FREE · OPEN SOURCE · MIT

TouchDesigner,
minus the busywork.

Operator templates, parameter promotion by drag and drop, MIDI and OSC mapping, network shortcuts and extension helpers — built to feel like they shipped with TD. Take the whole toolkit or pick the three tools you actually want.

A full walkthrough with the TouchDesigner team on InSession. Recorded on an earlier release — the tools have grown since, but the ideas are the same.

Install what you want, not everything

One container goes into your project. From there you pick the tools, and only those get downloaded.

1

Drop one .tox

Drag the bootstrap container to the root of a project. It is about 150 KB and arrives empty — it carries the installer, the updater and nothing else yet. The container you drop is the install target.

Downloadv2.12.19

Already have a toolkit container? Grab the bare installer instead (~14 KB).

2

Pick your tools

Pulse Pick Tools and a picker opens, served from inside TouchDesigner — nothing leaves your machine. Browse by category, read what each tool does, then review the install plan before anything is written.

Browse the catalogue
3

Stays current

Each package carries its own version, and the updater compares it against the published one. Update the tools you use, leave the rest alone, and keep your settings across the swap.

How updates work

Three steps, no setup files

  1. Drop FunctionStore_tools_2025.tox into the root (/) of a project.
  2. On the FNS_Installer inside it, pulse Pick Tools. On the first run it fetches the catalogue and tells you it is doing so.
  3. Pick your tools, hit Review install…, read the plan, hit Install. The packages land in the container you dropped.

Make it the default. Save the project and set it as your startup file in Preferences → General → Startup File Mode, and every new project opens with your tools already in it.

On macOS, everything works except the Olib Browser and clipboard image paste. Where the docs say Alt, press Cmd — exceptions are called out per tool.

Finding help. Alt-right-click (or Alt-middle-click) any toolbar icon to open that tool's page on this site. Option on macOS.

Documentation

Every tool documented on its own page

Each package ships with its own docs, so what you read matches exactly what you installed — no hunting through one long page for the three tools you picked.

What's in the toolkit

Every package installs on its own. Core goes in as a unit; everything else is optional.

Core

The registries every other tool plugs into. Installed as a unit.

FNS_ConfigRegistrySettings persistence registry: one aggregated JSON in the user palette, so preferences follow you across projects and survive updates. The raw master, promoted to /sys.
FNS_MainMenuRegistryTD main-menu surface registry, including project-name display. The raw master, promoted to /sys.
FNS_NavbarRegistryThe pane-bar surface registry. The raw master, promoted to /sys -- clone it to add your own pane-bar widgets.
FNS_OpMenuRegistryOP Create dialog surface registry: search words, row decorations, right-click items, filter stages. The raw master, promoted to /sys.
FNS_PaneTypeRegistryNamed, persistent pane-type entries for TD's panebar: any COMP can appear in the pane-type dropdown and be recalled with configurable owner, type, window actions and callbacks.
FNS_ToolbarRegistryThe toolbar surface registry and mirror rail. The raw master, promoted to /sys -- clone it to put your own tools on the bar.

Surfaces

The parts of TouchDesigner you look at all day, made yours.

BorderlessTDBorderless TouchDesigner window, plus timeline hiding.
ColorUIOperator and family colour palettes, with the active palette roaming through config.
FNS_MainMenuMain-menu extras: the menu Configurator UI.
FNS_NavbarPane-bar extras: parent-hierarchy navigation, path injection and drag-drop hijack, plus the navbar Configurator.
FNS_OpMenuOP Create dialog extras: the IO filter, operator search words and script injection.
FNS_ToolbarToolbar extras: the Configurator UI for ordering, grouping and hiding bar widgets, plus stock widgets.
tools_uiThe tabbed panel that hosts the toolkit's larger tool UIs.

Parameters

Promote, bind, randomize and reset — by drag and drop.

ClearParsReset custom parameters back to their defaults.
CustomParToolsPromote parameters to a parent with binds or expressions, customize name/label/range on drop, plus extension creation, parent shortcuts, parameter clearing and IOP promotion.
ExprHotStringsAbbreviations that expand into TouchDesigner expressions as you type in a parameter field.
ParOPDropCreate Parameter CHOP/DAT and Parameter Execute DAT nodes inside a COMP from its custom parameters, by drag and drop or hotkey.
ParRandomizerRandomize parameter values within range, for quick exploration.
QuickParCustomFast custom-parameter editing on the focused operator.

Network

Build, swap, collapse and navigate without touching a menu.

AltSelectAlternative selection helpers for operators in the network editor.
AutoCombineHold Alt while placing a generator TOP to have it come in pre-set to composite over its input.
OpTemplatesA library of preconfigured operator templates to drop into a network.
OpToClipboardCopy the selected operator's reference to the system clipboard, ready to paste into an expression.
paste_from_clipboardPaste images and data from the system clipboard into TouchDesigner.
QuickCollapseCollapse a selection into a component, with an optional customize dialog.
QuickMarksBookmark network locations and jump back to them. Bookmarks stay project-local by design.
SwapOpsSwap one operator for another while keeping connections intact.
SwitchOPsSwitch between operators in place.

Media & Output

Where the picture and the sound actually leave the project.

AutoResProject-wide resolution reference that operators can follow instead of hardcoding pixel sizes.
GlobalOutSelectBrowse Global OP Shortcuts and the out operators inside them in a tree, and drag any of them into a network as a Select.
GlobalVolControlGlobal audio volume control.
HydroHomieA toolbar reminder to drink water at an interval you set. Off by default.
OUTPUTOutput window and display routing helpers.

Control

Hardware in, parameters out.

midiMapperMap MIDI controls to parameters, with a learn mode you drive by dropping a parameter on the toolbar button. Mappings are saved into the project folder by design; the tool's own settings roam through config.
oscMapperMap OSC messages to parameters. Mappings are saved into the project folder by design.
SetSmoothnessSet Input/Viewer Smoothness on selected TOPs, or on every TOP in the network.

Workflow

The small frictions, removed.

FNS_HotkeyManagerUnified hotkey discovery, conflict detection and rebinding UI across the whole toolkit.
MISCAssorted small utilities that ship together (hog CHOP, mouse input and friends).
MY_HOTKEYSConvenience hotkeys over stock TouchDesigner actions: open parameters, open the COMP editor, focus the palette search.
QuickPanePane layout shortcuts.
QuickTimeTimeline and time-related shortcuts.
ResetPLS1Reset stateful operators (feedback, cache, timers, counts) across the project, with a pattern-based exception list. Bound to ctrl+0.

Developer

Extensions, stubs and the editor you actually write them in.

FNS_UpdaterIn-place toolkit updates, with settings preserved across the replacement.
OpenExtOpen an operator's extension source quickly.
VSCodeToolsVS Code integration: open externalized scripts, sync files and generate TouchDesigner type stubs.

Set it once, everywhere

Preferences do not live in the project file. They go into one aggregated JSON in your user palette, so the way you set a tool up follows you into the next project — and survives the next update.

How settings persistence works →

  • Roams with you. Templates, expression abbreviations, hotkeys and reset exceptions live in the user palette.
  • Stays with the project where it should — MIDI and OSC maps are saved into the project folder by design, so they travel with the show.
  • Survives updates. Settings are preserved across a package being replaced, not re-entered afterwards.
  • Extensible. The registries are promoted masters you can clone, so your own tools can sit on the toolbar, nav bar or OP menu too.

Free forever. Patreon if it earns its keep.

MIT licensed and free for everyone, including commercial work. If the toolkit saves you time, a Patreon follow keeps it moving — and the Discord is where bugs get sorted fastest.

Built with

Plenty of this toolkit is not mine. These people contributed tools, mods and the habits I picked up from reading their components — please support them.

Olib Browser, op_store, MIDI & OSC mappers

Plus a great many best practices learned from reading his components.

by AlphaMoonbase.berlin
TD_SearchPalette

The palette search bar that is hard to work without once you have it.

by Yea Chen
IO filters, and TouchDesigner

The OP Create dialog filters — and the software all of this sits on.

by Greg Hermanovic
Clipboard image paste, OpType acronyms

Paste an image straight into a network; find operators by their initials.

by DotSimulate
QuickMarks

Bookmark spots in a project and jump straight back to them.

by Alex Guevara
Early testing and feedback

The people who used all of this while it was still sharp around the edges.

by Acrylicode and kim0slice

Also worth having

Free tools from the community that pair well with this one.

Olib

The de-facto free marketplace for TouchDesigner components.

by Wieland Hilker (AlphaMoonbase.berlin)
TD-Launcher

A must-have if you keep several TouchDesigner builds installed.

by Lucas Morgan
TDX Launcher Ultra

Mission control for TouchDesigner projects — gallery, palette, session control.

by Function Store
TDMap

MIDI controller mapping without the wiring, if you need more than the built-in mapper.

by Function Store

Stop rebuilding the same setup.

One .tox, then pick what you need. It is free, and it takes about a minute.