Install the Layer add-on in Blender

Last updated: October 12, 2026

Install the Layer add-on in Blender and sign in, so you can generate meshes, textures, images and video into the scene you have open, and ask the agent to build or change it.

Before you start

  • Blender on macOS, Windows or Linux. The download page lists the minimum Blender version for the current build.

  • A Layer account. The add-on is free with every plan, including the free one; generations use your workspace's Creative Units, as they do in the browser, and the sidebar shows the workspace's balance.

  • If your company signs in to Layer with single sign-on (Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, Google Workspace or another provider), first sign in to Layer in your default browser through your identity provider, for example from the Layer tile on your Okta dashboard. Signing in from Blender then completes without asking for a password.

Steps

  1. Go to layer.ai/integrations/blender and download the extension zip for your platform. Everything it needs is inside; there is nothing to unzip and no Python to set up.

  2. Drag the zip into any Blender window and confirm the install. Or open Edit, Preferences, Get Extensions and choose Install from Disk.

  3. In the 3D viewport, press N to open the sidebar and select the Layer AI tab.

  4. Click Sign in. Your browser opens Layer's sign-in page; sign in with your Layer account, and the sidebar shows your email once you are in. If you would rather sign in on another device, click Sign in with a code: the sidebar shows a code under Enter this code in your browser:, and you enter it on the sign-in page in a browser on any device.

  5. Pick the Workspace and Session the file's work is filed under. A new file gets a session named after it.

  6. Open the tools and the agent from the Layer button at the bottom of the 3D viewport.

Result

What the add-on makes lands in the scene: meshes as real geometry at the 3D cursor, textures as materials on the selected objects, images and clips on planes. Generated files are saved beside your .blend in a layer folder and referenced by relative paths. The session is the same one you see at layer.ai, so work started in Blender can be reviewed in the browser.

Production tips

  • Save the file before you generate. Files are kept beside the .blend, so a saved file gives them a home that moves with the project and survives version control. An unsaved file's files are moved there on its first save.

  • Pack before you hand a file on. When someone needs a single self-contained file, use Pack Layer images into the file in the sidebar.

  • Let the agent work on the scene. Ask it to put an object on a stone floor and light it for dusk; it asks before changing anything, puts each request's work in a collection of its own, and every change goes on Blender's undo stack.

  • Use it as base geometry. Generated meshes make a strong starting point for sculpting and retopology; remesh, unwrap or rig them from the same tools.

If something goes wrong

  • There is no Layer AI tab. Check that the extension is enabled under Edit, Preferences, Add-ons, and that your Blender version meets the minimum on the download page.

  • Blender cannot install the extension on a work computer. Your IT team may block installing Blender extensions, or writing to Blender's folders, on managed computers. Ask them to install the extension zip for you or allow it on your machine.

  • The sign-in page asks for a password, and your company uses single sign-on. You don't need a separate password. Sign in to Layer in your browser through your identity provider (for example your Okta tile), then click Sign in in the sidebar again. You can't sign in to a Layer plugin covers this and the add-on's other sign-in messages.

  • The browser did not open, or you closed it. Click Open the sign-in page in the sidebar, or copy the link next to it into a browser.

  • Sign in and pick a workspace first. A tool ran before you were signed in or before a workspace was chosen. Finish both in the sidebar and run it again.

  • The sidebar says it is signed in with the LAYER_API_KEY in your environment. An API key is set on this machine. Click Use my account instead to sign in as yourself.

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