ck-build-and-env

name	ck-build-and-env
description	Use when setting up a Ck engine/plugin workspace or fixing engine association, stale binaries, DLL locks, build config, module rules, or headless boot; not for failure triage.

ck-build-and-env — recreate the working environment from scratch

Overview

This skill rebuilds the environment the Ck plugin suite compiles and boots in: the UnrealEngine-Angelscript source engine, the three Ck plugins as host-project git submodules, the shared CkModuleRules build spine, the generic UBT invocation shapes, and the known environment traps. It is plugin-scoped: host projects own their own build pipelines — BusterBlock gets exactly one labeled example line here.

When NOT to use this skill

Task	Load instead
Writing or invoking any test (AutoTest / Gauntlet / gym), test flags	ck-tests-authoring-and-running
Triaging a compile/UHT/linker/AS error once the environment is sane	ck-debugging-playbook
Script/Generated/ hygiene, dynamic-handle registry, AS binding breakage	ck-angelscript-interop
Style, macros, naming, non-negotiables	root Plugins/CkFoundation/CLAUDE.md

Reference files — load only what the task needs

Section numbers cited elsewhere in this skill point into these files.

Topic	Read
Engine, plugin placement, CkModuleRules, building, adding a module	references/environment-setup.md

6. Traps — symptom → cause → fix

#	Symptom	Cause	Fix
T1	Editor boot: "The following modules are missing or built with a different engine version:" naming Ck modules right after a branch/submodule switch (exact string: engine LaunchEngineLoop.cpp); or compile errors referencing types the branch deleted	<Plugin>/Binaries/ + <Plugin>/Intermediate/ still hold the previous branch's artifacts	Delete the plugin's Binaries/ and Intermediate/ (per affected plugin), plus the project's Intermediate/ if the solution is confused; regenerate project files and rebuild — all of these regenerate. Do NOT delete Saved/ (local config/logs, not build state) or DerivedDataCache/ (expensive shader rebuild) for this class of problem
T2	Build.bat fails with LNK1104 "cannot open file ...dll"	A running editor has the module DLLs mapped — the linker cannot replace them	Close the editor (verify the process is gone), rebuild. [operator experience, 2026-06: an editor launched early off a premature "done" signal caused exactly this]
T3	Boot reports missing modules though you switched nothing	A UBT/build process was killed mid-run: UBT deletes stale outputs before relinking, so an interrupted build leaves modules deleted-but-not-relinked	Run an explicit Build.bat to completion, then boot. Prevention: verification boots always pass -skipcompile so a canceled boot can never invoke (and orphan) UBT. [operator experience, 2026-06]
T4	Two working copies sharing one engine checkout trample each other's binaries	Any UBT run writes/deletes shared Engine/Binaries state	Headless boots use -skipcompile; check for running MSBuild/UBT/editor processes before starting a build from either copy. [operator experience, 2026-06]
T5	Redefinition / ODR link errors for file-local helpers that "should" be private; errors appear or vanish when unrelated files are added	Unity build (on by default, §3) concatenates TUs — anonymous-namespace and static file-local symbols in sibling .cpps collide; chunk membership shifts as files come and go, so the collision can surface later than the code that caused it	Wrap helpers/constants in a filename-derived named namespace (rule + naming: root CLAUDE.md). Do NOT "fix" it by passing

Common mistakes

• Looking for UnrealEditor-Cmd.exe in Engine/Binaries/Win64/ when the host target uses TargetBuildEnvironment.Unique — the editor binary is project-named in the project's Binaries/.
• "Fixing" an unregistered GUID by editing EngineAssociation — that edits a shared file; add the local registry value instead (§1).
• Deleting DerivedDataCache/ or Saved/ to cure a missing-modules error — wrong artifacts, real cost.
• Letting a headless boot compile (omitting -skipcompile) on a machine where anything else might touch the same binaries.
• Treating the WITH_ANGELSCRIPT_CK=0 path as dead code — the uplugin dependency is Optional and both sides must compile.
• Assuming PIE behavior == packaged-Development behavior — four CK_* defines differ (§3 matrix).

Provenance and maintenance

Authored 2026-07-02 (Phase-2 skills campaign). Every volatile fact above was verified first-hand on that date. Re-verification commands (cwd Plugins/CkFoundation unless stated):

• Engine version: Get-Content D:/Repos/UnrealEngineAngelscript/Engine/Build/Build.version
• Engine remotes/branch: git -C D:/Repos/UnrealEngineAngelscript remote -v and git -C D:/Repos/UnrealEngineAngelscript branch --show-current (strip embedded tokens before quoting anywhere)
• Registered builds: Get-ItemProperty 'HKCU:\Software\Epic Games\Unreal Engine\Builds'
• Host association GUID: EngineAssociation field in the host .uproject
• Submodule URLs: git config -f <host>/.gitmodules --get-regexp 'submodule.Plugins/Ck.*url'
• Angelscript-Optional dep + module count/types/phases: parse CkFoundation.uplugin (99 modules: 71 Runtime / 25 UncookedOnly / 3 Editor; 3 non-Default phases as of 2026-07-02)
• CkModuleRules facts + define matrix: re-read Source/CkBuildConfig/CkBuildConfig.Build.cs (cited line numbers drift with any edit — re-anchor on SetBuildConfiguration)
• Non-inheriting modules: rg --no-ignore -n ': ModuleRules' Source -g '*[Bb]uild.cs' (expect exactly 3 hits: CkThirdParty.build.cs — lowercase b; 6 of the 101 module build files use lowercase .build.cs, so a case-exact *.Build.cs glob misses them — plus CkIskmRendererVF.Build.cs, and CkBuildConfig's own public class CkModuleRules : ModuleRules base-class definition line)
• Vestigial ability define: rg --no-ignore -l 'CK_DISABLE_ABILITY_SCRIPT_DEBUGGING' Source/ (expect CkBuildConfig.Build.cs only)
• Batch-file arg shapes: headers of <ENGINE>/GenerateProjectFiles.bat and <ENGINE>/Engine/Build/BatchFiles/Build.bat
• Editor binary location: Get-ChildItem <ProjectRoot>/Binaries/Win64/*Editor*.exe and BuildEnvironment in Source/<Project>Editor.Target.cs
• Missing-modules string: rg -l 'built with a different engine version' <ENGINE>/Engine/Source/Runtime/Launch/