wave8-baker-dependency-registration

What problem does it solve?

This Skill prevents stale Unity DOTS baked data by ensuring a Baker explicitly registers external asset and component dependencies so Unity invalidates and re-bakes when those dependencies change.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Dependency tracking for external inputs: Use DependsOn(...) for referenced assets and components that are read via raw Unity API rather than direct serialized fields.
• Correct incremental baking behavior: Ensures SubScene baking re-triggers when ScriptableObjects, textures, or child components change—even when the primary authoring MonoBehaviour hasn’t changed.
• Anti-pattern prevention: Avoids silent correctness bugs caused by missing DependsOn or relying on non-tracked reads (child traversal, raw GetComponent calls).

Use case: your Baker reads a ScriptableObject config plus a child MeshRenderer to author entities; without DependsOn, changing the asset or child component can leave the previously baked entity data stale until a manual reimport.

Quick Start

In your Baker, call DependsOn(...) for every ScriptableObject/texture or child component you read through raw Unity APIs so incremental baking invalidates correctly.