# ue-ai-navigation

A skill for writing Unreal Engine 5.8 C++ AI: controllers, behavior trees, perception, navmesh and EQS. Useful when the agent writes AI code and mixes up APIs.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1100 installs · ★ 405
- Author: quodsoler
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-09-28
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/ue-ai-navigation

## What it does

The skill covers the classic Unreal AI stack: a server-only `AAIController` that owns a `UBehaviorTreeComponent`, `UBlackboardComponent`, `UAIPerceptionComponent` and `UPathFollowingComponent`. Inside are code samples and decision tables — when to reach for `MoveToActor` or `MoveToLocation`, and when to use `MoveTo` with an `FAIMoveRequest` plus an out path pointer. Separate sections handle blackboards, behavior tree nodes, perception, navigation queries, nav areas and off-mesh links, EQS and Smart Objects.

APIs are verified against the 5.8 headers, and older forms sit in a deprecated list marked as not to use. Module setup is manual: `AIModule`, `NavigationSystem` and `GameplayTasks` go into `PublicDependencyModuleNames` in your `.Build.cs`. Smart Objects, ZoneGraph, MassAI and NavCorridor are opt-in plugins, and in 5.8 ZoneGraph, MassAI and NavCorridor are marked Experimental. That is worth checking before you ship them.

The skill reads `.agents/ue-project-context.md` when it exists and carries on when it does not. Adjacent work lives in other skills: State Tree authoring in `ue-state-trees`, Mass crowds in `ue-mass-entity`, path execution in `ue-character-movement`.

## Requirements
- Works with: Unreal Engine

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills --skill ue-ai-navigation -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/ue-ai-navigation/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills --skill ue-ai-navigation -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills --skill ue-ai-navigation -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills ue-ai-navigation
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills --skill ue-ai-navigation -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills --path skills/ue-ai-navigation
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills --skill ue-ai-navigation -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/quodsoler/unreal-engine-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/ue-ai-navigation/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- write an `AAIController` that runs a behavior tree and reacts to perception
- wire perception stimuli into blackboard keys via `FAIStimulus`
- pick between `MoveToActor`, `MoveToLocation` and `MoveTo` with `FAIMoveRequest`
- add the right modules to `.Build.cs` for AI and navigation
- split work across the State Tree, Mass and character movement skills

## Example prompts
- Write `AMyAIController` that runs the behavior tree in `OnPossess` and binds `OnTargetPerceptionUpdated`
- Add a custom `UBTTaskNode` using `ExecuteTask` and `FinishLatentTask` to move to the target
- Set up `UAISenseConfig_Sight` and store the target's last known location in the blackboard

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 49f1a34ef3b4e146.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 49f1a34ef3b4e146
```text
---
name: ue-ai-navigation
description: "Use when writing Unreal Engine C++ AI — AI controllers, behavior tree nodes, blackboards, AI perception, navmesh pathfinding, EQS queries or Smart Objects. Also use when the user mentions 'AAIController', 'UBTTaskNode', 'ExecuteTask', 'FinishLatentTask', 'UBlackboardComponent', 'FBlackboardKeySelector', 'UAIPerceptionComponent', 'FAIStimulus', 'UAISenseConfig_Sight', 'MoveTo', 'UNavigationSystemV1', 'ProjectPointToNavigation', 'UNavArea', 'ANavLinkProxy', 'UEnvQueryManager', 'FEnvQueryRequest', 'EQS', 'navmesh', 'USmartObjectSubsystem' or 'ZoneGraph'. For State Tree authoring, see ue-state-trees; for Mass crowds, see ue-mass-entity; for the movement component that executes paths, see ue-character-movement."
metadata:
  version: "2.0.0"
  engine: "5.8"
---

# UE AI and Navigation

Target engine: **UE 5.8**. APIs below are verified against the 5.8 headers; older forms are listed under "Deprecated — do not use".

Classic UE AI runs on a server-only `AAIController` that owns a brain component (`UBehaviorTreeComponent`), a `UBlackboardComponent`, a `UAIPerceptionComponent` and a `UPathFollowingComponent`. Behavior trees, perception and EQS live in the `AIModule`; navmesh generation and queries live in `NavigationSystem`; BT tasks that wrap gameplay tasks need `GameplayTasks`. Smart Objects (`SmartObjectsModule`, plugin `SmartObjects`), ZoneGraph (`ZoneGraph`, Experimental in 5.8), MassAI (Experimental in 5.8) and NavCorridor (Experimental in 5.8) are opt-in plugins. Add what you use to `PublicDependencyModuleNames` in your `.Build.cs`, e.g. `"AIModule", "NavigationSystem", "GameplayTasks"`.

## Context

Read `.agents/ue-project-context.md` if it exists (module names, conventions, enabled plugins, GAS/networking setup). Do not stop if it is missing.

Identify the area from the request and the codebase. Ask only when two plausible readings would produce different code.

| Request is about… | Go to |
|---|---|
| Possessing a pawn, running a tree, move requests, focus | [AI Controller](#ai-controller) |
| Reading/writing AI knowledge, key selectors, observers | [Blackboard](#blackboard) |
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 49f1a34ef3b4e146

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 49f1a34ef3b4e146 tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

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