BlackBox 2 - Redefined Prefab Workflow

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Prefab encapsulation has been one of the top feature requests from Unity users ever since nested Prefabs were introduced in 2018. BlackBox enables just that, with a single component!

It's easy, even for experts, to accidentally modify a Prefab instance and leave overrides in the scene: a source of bugs that are hard to track down. BlackBox lets you prevent overrides to any Prefab... but that's just the start!

BlackBox has three main features, usable together or on their own:

📦 Locking a Prefab

📦 Revealing properties, methods, components, and more

📦 Preventing Apply

📦 LOCKING

Add the BlackBox component and a Prefab with any number of children and components: it appears as a single object in the Hierarchy. You can only change the Transform and enable/disable the GameObject. To edit anything else, open it in Prefab mode as usual.

Temp Unlocking: temporarily unlock a Prefab on the fly with an icon or the U key, for quick tweaks.

(NEW) Play mode visibility: BlackBoxed Prefabs can act as unlocked in Play mode, so all children and components become visible (handy with Hierarchy search, which skips hidden objects). Configurable in Project Settings.

📦 REVEAL PROPERTIES, METHODS, REFS, COMPONENTS, AND CHILD OBJECTS

Add the important bits to a reveal list and they show up on the root even when the Prefab is locked!

- All property types, including ones decorated with Odin Inspector! ✨

- Entire component Inspectors in one click! ✨✨

- Methods, shown as buttons you can invoke straight from the BlackBox (Play or Edit mode)! ✨✨✨

- Object references to child Components, for that classic Unity wiring pattern! ✨✨✨✨

- (NEW) Whole child GameObjects, right in the Hierarchy! A revealed child appears exactly as normal; its parent and ancestors show disabled (unless revealed too), so you always know where it lives. ✨✨✨✨✨

Expose any internal aspect of your locked Prefabs: property, component, or GameObject level, to guide your team on what they can modify.

📦 PREVENTING APPLY

Go one step further and stop users from applying Scene overrides back to the asset. They can still Revert, but with no Apply nobody can mess with the original Prefab.

🆕 New in 2.0

After 2 years of updates on Blackbox 1.x, BlackBox 2.0 is taking these workflows to new heights of stability and usability, while adding a sleeve of new features.

• Reveal entire child GameObjects directly in the Hierarchy

• Optionally reveal everything in Play mode: great for Hierarchy search

• Override BlackBox settings and reveal lists on Variants and nested instances

• New Project Settings defaults: locked-on-add, and default selection type

• The Overrides dropdown now has BlackBox functionality to filter overrides by type

• Reveal Odin properties with a right-click

• ... and more to come in future updates.

➡️ One more thing...

No impact on performance: BlackBox is editor-only, so it never ships in builds and has zero runtime impact.

Safe to add in production: BlackBox doesn't interact with gameplay, so it's safe to add to a game already in production. And if you don't find it useful, it's very easy to remove.

Compatible with all Prefab types: works with Variants, nesting (locked inside unlocked, or vice versa), and 2D Prefabs.

Compatible with Odin Inspector: Just add a [RevealWithOdin] attribute and Odin-decorated properties show just like in their original components. NEW: reveal a property straight from its right-click menu in Odin. Most Odin attributes are supported, but not all: layout ones (like [TabsGroup] or [FoldoutGroup]) are unlikely to work.

Auto-add & defaults: Auto-add BlackBox to every new Prefab for the ultimate safe workflow, or add it manually. In Project Settings, set how new components start: locked by default, and which selection type they use.

(NEW) Override on Variants & nested instances: BlackBox now fits the Variant/nesting workflow fully. Configure a Prefab (say, unlocked with Disable Apply on), use it as a Variant base, and override just those settings for the Variant. You can even add/remove revealed items per Variant or nested instance, exposing a property or component the base never revealed.

🎩 Hats integration

BlackBox integrates with Hats - Workspaces and Teams: choose which Teams can edit a Prefab. (See Hats docs)

🈶️ CJK support

Revealed property names support CJK languages.

该工具支持中文。このツールは日本語をサポートしています。이 도구는 한국어를 지원합니다.

📘 Documentation

Preview it all before you buy.

💰 Save money

BlackBox 2 is part of our All Editor Tools Bundle (40% off) and of the Essentials Tools Bundle (30% off). Already own BlackBox 2? You'll get a discount on the bundles.

💬 Feedback

Missing a workflow? Tell me how to make BlackBox better at <[email protected]>, or hop on my Discord.