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Getting Started & Core Concepts
The first thing you need to do after installing the extension is to create a graph. Make a new panel by clicking and dragging from the corner of an existing panel. In the Panel Type dropdown, select Rigging Nodes (or press Shift-F3 until the node-graph is a Rigging Nodes graph).
The first object in any Mantis Tree is an armature node. Create one by pressing Shift-A and choosing "Transform>Armature". Set the name of the generated armature object by entering a name in the box labeled "Name". You will notice the armature object appear in the outliner, although it will be an empty object without any bones. IMPORTANT: If use the same name as an existing object, that object will be overwritten. Don't reuse names unless you want to update an existing rig. Mantis makes it easy to create many versions of your rigs, so when-in-doubt, make another version and keep going.
Mantis is a directed graph - every connection between nodes reads from left to right, and the tree grows from a root node, or a few root nodes, into a large tree that branches many times. Node graphs typically get bigger from left to right. This is in contrast to other Blender node systems, which tend to have many inputs that feed into a single output. Mantis trees typically have a single root, and the tree doesn't have any explicit "output" because the tree describes the rig itself.
Mantis is a mostly acyclic graph. Do not connect nodes to nodes that come before them, or Mantis will fail. In some circumstances, there may even be bugs that cause Blender to hang for a long time or freeze. I am working hard to solve these problems - but the best way to avoid them is to follow the rules! Currently, there are only a few backwards-connections that are supported:
- Driver Node-Links (colored purple)
- Custom Object xForm Override (only available on Bones that already have a Custom Object plugged in).
Do not plug a node into a node that comes before it under any other circumstances. It won't work and you may get confusing error messages.
Next, you'll need to learn about different kinds of nodes.
One of the most important shifts when working in Mantis is understanding that it operates in a declarative way.
Traditional manual rigging is procedural. You create and parent bones in a specific order, usually building from deform bones (DEF) upward into higher-level control structures. For example, in Rigify, a simple FK chain with tweak bones often follows this order:
DEF → ORG → TWEAK → FK
In Mantis, the order is reversed. Because the system is declarative, rigs are defined from the top-level controls down to the deform bones:
FK → TWEAK → ORG → DEF
This ensures that the rig is always generated consistently, no matter how many times you rebuild it. You are declaring the structure of the rig rather than constructing it step-by-step.
Mantis introduces two custom editor windows inside Blender:
Rigging Nodes Editor
Rigging Nodes Schema Editor
It’s important to understand that these are distinct editors — they serve different purposes and should not be confused with one another. One issued for declaring Mantis trees while the other is dedicated to editing and declaring Mantis Schemas.
The Rigging Nodes Editor is where you build your main Mantis node trees.
Think of these as your master rigs or components, composed of node groups, xForm nodes, math nodes, constraints, and deformers.
This is the workspace where you design the overall structure and behavior of your rig.
If you’re coming from Rigify, you can imagine this as the space where you’d define an entire limb, spine, or face system — but built from your own reusable components.
The Rigging Nodes Schema Editor works differently.
Schema nodes are Mantis’ equivalent of loops.
They are named after “schemas in a chain,” because they represent a repeated pattern that runs for a set number of iterations.
You can think of a schema as a piece of a chain: a repeating unit that gets multiplied across your rig as many times as you need.
For example:
A schema might represent one bone + one control pair.
By running that schema X times, Mantis automatically generates a complete chain of bones and controls (e.g., an FK arm chain, a tail rig, or a spine).