Maya publisher guidelines

When you register as a publisher, you'll see the complete requirements in the Publisher Agreement. This guide summarizes the key points — the agreement takes precedence if anything differs.

When you submit your app, the form collects everything needed for your listing — including content for the quick-start page that's included with downloads and viewable online.

Compatibility

Your product must be relevant to (and usable with) Maya® 2027 and must run on all version of the operating system supported by Maya 2027, but you don't necessarily have to support all platforms. You can choose to support Windows, MacOS and Linux only, for example. You may also indicate compatibility with Maya® 2026 |2025 |2024 |2023 | 2022.

Your product must work with any higher tiered version of the Maya product. For example, if your application works with the Maya Suites, it must also work with the standard version of Maya.

User privileges

The default user privilege for the Store apps is Windows 10/11 Admin User. The installer should have elevated user privileges. For MacOS, the user will need the root password like for every application installed on a Mac. For Linux, the user can either install as single user or root.

Product stability

Your product should be stable and not behave or alter the behavior of Maya in a way that we deem unsuitable, for example, blocking standard functionality, blocking the functionality of another plug-in, causing data loss, etc.

HTML help page

When you submit your app, the documentation form generates a help page that's included with your download. Make sure your instructions are clear and actionable — users should be able to get started quickly. You can link to additional resources hosted on your website.

Ready to run

Your app must work immediately after installation — no manual file copying, registration, or settings changes required. The autoloader mechanism described below can help you achieve this.

If your app uses licensing:

• Activate automatically (e.g., online activation), or
• Include a fully functional trial period long enough to deliver activation to the customer.

There are no additional requirements for products that are not integrated with Maya. This might include eBooks, video tutorials, industry specific calculators, connectors to cloud-based services, and the like.

Additional requirements

• Your plug-in must include a shelve button in the Custom shelve and/or a menu to access your main command(s) when applicable. If your application has many buttons, you may also choose to have a separate custom shelve.
• You must use a plug-in manifest as the loading mechanism. This is typically a PackageContents.xml file.

Bundle and XML file structure

Your plug-in manifest goes in the all-user location:

Your plug-in files are stored in a .bundle folder along with a PackageContents.xml file (created by the installer we build for you).

The PackageContents.xml describes the bundle contents, including:

• Component locations (where to load the application from)
• Supported versions

Use the autoloader system

We strongly encourage you to make use of the autoloader mechanism to deploy your plug-in. Information on the required format for autoloader ‘bundles’ is documented here.

You can also download some of the free plug-ins already available on Autodesk App Store and study their format, such as one of the Autodesk Plug-in of the Month samples (for example, MathNode).

Use a NodeID for custom nodes

We must get and assign your own NodeID when your plug-in defines a custom node. Autodesk supports a developer registration scheme to prevent Maya node conflicts between different applications. Register your own block.

Special considerations

If your app has requirements the standard installer can't handle, let us know. We can accommodate:

• Single-user installs — installs only for the current user instead of all users
• Custom installation needs — provide a Windows Installer Merge Module (.msm) file and we'll merge it with the .msi we create for your app

Custom installs are useful for things like registry entries for licensing, dependent components from other vendors, or custom scripts.

End User License Agreement

The installer that the ADN team creates for your app includes a button that allows the user to view the standard End User License Agreement (EULA) during the app installation.
Note: This EULA is not modifiable. If you wish to include your own EULA to your app, you can do either:

• Reference your EULA from the standard HTM help file text.
• Display your EULA when the app runs for the first time, and require the user to accept it before the app will work.

Questions? Email appsubmissions@autodesk.com for support.

For more resources, visit the API documentation and the Developer Community Blog.