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Next Generation Scenes: Core scene system, bsn! macro, Templates#23413

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Mar 27, 2026
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Next Generation Scenes: Core scene system, bsn! macro, Templates#23413
cart merged 48 commits intobevyengine:mainfrom
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@cart cart commented Mar 18, 2026

After much iteration, designing and collaborating, it is finally time to land a baseline featureset of Bevy's Next Generation Scene system, often known by its new scene format name ... BSN (Bevy Scene Notation).

This PR adds the following:

  • The new scene system: The core in-memory traits, asset types, and functionality for Bevy's new scene system. Spawn Scenes and SceneLists. Inherit from other scenes. Patch component fields. Depend on assets before loading as scene. Resolve Entity references throughout your scene.
  • The bsn! and bsn_list! macros: Define Bevy scenes in your code using a new ergonomic Rust-ey syntax, which plays nicely with Rust Analyzer and supports autocomplete, go-to definition, semantic highlighting, and doc hover.
  • Template / GetTemplate: construct types (ex: Components) from a "template context", which includes access to the current entity and access to the World. This is a foundational piece of the scene system.

Note that this does not include a loader for the BSN asset format, which will be added in a future PR. See the "Whats Next?" section for a roadmap of the future.

Part of #23030

Review Etiquette

This is a big PR. Please use threaded comments everywhere, not top level comments. Even if what you have to say is not anchored in code, find a line to leave your comment on.

Overview

This is a reasonably comprehensive conceptual overview / feature list. This uses a "bottom up" approach to illustrate concepts, as they build on each other. If you just want to see what BSN looks like, scroll down a bit!

Templates

Template is a simple trait implemented for "template types", which when passed an entity/world context, can produce an output type such as a Component or Bundle:

pub trait Template {
    type Output;
    fn build_template(&mut self, context: &mut TemplateContext) -> Result<Self::Output>;
}

Template is the cornerstone of the new scene system. It allows us to define types (and hierarchies) that require no World context to define, but can use the World to produce the final runtime state. Templates are notably:

  • Repeatable: Building a Template does not consume it. This allows us to reuse "baked" scenes / avoid rebuilding scenes each time we want to spawn one. If a Template produces a value this often means some form of cloning is required.
  • Clone-able: Templates can be duplicated via Template::clone_template, enabling scenes to be duplicated, supporting copy-on-write behaviors, etc.
  • Serializable: Templates are intended to be easily serialized and deserialized, as they are typically composed of raw data.

The poster-child for templates is the asset Handle<T>. We now have a HandleTemplate<T>, which wraps an AssetPath. This can be used to load the requested asset and produce a strong Handle for it.

impl<T: Asset> Template for HandleTemplate<T> {
    type Output = Handle<T>;
    fn build_template(&mut self, context: &mut TemplateContext) -> Result<Handle<T>> {
        Ok(context.resource::<AssetServer>().load(&self.path))
    }
}

Types that have a "canonical" Template can implement the GetTemplate trait, allowing us to correlate to something's Template in the type system.

impl<T: Asset> GetTemplate for Handle<T> {
    type Template = HandleTemplate<T>;
}

This is where things start to get interesting. GetTemplate can be derived for types whose fields also implement GetTemplate:

#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
struct Sprite {
  image: Handle<Image>,
}

Internally this produces the following:

#[derive(Template)]
struct SpriteTemplate {
  image: HandleTemplate<Image>,
}

impl GetTemplate for Sprite {
    type Template = SpriteTemplate;
}

Another common use case for templates is Entity. With templates we can resolve an identifier of an entity in a scene to the final Entity it points to (for example: an entity path or an "entity reference" ... this will be described in detail later).

Both Template and GetTemplate are blanket-implemented for any type that implements both Clone and Default. This means that most types are automatically usable as templates. Neat!

impl<T: Clone + Default> Template for T {
    type Output = T;

    fn build_template(&mut self, context: &mut TemplateContext) -> Result<Self::Output> {
        Ok(self.clone())
    }
}

impl<T: Clone + Default> GetTemplate for T {
    type Template = T;
}

It is best to think of GetTemplate as an alternative to Default for types that require world/spawn context to instantiate. Note that because of the blanket impl, you cannot implement GetTemplate, Default, and Clone together on the same type, as it would result in two conflicting GetTemplate impls. This is also why Template has its own Template::clone_template method (to avoid using the Clone impl, which would pull in the auto-impl).

Scenes

Templates on their own already check many of the boxes we need for a scene system, but they aren't enough on their own. We want to define scenes as patches of Templates. This allows scenes to inherit from / write on top of other scenes without overwriting fields set in the inherited scene. We want to be able to "resolve" scenes to a final group of templates.

This is where the Scene trait comes in:

pub trait Scene: Send + Sync + 'static {
    fn resolve(&self, context: &mut ResolveContext, scene: &mut ResolvedScene) -> Result<(), ResolveSceneError>;
    fn register_dependencies(&self, _dependencies: &mut Vec<AssetPath<'static>>);
}

The ResolvedScene is a collection of "final" Template instances which can be applied to an entity. Scene::resolve applies the Scene as a "patch" on top of the final ResolvedScene. It stores a flat list of templates to be applied to the top-level entity and typed lists of related entities (ex: Children, Observers, etc), which each have their own ResolvedScene. Scenes are free to modify these lists, but in most cases they should probably just be pushing to the back of them. ResolvedScene can handle both repeated and unique instances of a template of a given type, depending on the context.

Scene::register_dependencies allows the Scene to register whatever asset dependencies it needs to perform Scene::resolve. The scene system will ensure Scene::resolve is not called until all of the dependencies have loaded.

Scene is always one top level / root entity. For "lists of scenes" (such as a list of related entities), we have the SceneList trait, which can be used in any place where zero to many scenes are expected. These are separate traits for logical reasons: world.spawn() is a "single entity" action, scene inheritance only makes sense when both scenes are single roots, etc.

Template Patches

The TemplatePatch type implements Scene, and stores a function that mutates a template. Functionally, a TemplatePatch scene will initialize a Default value of the patched Template if it does not already exist in the ResolvedScene, then apply the patch on top of the current Template in the ResolvedScene. Types that implement Template can generate a TemplatePatch like this:

#[derive(Template)]
struct MyTemplate {
    value: usize,
}

MyTemplate::patch_template(|my_template, context| {
    my_template.value = 10;
});

Likewise, types that implement GetTemplate can generate a patch for their template type like this:

#[derive(GetTemplate)]
struct Sprite {
    image: Handle<Image>,
}

Sprite::patch(|sprite_template| {
    // note that this is HandleTemplate<Image>
    sprite.image = "player.png".into();
})

We can now start composing scenes by writing functions that return impl Scene!

fn player() -> impl Scene {
    (
        Sprite::patch(|sprite| {
            sprite.image = "player.png".into();
        ),
        Transform::patch(|transform| {
            transform.translation.y = 4.0;
        }),
    )
}

The on() Observer / event handler Scene

on is a function that returns a scene that creates an Observer template:

fn player() -> impl Scene {
    (
        Sprite::patch(|sprite| {
            sprite.image = "player.png".into();
        ),
        on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
            info!("player jumped!");
        })
    )
}

The BSN Format

BSN is a new specification for defining Bevy Scenes. It is designed to be as Rust-ey as possible, while also eliminating unnecessary syntax and context. The goal is to make defining arbitrary scenes and UIs as easy, delightful, and legible as possible.

It is intended to be usable as both an asset format (ex: level.bsn files) and defined in code via a bsn! macro. These are notably compatible with each other. You can define a BSN asset file (ex: in a visual scene editor, such as the upcoming Bevy Editor), then inherit from that and use it in bsn! defined in code.

:"player.bsn"
Player
Sprite { image: "player.png" }
Health(10)
Transform {
	translation: Vec3 { y: 4.0 }
}
on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
	info!("player jumped!");
})
Children [
	(
		Hat
		Sprite { image: "cute_hat.png" }
		Transform { translation: Vec3 { y: 3.0 } } )
	),
	(:sword Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } } 
]

Note that this PR includes the bsn! macro, but it does not include the BSN asset format. It does include all of the in-memory / in-code support for the asset format. All that remains is defining a BSN asset loader, which will be done in a followup.

The bsn! Macro

bsn! is an optional ergonomic syntax for defining Scene expressions. It was built in such a way that Rust Analyzer autocomplete, go-to definition, doc hover, and semantic token syntax highlighting works as expected pretty much everywhere (but there are some gaps and idiosyncrasies at the moment, which I believe we can iron out).

It looks like this:

fn player() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Player
        Sprite { image: "player.png" }
        Health(10)
        Transform {
            translation: Vec3 { y: 4.0 }
        }
        on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
            info!("player jumped!");
        })
        Children [
            (
                Hat
                Sprite { image: "cute_hat.png" }
                Transform { translation: Vec3 { y: 3.0 } } )
            ),
            (:sword Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } } 
        ]
    }
}

fn sword() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
       Sword
       Sprite { image: "sword.png" } 
    }
}

fn blue_player() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        :player
        Team::Blue
        Children [
            Sprite { image: "blue_shirt.png" } 
        ]
    }
}

I'll do a brief overview of each implemented bsn! feature now.

bsn!: Patch Syntax

When you see a normal "type expression", that resolves to a TemplatePatch as defined above.

bsn! {
    Player {
        image: "player.png"
    }
}

This resolve to the following:

<Player as GetTemplatePatch>::patch(|template| {
    template.image = "player.png".into();
})

This means you only need to define the fields you actually want to set!

Notice the implicit .into(). Wherever possible, bsn! provides implicit into() behavior, which allows developers to skip defining wrapper types, such as the HandleTemplate<Image> expected in the example above.

This also works for nested struct-style types:

bsn! {
    Transform {
        translation: Vec3 { x: 1.0 }
    }
}

Note that you can just define the type name if you don't care about setting specific field values / just want to add the component:

bsn! {
    Transform
}

To add multiple patches to the entity, just separate them with spaces or newlines:

bsn! {
    Player
    Transform
}

Enum patching is also supported:

#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
enum Emotion {
    Happy { amount: usize, quality: HappinessQuality },
    Sad(usize),
}

bsn! {
    Emotion::Happy { amount: 10. }
}

Notably, when you derive GetTemplate for an enum, you get default template values for every variant:

// We can skip fields for this variant because they have default values
bsn! { Emotion::Happy }

// We can also skip fields for this variant
bsn! { Emotion::Sad }

This means that unlike the Default trait, enums that derive GetTemplate are "fully patchable". If a patched variant matches the current template variant, it will just write fields on top. If it corresponds to a different variant, it initializes that variant with default values and applies the patch on top.

For practical reasons, enums only use this "fully patchable" approach when in "top-level scene entry patch position". Nested enums (aka fields on patches) require specifying every value. This is because the majority of types in the Rust and Bevy ecosystem will not derive GetTemplate and therefore will break if we try to create default variants values for them. I think this is the right constraint solve in terms of default behaviors, but we can discuss how to support both nested scenarios effectively.

Constructors also work (note that constructor args are not patched. you must specify every argument). A constructor patch will fully overwrite the current value of the Template.

bsn! {
    Transform::from_xyz(1., 2., 3.)
}

You can also use type-associated constants, which will also overwrite the current value of the template:

bsn! {
    Transform::IDENTITY
}

If you have a type that does not currently implement Template/GetTemplate, you have two options:

bsn! {
    // This will return a Template that produces the returned type.
    // `context` has World access!
	template(|context| {
	    Ok(TextFont {
	        font: context
	            .resource::<AssetServer>()
	            .load("fonts/FiraSans-Bold.ttf").into(),
	        ..default()
	    })
	})
	
	// This will return the value as a Template
	template_value(Foo::Bar)
}

bsn! Template patch syntax

Types that are expressed using the syntax we learned above are expected to implement GetTemplate. If you want to patch a Template directly by type name (ex: your Template is not paired with a GetTemplate type), you can do so using @ syntax:

struct MyTemplate {
    value: usize,
}

impl Template for MyTemplate {
    /* impl here */
}

bsn! {
    @MyTemplate {
        value: 10.
    }
}

In most cases, BSN encourages you to work with the final type names (ex: you type Sprite, not SpriteTemplate).

However in cases where you really want to work with the template type directly (such as custom / manually defined templates), "Template patch syntax" lets you do that!

bsn!: Inline function syntax

You can call functions that return Scene impls inline. The on() function that adds an Observer (described above) is a particularly common use case

bsn! {
    Player
    on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
        info!("Player jumped");
    })
}

bsn!: Relationship Syntax

bsn! provides native support for spawning related entities, in the format RelationshipTarget [ SCENE_0, ..., SCENE_X ]:

bsn! {
    Node { width: Px(10.) } 
    Children [
        Node { width: Px(4.0) },
        (Node { width: Px(4.0) } BackgroundColor(srgb(1.0, 0.0, 0.0)),
    ]
}

Note that related entity scenes are comma separated. Currently they can either be flat or use () to group them:

bsn! {
    Children [
        // Child 1
        Node BorderRadius::MAX,
        // Child 2
        (Node BorderRadius::MAX),
    ]
}

It is generally considered best practice to wrap related entities with more than one entry in () to improve legibility.

bsn!: Expression Syntax

bsn! supports expressions in a number of locations using {}:

let x: u32 = 1;
let world = "world";
bsn! {
    // Field position expressions
    Health({ x + 2 })
    Message {
        text: {format!("hello {world}")}
    }
}

Expressions in field position have implicit into().

Expressions are also supported in "scene entry" position, enabling nesting bsn! inside bsn!:

let position = bsn! {
    Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
};

bsn! {
    Player
    {position}
}

bsn!: Inline variables

You can specify variables inline:

let black = Color::BLACK;
bsn! {
    BackgroundColor(black)
}

This also works in "scene entry" position:

let position = bsn! {
    Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
};

bsn! {
    Player
    position
}

Inheritance

bsn! uses : to designate "inheritance". Unlike defining scenes inline (as mentioned above), this will pre-resolve the inherited scene, making your current scene cheaper to spawn. This is great when you inherit from large scene (ex: an asset defined by a visual editor). Scenes can only inherit from one scene at a time, and it must be defined first.

You can inherit from scene assets like this:

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        :"button.bsn"
        BackgroundColor(RED)
    }
}

Note that while there is currently no implemented .bsn asset format, you can still test this using AssetServer::load_with_path.

You can also inherit from functions that return a Scene:

fn button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Button
        Children [
            Text("Button")
        ]
    }
}

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        :button
        BackgroundColor(RED)
    }
}

Note that because inheritance is cached / pre-resolved, function inheritance does not support function parameters. You can still use parameterized scene functions by defining them directly in the scene (rather than using inheritance):

fn button(text: &str) -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Button
        Children [
            Text(text)
        ]
    }
}

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        button("Click Me")
        BackgroundColor(RED)
    }
}

Related entities can also inherit:

bsn! {
    Node
    Children [
        (:button BackgroundColor(RED)),
        (:button BackgroundColor(BLUE)),
    ]
}

Inheritance concatenates related entities:

fn a() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Children [
            Name("1"),
            Name("2"),
        ]
    }
}

fn b() -> impl Scene {
    /// this results in Children [ Name("1"), Name("2"), Name("3") ]
    bsn! {
        :a
        Children [
            Name("3"),
        ]
    }
}

bsn_list! / SceneList

Relationship expression syntax {} expects a SceneList. Many things, such as Vec<S: Scene> implement SceneList allowing for some cool patterns:

fn inventory() -> impl Scene {
    let items = (0..10usize)
        .map(|i| bsn! {Item { size: {i} }})
        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
    bsn! {
        Inventory [
            {items}
        ]
    } 
}

The bsn_list! macro allows defining a list of BSN entries (using the same syntax as relationships). This returns a type that implements SceneList, making it useable in relationship expressions!

fn container() -> impl Scene {
    let children = bsn_list! [
        Name("Child1"),
        Name("Child2"),
        (Name("Child3") FavoriteChild),
    ]
    bsn! {
        Container [
            {children}
        ]
    } 
}

This, when combined with inheritance, means you can build abstractions like this:

fn list_widget(children: impl SceneList) -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Node {
            width: Val::Px(1.0)
        }
        Children [
            Text("My List:")
            {children}
        ]
    }
}

fn ui() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Node
        Children [
            list_widget({bsn_list! [
                Node { width: Px(4.) },
                Node { width: Px(5.) },
            ]})
        ]
    }
}

bsn!: Name Syntax

You can quickly define Name components using #Name shorthand.

bsn! {
    #Root
    Node
    Children [
        (#Child1, Node),
        (#Child2, Node),
    ]
}

#MyName produces the Name("MyName") component output.

Within a given bsn! or bsn_list! scope, #Name can also be used in value position as an Entity Template:

#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
struct UiRoot(Entity);

#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
struct CurrentButton(Entity);

bsn! {
	#Root
	CurrentButton(#MyButton)
	Children [
		(
		  #MyButton,
		  UiRoot(#Root)
		)
	]
}

These behave a bit like variable names. In the context of inheritance and embedded scenes, #Name is only valid within the current "scene scope":

fn button() -> impl Scene {
	bsn! {
		#Button
		Node
		Children [
			ButtonRef(#Button)
		]
	}
}

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
	bsn! {
		:button
		// #Button is not valid here, but #MyButton
		// will refer to the same final entity as #Button
		#MyButton
		Children [
			AnotherReference(#MyButton)
		]
	}
}

In the example above, because #MyButton is defined "last" / is the most "specific" Name, the spawned entity will have Name("MyButton")

Name references are allowed to conflict across inheritance scopes and they will not interfere with each other.

#Name can also be used in the context of bsn_list!, which enables defining graph structures:

bsn_list! [
	(#Node1, Sibling(#Node2)),
	(#Node2, Sibling(#Node1)),
]

Name Restructure

The core name component has also been restructured to play nicer with bsn!. The impl on main requires Name::new("MyName"). By making the name string field public and internalizing the prehash logic on that field, and utilizing implicit .into(), we can now define names like this:

bsn! {
    Name("Root")
    Children [
        Name("Child1"),
        Name("Child2"),
    ]
}

BSN Spawning

You can spawn scenes using World::spawn_scene and Commands::spawn_scene:

world.spawn_scene(bsn! {
    Node
    Children [
        (Node BackgroundColor(RED))
    ]
})?;

commands.spawn_scene(widget());

The spawn_scene operation happens immediately, and therefore assumes that all of the Scene's dependencies have been loaded (or alternatively, that there are no dependencies). If the scene has a dependency that hasn't been loaded yet, World::spawn_scene will return an error (or log an error in the context of Commands::spawn_scene).

If your scene has dependencies, you can use World::queue_spawn_scene and Commands::queue_spawn_scene. This will spawn the entity as soon as all of the Scene's dependencies have been loaded.

// This will spawn the entity once the "player.bsn" asset is loaded
world.queue_spawn_scene(bsn! {
  :"player.bsn"
  Transform { position: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
});

There are also spawn_scene_list variants for everything above:

world.spawn_scene_list(bsn_list! [
	button("Ok"),
	button("Cancel"),
])

EntityWorldMut and EntityCommands also have some new functionality:

entity.queue_spawn_related_scene::<Children>(bsn_list! [
	(:"player.bsn", #Player1),
	(:"player.bsn", #Player2),
]);
entity.apply_scene(bsn! {
	Transform { position: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
})?;

For scene assets, you can also just add the ScenePatchInstance(handle) component, just like the old Bevy scene system.

VariantDefaults derive

GetTemplate automatically generates default values for enum Template variants. But for types that don't use GetTemplate, I've also implemented a VariantDefaults derive that also generates these methods.

What's Next?

Must happen before 0.19

  • Sort out bevy_scene vs bevy_scene2: The current plan is to rename bevy_scene to bevy_ecs_serialization, and remove "scene" terminology from it. That then frees up bevy_scene2 to be renamed to bevy_scene. The current bevy_scene will need to exist for awhile in parallel to BSN, as BSN is not yet ready for "full world serialization" scenarios.
  • Resolve the Default Handle situation: Currently, to provide Template support for Handle, it implements GetTemplate. This of course conflicts with impl Default for Handle. This is pretty disruptive to non-BSN users (which is currently everyone). We'll want to sort out a middleground solution in the short term that ideally allows us to keep impl Default for Handle during the transition.
  • Nested bsn! Scene tuples to surpass tuple impl limits

Ideally before 0.19

We likely won't land all of these. The plan is to (ideally) land this PR before Bevy 0.19 RC1, then maybe land a couple more of these before

  • Feathers BSN Port: Largely already done. Just need to reconcile with current state of main. This will help BSN land well, so landing it alongside BSN is a high priority.
  • ResolvedScene-as-dynamic-bundle: ResolvedScene should insert all of the components at once as a single bundle, rather than one-by-one, which is really bad from an archetype move perspective. Without this, using world.spawn_scene(scene) as a world.spawn(bundle) replacement will result in a pretty significant performance reduction.
  • #Name references in more places: The UI eventing scenario really wants #Name to be usable in closures. This would functionally be expressed as a template that returns a closure that accesses a specific entity. This unlocks a lot of value for UI devs, so ideally it lands alongside BSN.
  • Top-down vs bottom-up spawn order: Currently BSN follows the normal bevy top-down spawn order. I think we should heavily consider spawning bottom-up, in the interest of making scene contents available to "higher level" components in their lifecycle events (ex: a Player component accessing nested entities like "equipment" when inserted). If we decide to keep things as they are, we probably want to introduce additional "scene ready" entity events that trigger "bottom up".
  • Inline field value expressions: Support cases such as `px(10).all()
  • Add EntityPath to EntityTemplate: Support resolving entity paths (ex: "Root/Child1/GrandChild1"). This is relatively low hanging fruit, especially if we switch to bottom-up spawning order.
  • Function Inheritance Caching: Currently only scene asset inheritance is pre-computed / cached. For consistency / predictability / optimizations, function inheritance (ex :button) should also be cached.
  • derive(GetTemplate) generics ergonomics: Currently this requires casting spells: T: GetTemplate<Template: Default + Template<Output = T>>

Near Future

  • BSN Asset Format: Add a .bsn parser / AssetLoader that can produce the current ScenePatch assets.
  • Struct-style inheritance: It would be nice to be able to do something like :Button { prop } instead of :button(prop). I'd really like us to explore this being component-tied (ex: associate a scene with a Button component).
  • Descendant Patching: It should be possible to "reach in" to an inherited scene and patch one of its descendants / children.
  • Optimize Related Entity Spawning: This currently inserts the relationship component first, then spawns the related scene. This results in an unnecessary archetype move.
  • Observers as relationships
  • Scene-owned-entities: Currently when spawning a Scene, every entity defined in the scene is instantiated. Some scenarios would benefit from Scene instances sharing some unique entity. For example: defining assets inside of scenes (this would pair nicely with Assets as Entities) , sharing Observer entities, etc.
  • The touch_type::<Nested>() approach could be replaced with let x: &mut Nested for actual type safety (and probably better autocomplete).
  • Fix Rust Analyzer autocomplete bug that fails to resolve functions and enums for <Transform as GetTemplate>::Template::from_transform()
  • Fix Rust Analyzer autocomplete bug that also suggests function names when type struct field names. This should be fixed by using irrefutable if let statements. And it would probably allow us to reuse macro code across enums / structs (and avoid needing to use PathType inference in this case, which has gnarly corner cases).

Longer Term

  • bsn! hot patching via subsecond: Proof of concept here
  • Reactivity: This has been proven out here
  • BSN Sets: See the old design doc for the design space I'm talking about here
    • This would also allow expressing "flattened" forms of BSN, which makes diffs easier to read in some case
  • World to BSN: If we can support this, BSN can be used for things like saving Worlds to disk. This might also be useful for building scene editors.

@cart cart added this to the 0.19 milestone Mar 18, 2026
@cart cart added A-ECS Entities, components, systems, and events A-Scenes Composing and serializing ECS objects X-Needs-SME This type of work requires an SME to approve it. labels Mar 18, 2026
@github-project-automation github-project-automation bot moved this to Needs SME Triage in ECS Mar 18, 2026
@cart cart force-pushed the next-generation-scenes branch 2 times, most recently from a660bc5 to a664977 Compare March 18, 2026 23:09
@cart cart force-pushed the next-generation-scenes branch from a664977 to cfd3a96 Compare March 18, 2026 23:20
Co-authored-by: andriyDev <andriydzikh@gmail.com>
@alice-i-cecile alice-i-cecile added S-Needs-Review Needs reviewer attention (from anyone!) to move forward M-Release-Note Work that should be called out in the blog due to impact labels Mar 19, 2026
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/// desired template output type. This is used by Bevy's scene system.
pub trait GetTemplate: Sized {
/// The [`Template`] for this type.
type Template: Template;
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How does the GetTemplate / Template traits fit with FromWorld?

My initial read of them as "ways to initialiaze objects that require World data" puts them in exactly the same niche.

Do you feel that we'll want both in the long-term? Can we better explain subtle distinctions using docs?

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Similar niches, but still quite different / they can and should exist next to each other:

  1. FromWorld: creates T from a world reference
  2. GetTemplate: creates T from an entity spawn context, which notably includes an EntityWorldMut reference and "scoped entity reference" information from the current scene spawn.

FromWorld fills niches that GetTemplate does not (initializing any type that is not an entity). FromWorld is also still the better pick for Resources. We could in theory try to replace FromWorld in that context, but it would require reworking some of the resource init code to make it efficient. And it would be a breaking change, which I think merits consideration + planning.

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Much improved from my initial review! There's been a lot of small cleanup during this review process.

Very happy that we have a workable solution for the Handle::default problem, even if it is a bit of a hack.

Approving: let's iterate more outside of the mega-PR please. Merge at your leisure.

Follow-up:

  1. Remember to rename bevy_scene, and rename this crate.
  2. The crate docs are very weak, and do not explain what this crate is actually for. There are a ton of concepts here, and we need to motivate how they fit together and why you need them all.
  3. I want to do a pass at the docs for Scene to see if I can come up with a cleaner introductory framing.
  4. There's a missed unwrap that can be a ? in resolved_scene.rs.
  5. The excellent explanation contrasting FromWorld and FromTemplate did not make it into the docs.
  6. Error message in SpecializeFromTemplate diagnostic is truncated.

@cart cart added this pull request to the merge queue Mar 27, 2026
@github-merge-queue github-merge-queue bot removed this pull request from the merge queue due to failed status checks Mar 27, 2026
@cart cart enabled auto-merge March 27, 2026 02:47
@cart cart added this pull request to the merge queue Mar 27, 2026
Merged via the queue into bevyengine:main with commit f4d17d9 Mar 27, 2026
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splo pushed a commit to splo/bevy that referenced this pull request Mar 31, 2026
…evyengine#23413)

After much [iteration](bevyengine#20158),
[designing](bevyengine#14437) and
[collaborating](https://discord.com/channels/691052431525675048/1264881140007702558),
it is finally time to land a baseline featureset of Bevy's Next
Generation Scene system, often known by its new scene format name ...
BSN (Bevy Scene Notation).

This PR adds the following:
- **The new scene system**: The core in-memory traits, asset types, and
functionality for Bevy's new scene system. Spawn `Scene`s and
`SceneList`s. Inherit from other scenes. Patch component fields. Depend
on assets before loading as scene. Resolve Entity references throughout
your scene.
- **The `bsn!` and `bsn_list!` macro**s: Define Bevy scenes in your code
using a new ergonomic Rust-ey syntax, which plays nicely with Rust
Analyzer and supports autocomplete, go-to definition, semantic
highlighting, and doc hover.
- **`Template` / `GetTemplate`**: construct types (ex: Components) from
a "template context", which includes access to the current entity _and_
access to the `World`. This is a foundational piece of the scene system.

Note that this _does not_ include a loader for the BSN asset format,
which will be added in a future PR. See the "Whats Next?" section for a
roadmap of the future.

Part of bevyengine#23030 

## Review Etiquette

This is a big PR. _Please use threaded comments everywhere, not top
level comments_. Even if what you have to say is not anchored in code,
find a line to leave your comment on.

## Overview

This is a reasonably comprehensive conceptual overview / feature list.
This uses a "bottom up" approach to illustrate concepts, as they build
on each other. If you just want to see what BSN looks like, scroll down
a bit!
### Templates

`Template` is a simple trait implemented for "template types", which
when passed an entity/world context, can produce an output type such as
a `Component` or `Bundle`:

```rust
pub trait Template {
    type Output;
    fn build_template(&mut self, context: &mut TemplateContext) -> Result<Self::Output>;
}
```

Template is the cornerstone of the new scene system. It allows us to
define types (and hierarchies) that require no `World` context to
define, but can _use_ the `World` to produce the final runtime state.
Templates are notably:

* **Repeatable**: Building a Template does not consume it. This allows
us to reuse "baked" scenes / avoid rebuilding scenes each time we want
to spawn one. If a Template produces a value this often means some form
of cloning is required.
* **Clone-able**: Templates can be duplicated via
`Template::clone_template`, enabling scenes to be duplicated, supporting
copy-on-write behaviors, etc.
* **Serializable**: Templates are intended to be easily serialized and
deserialized, as they are typically composed of raw data.

The poster-child for templates is the asset `Handle<T>`. We now have a
`HandleTemplate<T>`, which wraps an `AssetPath`. This can be used to
load the requested asset and produce a strong `Handle` for it.

```rust
impl<T: Asset> Template for HandleTemplate<T> {
    type Output = Handle<T>;
    fn build_template(&mut self, context: &mut TemplateContext) -> Result<Handle<T>> {
        Ok(context.resource::<AssetServer>().load(&self.path))
    }
}
```

Types that have a "canonical" `Template` can implement the `GetTemplate`
trait, allowing us to correlate to something's `Template` in the type
system.

```rust
impl<T: Asset> GetTemplate for Handle<T> {
    type Template = HandleTemplate<T>;
}
```

This is where things start to get interesting. `GetTemplate` can be
derived for types whose fields also implement `GetTemplate`:

```rust
#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
struct Sprite {
  image: Handle<Image>,
}
```

Internally this produces the following:

```rust
#[derive(Template)]
struct SpriteTemplate {
  image: HandleTemplate<Image>,
}

impl GetTemplate for Sprite {
    type Template = SpriteTemplate;
}
```

Another common use case for templates is `Entity`. With templates we can
resolve an identifier of an entity in a scene to the final `Entity` it
points to (for example: an entity path or an "entity reference" ... this
will be described in detail later).

Both `Template` and `GetTemplate` are blanket-implemented for any type
that implements both Clone and Default. This means that _most_ types are
automatically usable as templates. Neat!

```rust
impl<T: Clone + Default> Template for T {
    type Output = T;

    fn build_template(&mut self, context: &mut TemplateContext) -> Result<Self::Output> {
        Ok(self.clone())
    }
}

impl<T: Clone + Default> GetTemplate for T {
    type Template = T;
}
```

It is best to think of `GetTemplate` as an alternative to `Default` for
types that require world/spawn context to instantiate. Note that because
of the blanket impl, you _cannot_ implement `GetTemplate`, `Default`,
and `Clone` together on the same type, as it would result in two
conflicting GetTemplate impls. This is also why `Template` has its own
`Template::clone_template` method (to avoid using the Clone impl, which
would pull in the auto-impl).
### Scenes

Templates on their own already check many of the boxes we need for a
scene system, but they aren't enough on their own. We want to define
scenes as _patches_ of Templates. This allows scenes to inherit from /
write on top of other scenes without overwriting fields set in the
inherited scene. We want to be able to "resolve" scenes to a final group
of templates.

 This is where the `Scene` trait comes in:

```rust
pub trait Scene: Send + Sync + 'static {
    fn resolve(&self, context: &mut ResolveContext, scene: &mut ResolvedScene) -> Result<(), ResolveSceneError>;
    fn register_dependencies(&self, _dependencies: &mut Vec<AssetPath<'static>>);
}
```

The `ResolvedScene` is a collection of "final" `Template` instances
which can be applied to an entity. `Scene::resolve` applies the `Scene`
as a "patch" on top of the final `ResolvedScene`. It stores a flat list
of templates to be applied to the top-level entity _and_ typed lists of
related entities (ex: Children, Observers, etc), which each have their
own ResolvedScene. `Scene`s are free to modify these lists, but in most
cases they should probably just be pushing to the back of them.
`ResolvedScene` can handle both repeated and unique instances of a
template of a given type, depending on the context.

`Scene::register_dependencies` allows the Scene to register whatever
asset dependencies it needs to perform `Scene::resolve`. The scene
system will ensure `Scene::resolve` is not called until all of the
dependencies have loaded.

`Scene` is always _one_ top level / root entity. For "lists of scenes"
(such as a list of related entities), we have the `SceneList` trait,
which can be used in any place where zero to many scenes are expected.
These are separate traits for logical reasons: world.spawn() is a
"single entity" action, scene inheritance only makes sense when both
scenes are single roots, etc.
### Template Patches

The `TemplatePatch` type implements `Scene`, and stores a function that
mutates a template. Functionally, a `TemplatePatch` scene will
initialize a `Default` value of the patched `Template` if it does not
already exist in the `ResolvedScene`, then apply the patch on top of the
current Template in the `ResolvedScene`. Types that implement `Template`
can generate a `TemplatePatch` like this:

```rust
#[derive(Template)]
struct MyTemplate {
    value: usize,
}

MyTemplate::patch_template(|my_template, context| {
    my_template.value = 10;
});
```

Likewise, types that implement `GetTemplate` can generate a patch _for
their template type_ like this:

```rust
#[derive(GetTemplate)]
struct Sprite {
    image: Handle<Image>,
}

Sprite::patch(|sprite_template| {
    // note that this is HandleTemplate<Image>
    sprite.image = "player.png".into();
})
```

We can now start composing scenes by writing functions that return `impl
Scene`!

```rust
fn player() -> impl Scene {
    (
        Sprite::patch(|sprite| {
            sprite.image = "player.png".into();
        ),
        Transform::patch(|transform| {
            transform.translation.y = 4.0;
        }),
    )
}
```

### The `on()` Observer / event handler Scene

`on` is a function that returns a scene that creates an Observer
template:

```rust
fn player() -> impl Scene {
    (
        Sprite::patch(|sprite| {
            sprite.image = "player.png".into();
        ),
        on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
            info!("player jumped!");
        })
    )
}
```

### The BSN Format

`BSN` is a new specification for defining Bevy Scenes. It is designed to
be as Rust-ey as possible, while also eliminating unnecessary syntax and
context. The goal is to make defining arbitrary scenes and UIs as easy,
delightful, and legible as possible.

It is intended to be usable as both an asset format (ex: `level.bsn`
files) _and_ defined in code via a `bsn!` macro. These are notably
_compatible with each other_. You can define a BSN asset file (ex: in a
visual scene editor, such as the upcoming Bevy Editor), then inherit
from that and use it in `bsn!` defined in code.

```rust
:"player.bsn"
Player
Sprite { image: "player.png" }
Health(10)
Transform {
	translation: Vec3 { y: 4.0 }
}
on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
	info!("player jumped!");
})
Children [
	(
		Hat
		Sprite { image: "cute_hat.png" }
		Transform { translation: Vec3 { y: 3.0 } } )
	),
	(:sword Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } } 
]
```

Note that this PR includes the `bsn!` macro, but it does not include the
BSN asset format. It _does_ include all of the in-memory / in-code
support for the asset format. All that remains is defining a BSN asset
loader, which will be done in a followup.
### The `bsn!` Macro

`bsn!` is an _optional_ ergonomic syntax for defining `Scene`
expressions. It was built in such a way that Rust Analyzer autocomplete,
go-to definition, doc hover, and semantic token syntax highlighting
works as expected pretty much everywhere (but there are _some_ gaps and
idiosyncrasies at the moment, which I believe we can iron out).

It looks like this:

```rust
fn player() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Player
        Sprite { image: "player.png" }
        Health(10)
        Transform {
            translation: Vec3 { y: 4.0 }
        }
        on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
            info!("player jumped!");
        })
        Children [
            (
                Hat
                Sprite { image: "cute_hat.png" }
                Transform { translation: Vec3 { y: 3.0 } } )
            ),
            (:sword Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } } 
        ]
    }
}

fn sword() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
       Sword
       Sprite { image: "sword.png" } 
    }
}

fn blue_player() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        :player
        Team::Blue
        Children [
            Sprite { image: "blue_shirt.png" } 
        ]
    }
}
```

I'll do a brief overview of each implemented `bsn!` feature now.

### `bsn!`: Patch Syntax

When you see a normal "type expression", that resolves to a
`TemplatePatch` as defined above.

```rust
bsn! {
    Player {
        image: "player.png"
    }
}
```

This resolve to the following:

```rust
<Player as GetTemplatePatch>::patch(|template| {
    template.image = "player.png".into();
})
```

This means you only need to define the fields you actually want to set!

Notice the implicit `.into()`. Wherever possible, `bsn!` provides
implicit `into()` behavior, which allows developers to skip defining
wrapper types, such as the `HandleTemplate<Image>` expected in the
example above.

This also works for nested struct-style types:

```rust
bsn! {
    Transform {
        translation: Vec3 { x: 1.0 }
    }
}
```

Note that you can just define the type name if you don't care about
setting specific field values / just want to add the component:

```rust
bsn! {
    Transform
}
```

To add multiple patches to the entity, just separate them with spaces or
newlines:

```rust
bsn! {
    Player
    Transform
}
```

Enum patching is also supported:

```rust
#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
enum Emotion {
    Happy { amount: usize, quality: HappinessQuality },
    Sad(usize),
}

bsn! {
    Emotion::Happy { amount: 10. }
}
```

Notably, when you derive GetTemplate for an enum, you get default
template values for _every_ variant:

```rust
// We can skip fields for this variant because they have default values
bsn! { Emotion::Happy }

// We can also skip fields for this variant
bsn! { Emotion::Sad }
```

This means that unlike the `Default` trait, enums that derive
`GetTemplate` are "fully patchable". If a patched variant matches the
current template variant, it will just write fields on top. If it
corresponds to a different variant, it initializes that variant with
default values and applies the patch on top.

For practical reasons, enums only use this "fully patchable" approach
when in "top-level scene entry patch position". _Nested_ enums (aka
fields on patches) require specifying _every_ value. This is because the
majority of types in the Rust and Bevy ecosystem will not derive
`GetTemplate` and therefore will break if we try to create default
variants values for them. I think this is the right constraint solve in
terms of default behaviors, but we can discuss how to support both
nested scenarios effectively.

Constructors also work (note that constructor args are _not_ patched.
you must specify every argument). A constructor patch will fully
overwrite the current value of the Template.

```rust
bsn! {
    Transform::from_xyz(1., 2., 3.)
}
```

You can also use type-associated constants, which will also overwrite
the current value of the template:

```rust
bsn! {
    Transform::IDENTITY
}
```

If you have a type that does not currently implement
Template/GetTemplate, you have two options:

```rust
bsn! {
    // This will return a Template that produces the returned type.
    // `context` has World access!
	template(|context| {
	    Ok(TextFont {
	        font: context
	            .resource::<AssetServer>()
	            .load("fonts/FiraSans-Bold.ttf").into(),
	        ..default()
	    })
	})
	
	// This will return the value as a Template
	template_value(Foo::Bar)
}
```
### `bsn!` Template patch syntax

Types that are expressed using the syntax we learned above are expected
to implement `GetTemplate`. If you want to patch a `Template` _directly_
by type name (ex: your Template is not paired with a GetTemplate type),
you can do so using `@` syntax:

```rust
struct MyTemplate {
    value: usize,
}

impl Template for MyTemplate {
    /* impl here */
}

bsn! {
    @mytemplate {
        value: 10.
    }
}
```

In most cases, BSN encourages you to work with the _final_ type names
(ex: you type `Sprite`, not `SpriteTemplate`).

However in cases where you really want to work with the template type
directly (such as custom / manually defined templates), "Template patch
syntax" lets you do that!
### `bsn!`: Inline function syntax

You can call functions that return `Scene` impls inline. The `on()`
function that adds an Observer (described above) is a particularly
common use case

```rust
bsn! {
    Player
    on(|jump: On<Jump>| {
        info!("Player jumped");
    })
}
```

### `bsn!`: Relationship Syntax

`bsn!` provides native support for spawning related entities, in the
format `RelationshipTarget [ SCENE_0, ..., SCENE_X ]`:

```rust
bsn! {
    Node { width: Px(10.) } 
    Children [
        Node { width: Px(4.0) },
        (Node { width: Px(4.0) } BackgroundColor(srgb(1.0, 0.0, 0.0)),
    ]
}
```

Note that related entity scenes are comma separated. Currently they can
either be flat _or_ use `()` to group them:

```rust
bsn! {
    Children [
        // Child 1
        Node BorderRadius::MAX,
        // Child 2
        (Node BorderRadius::MAX),
    ]
}
```

It is generally considered best practice to wrap related entities with
more than one entry in `()` to improve legibility.

### `bsn!`: Expression Syntax

`bsn!` supports expressions in a number of locations using `{}`:

```rust
let x: u32 = 1;
let world = "world";
bsn! {
    // Field position expressions
    Health({ x + 2 })
    Message {
        text: {format!("hello {world}")}
    }
}
```

Expressions in field position have implicit `into()`.

Expressions are also supported in "scene entry" position, enabling
nesting `bsn!` inside `bsn!`:

```rust
let position = bsn! {
    Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
};

bsn! {
    Player
    {position}
}
```

### `bsn!`: Inline variables

You can specify variables inline:

```rust
let black = Color::BLACK;
bsn! {
    BackgroundColor(black)
}
```

This also works in "scene entry" position:

```rust
let position = bsn! {
    Transform { translation: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
};

bsn! {
    Player
    position
}
```

### Inheritance

`bsn!` uses `:` to designate "inheritance". Unlike defining scenes
inline (as mentioned above), this will _pre-resolve_ the inherited
scene, making your current scene cheaper to spawn. This is great when
you inherit from large scene (ex: an asset defined by a visual editor).
Scenes can only inherit from one scene at a time, and it must be defined
first.

You can inherit from scene assets like this:

```rust
fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        :"button.bsn"
        BackgroundColor(RED)
    }
}
```

Note that while there is currently no implemented `.bsn` asset format,
you can still test this using `AssetServer::load_with_path`.

You can also inherit from functions that return a `Scene`:

```rust
fn button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Button
        Children [
            Text("Button")
        ]
    }
}

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        :button
        BackgroundColor(RED)
    }
}
```

Note that because inheritance is cached / pre-resolved, function
inheritance does not support function parameters. You can still use
parameterized scene functions by defining them directly in the scene
(rather than using inheritance):

```rust
fn button(text: &str) -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Button
        Children [
            Text(text)
        ]
    }
}

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        button("Click Me")
        BackgroundColor(RED)
    }
}
```

Related entities can also inherit:

```rust
bsn! {
    Node
    Children [
        (:button BackgroundColor(RED)),
        (:button BackgroundColor(BLUE)),
    ]
}
```

Inheritance concatenates related entities:

```rust
fn a() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Children [
            Name("1"),
            Name("2"),
        ]
    }
}

fn b() -> impl Scene {
    /// this results in Children [ Name("1"), Name("2"), Name("3") ]
    bsn! {
        :a
        Children [
            Name("3"),
        ]
    }
}
```

### `bsn_list!` / SceneList

Relationship expression syntax `{}` expects a SceneList. Many things,
such as `Vec<S: Scene>` implement `SceneList` allowing for some cool
patterns:

```rust
fn inventory() -> impl Scene {
    let items = (0..10usize)
        .map(|i| bsn! {Item { size: {i} }})
        .collect::<Vec<_>>();
    bsn! {
        Inventory [
            {items}
        ]
    } 
}
```

The `bsn_list!` macro allows defining a list of BSN entries (using the
same syntax as relationships). This returns a type that implements
`SceneList`, making it useable in relationship expressions!

```rust
fn container() -> impl Scene {
    let children = bsn_list! [
        Name("Child1"),
        Name("Child2"),
        (Name("Child3") FavoriteChild),
    ]
    bsn! {
        Container [
            {children}
        ]
    } 
}
```

This, when combined with inheritance, means you can build abstractions
like this:

```rust
fn list_widget(children: impl SceneList) -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Node {
            width: Val::Px(1.0)
        }
        Children [
            Text("My List:")
            {children}
        ]
    }
}

fn ui() -> impl Scene {
    bsn! {
        Node
        Children [
            list_widget({bsn_list! [
                Node { width: Px(4.) },
                Node { width: Px(5.) },
            ]})
        ]
    }
}
```

### `bsn!`: Name Syntax

You can quickly define `Name` components using `#Name` shorthand.

```rust
bsn! {
    #Root
    Node
    Children [
        (#Child1, Node),
        (#Child2, Node),
    ]
}
```

`#MyName` produces the `Name("MyName")` component output.

Within a given `bsn!` or `bsn_list!` scope, `#Name` can _also_ be used
in _value position_ as an `Entity` Template:

```rust
#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
struct UiRoot(Entity);

#[derive(Component, GetTemplate)]
struct CurrentButton(Entity);

bsn! {
	#Root
	CurrentButton(#MyButton)
	Children [
		(
		  #MyButton,
		  UiRoot(#Root)
		)
	]
}
```

These behave a bit like variable names. In the context of inheritance
and embedded scenes, `#Name` is only valid within the current "scene
scope":

```rust
fn button() -> impl Scene {
	bsn! {
		#Button
		Node
		Children [
			ButtonRef(#Button)
		]
	}
}

fn red_button() -> impl Scene {
	bsn! {
		:button
		// #Button is not valid here, but #MyButton
		// will refer to the same final entity as #Button
		#MyButton
		Children [
			AnotherReference(#MyButton)
		]
	}
}
```

In the example above, because `#MyButton` is defined "last" / is the
most "specific" `Name`, the spawned entity will have `Name("MyButton")`

Name references are allowed to conflict across inheritance scopes and
they will not interfere with each other.

`#Name` can also be used in the context of `bsn_list!`, which enables
defining graph structures:

```rust
bsn_list! [
	(#Node1, Sibling(#Node2)),
	(#Node2, Sibling(#Node1)),
]
```
### Name Restructure

The core name component has also been restructured to play nicer with
`bsn!`. The impl on `main` requires `Name::new("MyName")`. By making the
name string field public and internalizing the prehash logic on that
field, and utilizing implicit `.into()`, we can now define names like
this:

```rust
bsn! {
    Name("Root")
    Children [
        Name("Child1"),
        Name("Child2"),
    ]
}
```

### BSN Spawning

You can spawn scenes using `World::spawn_scene` and
`Commands::spawn_scene`:

```rust
world.spawn_scene(bsn! {
    Node
    Children [
        (Node BackgroundColor(RED))
    ]
})?;

commands.spawn_scene(widget());
```

The `spawn_scene` operation happens _immediately_, and therefore assumes
that all of the `Scene`'s dependencies have been loaded (or
alternatively, that there are no dependencies). If the scene has a
dependency that hasn't been loaded yet, `World::spawn_scene` will return
an error (or log an error in the context of `Commands::spawn_scene`).

If your scene has dependencies, you can use `World::queue_spawn_scene`
and `Commands::queue_spawn_scene`. This will spawn the entity as soon as
all of the `Scene`'s dependencies have been loaded.

```rust
// This will spawn the entity once the "player.bsn" asset is loaded
world.queue_spawn_scene(bsn! {
  :"player.bsn"
  Transform { position: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
});
```

There are also `spawn_scene_list` variants for everything above:

```rust
world.spawn_scene_list(bsn_list! [
	button("Ok"),
	button("Cancel"),
])
```

`EntityWorldMut` and `EntityCommands` also have some new functionality:

```rust
entity.queue_spawn_related_scene::<Children>(bsn_list! [
	(:"player.bsn", #Player1),
	(:"player.bsn", #Player2),
]);
```

```rust
entity.apply_scene(bsn! {
	Transform { position: Vec3 { x: 10. } }
})?;
```

For scene assets, you can also just add the `ScenePatchInstance(handle)`
component, just like the old Bevy scene system.
### VariantDefaults derive

`GetTemplate` automatically generates default values for enum Template
variants. But for types that don't use `GetTemplate`, I've also
implemented a `VariantDefaults` derive that also generates these
methods.

## What's Next?

### Must happen before 0.19
- [ ] **Sort out `bevy_scene` vs `bevy_scene2`**: The current plan is to
rename `bevy_scene` to `bevy_ecs_serialization`, and remove "scene"
terminology from it. That then frees up `bevy_scene2` to be renamed to
`bevy_scene`. The current `bevy_scene` will need to exist for awhile in
parallel to BSN, as BSN is not yet ready for "full world serialization"
scenarios.
- [x] ~~**Resolve the Default Handle situation**: Currently, to provide
Template support for `Handle`, it implements `GetTemplate`. This of
course conflicts with `impl Default for Handle`. This is pretty
disruptive to non-BSN users (which is currently everyone). We'll want to
sort out a middleground solution in the short term that ideally allows
us to keep `impl Default for Handle` during the transition.~~
- Resolved this by using a [specialization
trick](bevyengine#23413 (comment))
- [ ] Nested `bsn!` `Scene` tuples to surpass tuple impl limits


### Ideally before 0.19

We likely won't land all of these. The plan is to (ideally) land this PR
before Bevy 0.19 RC1, then _maybe_ land a couple more of these before

- [ ] **Feathers BSN Port**: Largely already done. Just need to
reconcile with current state of main. This will help BSN land well, so
landing it alongside BSN is a high priority.
- [ ] **ResolvedScene-as-dynamic-bundle**: ResolvedScene should insert
all of the components at once as a single bundle, rather than
one-by-one, which is really bad from an archetype move perspective.
Without this, using `world.spawn_scene(scene)` as a
`world.spawn(bundle)` replacement will result in a pretty significant
performance reduction.
- [ ] **`#Name` references in more places**: The UI eventing scenario
_really_ wants `#Name` to be usable in closures. This would functionally
be expressed as a template that returns a closure that accesses a
specific entity. This unlocks a lot of value for UI devs, so ideally it
lands alongside BSN.
- [ ] **Top-down vs bottom-up spawn order**: Currently BSN follows the
normal bevy top-down spawn order. I think we should heavily consider
spawning bottom-up, in the interest of making scene contents available
to "higher level" components in their lifecycle events (ex: a `Player`
component accessing nested entities like "equipment" when inserted). If
we decide to keep things as they are, we probably want to introduce
additional "scene ready" entity events that trigger "bottom up".
- [ ] **Inline field value expressions**: Support cases such as
`px(10).all()
- [ ] **Add EntityPath to EntityTemplate**: Support resolving entity
paths (ex: `"Root/Child1/GrandChild1"`). This is relatively low hanging
fruit, especially if we switch to bottom-up spawning order.
- [ ] **Function Inheritance Caching**: Currently only scene asset
inheritance is pre-computed / cached. For consistency / predictability /
optimizations, function inheritance (ex `:button`) should also be
cached.
- [ ] **`derive(GetTemplate)` generics ergonomics**: Currently this
requires casting spells: `T: GetTemplate<Template: Default +
Template<Output = T>>`

### Near Future
- [ ] **BSN Asset Format**: Add a `.bsn` parser / AssetLoader that can
produce the current `ScenePatch` assets.
- [ ] **Struct-style inheritance**: It would be nice to be able to do
something like `:Button { prop } ` instead of `:button(prop)`. I'd
really like us to explore this being component-tied (ex: associate a
scene with a Button component).
- [ ] **Descendant Patching**: It should be possible to "reach in" to an
inherited scene and patch one of its descendants / children.
- [ ] **Optimize Related Entity Spawning**: This currently inserts the
relationship component first, then spawns the related scene. This
results in an unnecessary archetype move.
- [ ] Observers as relationships
- [ ] **Scene-owned-entities**: Currently when spawning a `Scene`, every
entity defined in the scene is instantiated. Some scenarios would
benefit from Scene instances _sharing_ some unique entity. For example:
defining assets _inside_ of scenes (this would pair nicely with Assets
as Entities) , sharing Observer entities, etc.
- [ ] The `touch_type::<Nested>()` approach could be replaced with `let
x: &mut Nested` for actual type safety (and probably better
autocomplete).
- [ ] Fix Rust Analyzer autocomplete bug that fails to resolve functions
and enums for `<Transform as GetTemplate>::Template::from_transform()`
- [ ] Fix Rust Analyzer autocomplete bug that also suggests function
names when type struct field names. This _should_ be fixed by using
irrefutable `if let` statements. And it would probably allow us to reuse
macro code across enums / structs (and avoid needing to use PathType
inference in this case, which has gnarly corner cases).
### Longer Term
- [ ] **`bsn!` hot patching via subsecond**: [Proof of concept
here](cart#36)
- [ ] **Reactivity**: This has been proven out
[here](https://github.com/viridia/bevy_reactor/)
- [ ] **BSN Sets**: See the [old design
doc](bevyengine#14437) for the
design space I'm talking about here
* This would also allow expressing "flattened" forms of BSN, which makes
diffs easier to read in some case
- [ ] **World to BSN**: If we can support this, BSN can be used for
things like saving Worlds to disk. This might also be useful for
building scene editors.

---------

Co-authored-by: andriyDev <andriydzikh@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Nico Zweifel <34443492+NicoZweifel@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-authored-by: Alice Cecile <alice.i.cecile@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: copygirl <copygirl@mcft.net>
github-merge-queue bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Apr 1, 2026
# Objective

The existing crate docs merged in #23413 were minimalistic.

This is not ideal, as there's a ton of complex, interconnected features
that are important to explain.
In particular, we want to explain how all of these types, traits and
concepts relate to *each other*
and the broad picture of both "how should you use this crate" and "why
does this even exist".

Crate docs are the ideal home for this.

## Solution

Write 400 lines of crate docs. Easy.

I am still relatively new to BSN: I haven't had a chance to use it in my
projects yet either! Please keep an eye out for both technical and
conceptual errors.

Thankfully, the PR description from #23413 was extremely detailed,
laying out the architectural context and broader patterns.
The docs on each item, the tests, and to a lesser extent the old design
discussions #9538 and #14437 were also very useful.

## Notable editorial choices

- relatively high on hype for technical documentation
- users need to understand *why* the complexity is useful, ideally
without tripping over these problems themselves
- we really want users to actually use bsn! (and .bsn): the experience
is better and standardization is powerful
- intro uses the dreaded "object" word: calling things with multiple
entities an "entity" is flatly confusing
- also very useful for translating the BSN model for users of other
engines
- drops users immediately into a Quick Start guide
- some folks find it extremely useful to see a simple working example
before getting the explanation
- explicitly calls out the asset format as future work
- this is a major, important feature. It's important to acknowledge its
absence, and offer workarounds for now.
- having some information about how it's likely to work allows people to
plan effectively.
- I spent a *lot* of time trying to carefully explain the differences
between the composition strategies
- this mentions asset-format BSN, because it's a primary driver of *why*
we need inheritance
- explaining the FromTemplate / Default distinction was hard but
important
- gave an explicit bolded warning about the lack of field overrides
- I did not call out horrible specialization hack: far too distracting
in the crate docs

## Important omissions and divergences from past discussions

- `GetTemplate` was renamed to `FromTemplate`
- `Construct` is now `Template` and `FromTemplate`
- reactivity (not yet implemented)
- scene composition as a styling/composition alternative (belongs in the
bevy_feathers crate docs later)
github-merge-queue bot pushed a commit that referenced this pull request Apr 1, 2026
# Objective

Now that BSN is on main, we can port Feathers over!

Related: #23030 #23413

## Solution

Port Feathers, leaving the bundle functions around (renamed to
`x_bundle` and deprecated). This is largely 1:1, other than removing
HandleOrPath (which is filling the same role as HandleTemplate). I've
also ported the `feathers` and `virtual_keyboard` examples to BSN.

---------

Co-authored-by: Alice Cecile <alice.i.cecile@gmail.com>
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Labels

A-ECS Entities, components, systems, and events A-Scenes Composing and serializing ECS objects M-Release-Note Work that should be called out in the blog due to impact S-Needs-Review Needs reviewer attention (from anyone!) to move forward X-Needs-SME This type of work requires an SME to approve it.

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