🛫 MSFS Layout Generator

A tool for Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) developers to automatically generate and update layout.json files for their add-ons.

✨ Features

• Automatic Layout Generation
  Scans package directories and creates layout.json with file metadata

• Watch changes in Package Directory
  Scans all changes in provided directory and updates layout.json accordingly

• Manifest Integration
  Automatically updates total_package_size in manifest.json

• Multiple Processing Modes
  Process single packages, multiple packages, or batch operations

• Batch Processing
  Interactive Windows batch file with menu system for easy use

• Flexible CLI
  Command-line interface with various options for different workflows

• TypeScript Support
  Fully typed API for programmatic usage

---

📦 Installation & Quick Start

Windows batch file with menu system (recommended)

1. Download msfs-layout-generator.bat from the latest release
2. Place it in your desired directory
3. Double-click to run
4. Choose options from the interactive menu

Manual Installation as a Global CLI Tool

npm install -g msfs-layout-generator

---

💻 API Usage (For Developers)

Use your manager (npm, yarn, bun etc.) to install the package:

npm install msfs-layout-generator

Simple Usage

import { generateLayout } from 'msfs-layout-generator';  
  
// Process a single package (throws on errors, uses default options)
await generateLayout("F:\\fs20\\Community\\my-package");  

Advanced Usage with Options

import { processLayout } from 'msfs-layout-generator';
import type { ProcessOptions, ProcessResult } from 'msfs-layout-generator';

// Overwrite existing layout.json silently
await processLayout("./my-package", { force: true, quiet: true });

// Get a result object instead of throwing on errors
const result = await processLayout("./my-package", {
  returnResult: true,
  force: true
});

if (result.success) {
  console.log(`Processed ${result.fileCount} files (${result.totalSize} bytes)`);
} else {
  console.error(result.message);
}

// Generate layout without requiring or updating manifest.json
await processLayout("./my-package", {
  force: true,
  checkManifest: false,
  skipManifestUpdate: true
});

Exports

Export	Type	Description
generateLayout(dir)	(dir: string) => Promise<void>	Simple wrapper — processes a package directory with default options. Throws on errors.
processLayout(dir, options?)	(dir: string, options?: ProcessOptions) => Promise<void | ProcessResult>	Full-featured function with configurable options.

ProcessOptions

Option	Type	Default	Description
force	boolean	false	Overwrite existing layout.json
quiet	boolean	false	Suppress all console output
debug	boolean	false	Enable verbose debug logging
checkManifest	boolean	true	Require manifest.json to exist in the package directory
skipManifestUpdate	boolean	false	Skip updating total_package_size in manifest.json
returnResult	boolean	false	Return a ProcessResult object instead of void. When true, errors are returned in the result instead of thrown.

ProcessResult

Returned when returnResult is true:

Field	Type	Description
success	boolean	Whether the operation completed successfully
fileCount	number	Number of files included in layout.json
totalSize	number	Total package size in bytes
layoutPath	string	Absolute path to the generated layout.json
manifestPath	string	Absolute path to manifest.json
skippedFiles	number	Number of files that were excluded
message	string?	Error message (when success is false)

---

Happy Flying! ✈️