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Publish to the Workshop

You've built a widget — now let's get it into other people's hands. In this tutorial you'll add catalogue art, publish your widget to the Workshop, and hand it to someone privately with a share code.

Make sure your widget works on your own overlay first (the Build step). Publishing releases whatever you last built.

1. Add catalogue art and details​

People browse the Workshop visually, so give your widget a face. Go to Settings → Catalogue and fill in:

  • Name — clear and searchable.
  • Description — one or two sentences on what it does.
  • Category — helps people find it by filter.
  • Author credit — your name or handle.
  • Thumbnail — a square logo.
  • Banner — a wide (16:9) promo image.
Screenshot

Add a screenshot of the Settings → Catalogue tab filled in.

tip

The thumbnail and banner are the first thing people see on a Workshop card. A clean square icon and a banner that shows the widget in action go a long way.

2. Decide who can use it​

Still on the publishing controls, choose:

  • Visibility — Public lists it in the Workshop; Private keeps it shareable by code only.
  • Licence — what others may do with it (see Licensing). The default, all rights reserved, lets people install and use it but not reuse your code.
  • Remixable — whether others can fork it into their own editable copy.
caution

Going public is permanent — once people can install your widget, you can't un-list it. Publish publicly when you're confident it's ready.

3. Build, then publish​

  1. Click Build to compile your latest changes.
  2. Click Publish.

Your widget is now live. If it's public, it appears in the Workshop's Newest row and is searchable by name and category. Anyone can install it from Add Widget → Custom widgets afterwards.

4. Share it privately with a code​

Don't want it in the public gallery yet — maybe you want a friend to test it? Mint a share code from the publishing controls and choose what it grants:

  • Install — they can use it.
  • Remix — they can also fork it (if you marked it remixable).

Send them the CW-XXXXX code. They paste it into the share-code box in their Workshop header and install. You can rotate the code later to revoke access. See Share codes.

5. Updating after release​

Found a bug, or want to add a feature? Edit, Build to test on your own overlay, then Publish again. Everyone who installed your widget moves to the new version automatically — there's no version for them to choose.

caution

Because updates are automatic and there's no version pinning, a breaking change reaches every installer the moment you publish. Always Build and test before you Publish a change.

You're done​

You've taken a widget from an idea to something other streamers can install and run on their overlays. Nicely done.