Gems

Gems are O3DE’s unit of reusable functionality — art, code, systems, whole frameworks. OPAL gives you three things the stock tooling doesn’t:

1. A real browser with filters, search, and a proper inspector.
2. Repository management that’s easy to keep current.
3. Per-project gem editing that stays in sync with project.json and CMake.

Browse the registry

The Gems page lists all gems available across every repository you’ve added. By default it includes the canonical O3DE gem registry; you can add any number of additional repositories.

Filter pills at the top: All, Installed, Updates available, Compatible with current engine. Search bar supports full-text plus operators:

• author:Acme — only gems by Acme
• tag:audio — only audio-tagged gems
• engine:25.05 — only gems compatible with a specific engine
• category:ui — category match

Combine freely: author:Acme tag:audio works.

The Gem Inspector

Click any gem to open the Inspector. You’ll see:

• Overview — name, author, version, short description
• README — rendered markdown from the gem’s README
• Dependencies — other gems required
• Compatibility — which O3DE engine versions it supports
• Changelog — if the gem maintains one
• Install / Update / Remove — one-click actions

Per-project gem editing

From a project card, click Gems → OPAL opens the Gem Editor for that project. You see the full list of available gems with checkboxes for the ones currently enabled. Toggle to enable or disable. OPAL:

1. Updates project.json’s gem_names array
2. Updates the project’s Gem/CMakeLists.txt
3. Offers a rebuild prompt when you close the dialog

Repository management

Go to Settings → Repositories to add, remove, or refresh gem repositories. Each repo has:

• URL
• Refresh interval (manual, hourly, daily, weekly)
• Authentication (optional — for private repos)
• Offline cache status

OPAL keeps a local cache of every indexed repo so you can browse offline.