DeepLink
Links that open the Unreal Editor on an asset

Overview

DeepLink is an editor plugin for Unreal Engine 4.27 and 5.8 on Windows. It registers a URL scheme for your project (by default the project name, for example myproject://) and turns links such as myproject://content/Game/Spells/Fireball?edit into editor actions. It is meant for teams who discuss assets in chat, reviews and bug reports and want one click to take them to the asset.

• Copy URL that reveals asset in the Content Browser asset context menu (Alt+Shift+C).
• Copy URL that opens asset in the Asset menu of every asset editor (Alt+Shift+E).
• Opening a link while the editor is running hands it to that editor and brings its window to the front; when no editor is running, the editor starts with the project and handles the link once it has loaded.
• Per-user registration under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes: no administrator rights, no external tools, nothing downloaded.
• Works when the editor runs elevated (“Run as administrator”) and the link is opened from a normal user process.
• Configurable URL scheme per project, plus an optional scheme derived from the engine branch name.
• C++ API to register your own endpoints (myproject://my_endpoint/...) and to choose the URL scheme programmatically.
• Selecting several assets copies one link per line.

Requirements

Installation

1. Copy the DeepLink folder into your project’s Plugins folder (or install it to the engine from Fab).
2. Open the project. If it is a C++ project, let the editor build the plugin modules (or build from your IDE).
3. Enable DeepLink in Edit > Plugins and restart the editor.
4. On every start the editor registers the project’s URL scheme for the current Windows user.
5. C++ only: to add your own endpoints, add "DeepLinkServer" to your editor module’s PrivateDependencyModuleNames.

Quick start

In the editor

1. Right-click an asset in the Content Browser and choose Copy URL that reveals asset (or press Alt+Shift+C).
2. Open an asset, open the Asset menu of its editor and choose Copy URL that opens asset (or press Alt+Shift+E). This link ends in ?edit.
3. Paste the link anywhere and click it. The editor is already registered as the handler for the scheme; browsers and chat applications may ask for confirmation before they open an external application.

The plugin has no Blueprint nodes; it is used through these editor commands. To react to your own links, use the C++ API:

C++: add an endpoint

// MyEditorModule.Build.cs: PrivateDependencyModuleNames.Add("DeepLinkServer");
#include "DeepLinkServer.h"
#include "Modules/ModuleManager.h"

void FMyEditorModule::StartupModule()
{
    IDeepLinkServerModule& Server = FModuleManager::LoadModuleChecked<IDeepLinkServerModule>("DeepLinkServer");

    // Handles myproject://my_endpoint/<path>?<query>
    Server.Register(TEXT("my_endpoint"), FDeepLinkOnRequest::CreateLambda(
        [](const FString& Path, const FDeepLinkQueryParamsMap& QueryParams)
        {
            // Path is URL-decoded (for example "/Some/Path"); query keys are lower-case.
            UE_LOG(LogTemp, Display, TEXT("my_endpoint opened with %s"), *Path);
        }));

    // Build a link for the endpoint, for example myproject://my_endpoint/Some/Path
    const FString Url = Server.GetUri(TEXT("my_endpoint"), TEXT("Some/Path"));
}

void FMyEditorModule::ShutdownModule()
{
    if (IDeepLinkServerModule* Server = FModuleManager::GetModulePtr<IDeepLinkServerModule>("DeepLinkServer"))
    {
        Server->Unregister(TEXT("my_endpoint"));
    }
}

How links work

A link has the form <scheme>://<endpoint>/<path>?<query>. The built-in content endpoint takes a package path: myproject://content/Game/Spells/Fireball reveals the asset in the Content Browser, and adding ?edit opens it in its asset editor.

Registration (per user, no administrator rights)

Every time the editor starts, DeepLinkServer writes the current scheme to the current user’s registry hive:

Nothing is written outside HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\<scheme>, so the registration applies only to the Windows user running the editor. When the scheme changes (new setting, new branch), the previous registration is removed — but only if it still points at a DeepLink editor command, so a handler another application registered for the same name is never touched.

Opening a link

• Windows starts the editor command above with the link. The DeepLinkLauncher module runs at the very start of that process: if an editor for the same scheme is already running, it passes the link to it through a local Windows mailslot, allows it to come to the foreground and exits before the engine loads. This takes a moment because a second editor process starts briefly.
• If no editor for the scheme is running, startup simply continues: the project opens and the link is handled as soon as the editor has finished loading. Requests that arrive while the asset registry is still scanning are queued until it finishes.
• The last registered editor wins: if two projects or engine versions use the same scheme, links open in the one that started last. Give each project (and each branch, see below) its own scheme.

Editor commands

Both commands can be rebound in Editor Preferences > Keyboard Shortcuts under Deep Link Content Endpoint Editor Extensions.

Settings

Edit > Project Settings > Plugins > Deep Link URLs. Saved in Config/DefaultEditor.ini, so the whole team shares them. Changes take effect after an editor restart.

Branch based scheme

Studios that keep several branches of the same project open side by side need a different scheme per branch, otherwise links open in whichever branch started last. Project Settings > Plugins > Deep Link URLs - Branch Based Scheme derives the scheme from the branch name the engine build reports.

C++ API

Module DeepLinkServer. Headers: DeepLinkServer.h, DeepLinkUriSchemeProvider.h, DeepLink.h.

Troubleshooting

Credits

© 2026 Alpha XP — alphaxp.net · Support: support@alphaxp.net. Built and verified for Unreal Engine 4.27 and 5.8.