same path has already superseded. Failures go to CSS.log.

Compatibility runs both ways. A core that understands host ABI 2 exports css_get_api2 next to css_get_api; the loader hands such a core the ABI 2 table and any older core the ABI 1 prefix. Under an older loader (before a restart picks up the new main.dll) the new core sees host ABI 1 and writes synchronously as before. The core table (CssCore, ABI 1) is unchanged. tests/data_tests.cpp covers the writer on Linux.