| name | bl-anchor-app |
| description | Use for AnchorAppBuilder hosting, AnchorSettings, PanelRenderer or UIDocument setup, services, lifecycle hooks, or UXML service ownership. |
Anchor App Hosting
Use this skill for Anchor app root setup, lifecycle, settings, and services. Resolve Anchor source from the installed package root; in source checkouts this is commonly Packages/com.bovinelabs.anchor.
Workflow
- Inspect the target
AnchorAppBuilder subclass, AnchorSettings, and the target assembly references first.
- Keep the host split explicit: Unity 6.5+ uses
PanelRenderer; Unity 6.3/6.4 uses UIDocument.
- Use
AnchorAppBuilder directly unless the app needs custom services, a custom AnchorApp, or lifecycle hooks.
- Override
OnConfigureServices for app services and call base.OnConfigureServices(services) unless intentionally replacing Anchor defaults.
- Configure
AnchorSettings for Views, StartDestination, Actions, Animations, Audio, DebugStyleSheets, and ToolbarOnly.
- Use
OnAppInitialized and OnAppShuttingDown for app-specific startup/shutdown around the base initialization and saved navigation state.
- Route navigation through
AnchorApp.Current.NavHost from managed UI code, or through AnchorNavHost.Burst from Burst-compatible paths.
- Run
BovineLabs.Anchor.Tests when code changes touch package behavior; documentation-only skill edits only need skill validation.
Host And Lifecycle
AnchorAppBuilder<T> creates the AnchorServiceProvider, creates the panel, initializes AnchorApp, attaches the app root to the host element, updates screen metrics, and disposes services on disable.- On Unity 6.5+, assign or colocate a
PanelRenderer. The builder registers a reload callback, calls IPanelComponent.PerformValidation(true), and reattaches the app root when the panel reloads.
- On Unity 6.3/6.4, assign or colocate a
UIDocument; the builder hosts Anchor under rootVisualElement.
AnchorPanel is the default IAnchorPanel. It is AppUI-backed when UNITY_APPUI is defined and a plain VisualElement panel otherwise.ToolbarOnly skips normal navigation initialization and initializes only the toolbar.AnchorApp.Current is a managed singleton. Do not call it directly from Burst-compiled jobs except behind an established managed trampoline or [BurstDiscard] boundary.
Services
- Default services are
ILocalStorageService, IViewModelService, and IAudioService; IUXMLService is also registered when UXMLService is not null.
- Types marked
[IsService] are auto-registered. Add [Transient] when each resolution should create a fresh instance.
- Non-transient services implementing
IAnchorToolbarHost are also aliased as IAnchorToolbarHost.
- Register app-specific services with
AnchorServiceCollection using AddSingleton, AddTransient, AddSingletonInstance, or AddAlias.
- Resolve services through
AnchorApp.Current.Services.GetRequiredService<T>() when absence is an invariant.
UXML Ownership
AnchorSettings.Views maps destination keys to VisualTreeAssets.UXMLService.GetAsset(key) performs the settings lookup and logs through BLGlobalLogger when a key is missing.UXMLService.Instantiate(key) instantiates the asset and assigns dataSource on elements that declare data-source-type.AnchorNavHost, not UXMLService, owns screen attachment, StretchToParentSize(), and PickingMode.Ignore on created navigation items.- Do not put row-item
data-source-type declarations on templates whose parent control supplies row data; AnchorGridView and AnchorAccordion set item dataSource themselves.
Guardrails
- Do not invent a parallel service container or app singleton for Anchor screens.
- Do not collapse the Unity 6.5
PanelRenderer path into a UIDocument-only implementation.
- Do not treat README samples as more authoritative than the current package source; check
BovineLabs.Anchor/App and tests first.
- Do not add defensive null/service checks when builder or settings invariants already guarantee the service.
- Do not use
Debug.Log*; use BLGlobalLogger outside ECS systems or the project logging policy inside systems.
