Utility_Apps/Blender/simple scripts/Export Shader Nodes

Blender Shader Node Exporter

Exports the active object's material shader node tree to a readable JSON file. Useful for documenting materials, diffing shader changes, or feeding node data into external tools.

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Requirements

• Blender 4.0 or later (tested on 4.5)
• No additional Python packages — uses only Blender's built-in bpy, json, and os

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Quick Start

1. Open your .blend file and select the object whose material you want to export.
2. In Blender, go to the Text Editor (you can split any panel and switch it to Text Editor).
3. Click New to create a new text block, then paste in export_shader_nodes.py.
4. Click Run Script (or press Alt + P).
5. The JSON file is saved automatically next to your .blend file, named <MaterialName>_shader.json.

Check the System Console (Window → Toggle System Console on Windows) for a confirmation message and node/link counts.

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Configuration

At the top of the script there are two settings you can change:

EXPORT_PATH = None      # Set a custom output path, e.g. r"C:\Users\You\my_shader.json"
MATERIAL_INDEX = 0      # Which material slot to export (0 = first slot)

EXPORT_PATH — leave as None to auto-save next to the .blend file. If the .blend hasn't been saved yet, the file goes to your home directory (~/).

MATERIAL_INDEX — if your object has multiple material slots, set this to the slot number you want (0-indexed). For example, 1 exports the second material.

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Output format

The JSON has this structure:

{
  "material_name": "MyMaterial",
  "blend_method": "OPAQUE",
  "shadow_method": "OPAQUE",
  "use_backface_culling": false,
  "node_tree": {
    "name": "MyMaterial",
    "type": "SHADER",
    "nodes": [ ... ],
    "links": [ ... ]
  }
}

Nodes

Each entry in nodes looks like:

{
  "name": "Principled BSDF",
  "label": "",
  "type": "BSDF_PRINCIPLED",
  "bl_idname": "ShaderNodeBsdfPrincipled",
  "location": [-200.0, 300.0],
  "width": 240.0,
  "height": 100.0,
  "hide": false,
  "mute": false,
  "use_custom_color": false,
  "color": [0.6, 0.6, 0.6],
  "inputs": [
    {
      "name": "Base Color",
      "identifier": "Base Color",
      "type": "RGBA",
      "is_linked": true,
      "default_value": [0.8, 0.8, 0.8, 1.0]
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [ ... ],
  "properties": {
    "distribution": "MULTI_GGX",
    "subsurface_method": "RANDOM_WALK"
  }
}

Links

Each entry in links describes one connection between nodes:

{
  "from_node": "Image Texture",
  "from_socket": "Color",
  "to_node": "Principled BSDF",
  "to_socket": "Base Color",
  "is_muted": false
}

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What gets exported per node type

Node	Extra properties captured
Principled BSDF	distribution, subsurface_method
Image Texture	interpolation, projection, extension, image_name, image_filepath
Noise Texture	noise_dimensions
Wave Texture	wave_type, bands_direction, rings_direction, wave_profile
Voronoi Texture	voronoi_dimensions, feature, distance
Mapping	vector_type
Math	operation, use_clamp
Vector Math	operation
Mix / MixRGB	blend_type, use_clamp / data_type, clamp_factor, clamp_result, factor_mode
Bump	invert
Normal Map	space, uv_map
Displacement	space
Value	value (the output number)
RGB	color (the output color as RGBA list)
Group	node_tree (the name of the node group)
Script	mode, script, filepath
All others	Sockets + default values only

Note: Image pixel data is not exported — only the image name and its filepath as stored in Blender.

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Troubleshooting

No active object selected — click on your object in the viewport before running the script. Make sure it's highlighted orange, not just in the scene.

Object has no material slots — the selected object has no material assigned. Add one in the Properties panel → Material tab.

Material slot N is out of range — you set MATERIAL_INDEX higher than the number of slots the object has. Slot numbering starts at 0.

Material does not use nodes — the material has node editing disabled. In the Material Properties panel, enable Use Nodes.

Permission error on the output file — Blender doesn't have write access to the target directory. Either set EXPORT_PATH to a folder you own (e.g. your Desktop), or run Blender as an administrator (Windows).

The JSON only has generic socket data for a node type I care about — the script has an explicit allowlist of properties per node type. You can add your node's bl_idname and the property attribute names to the prop_names dict near the top of export_node(). All available attributes are listed in the Blender Python API docs.

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Exporting multiple materials

The script exports one material at a time. To batch-export all materials on an object, you can wrap the main() call in a loop:

for i in range(len(bpy.context.active_object.material_slots)):
    MATERIAL_INDEX = i
    main()

Paste this at the bottom of the script in place of the final main() call.