System for Nodes Displaying Gizmos to Update Their Parameters

[Ayush2k02]

About

My name is Ayush Amawate (@Ayush2k02) and I will be working on the "System for Nodes Displaying Gizmos to Update Their Parameters" project as a Graphite GSoC '26 contributor.

Synopsis

Interactive gizmos (draggable canvas handles) currently exist only for 6 hardcoded shapes: Star, Polygon, Arc, Circle, Grid, and Spiral. Adding gizmos to any new node requires 200–400 lines of custom code.

This project builds a generic gizmo system with a registry-based approach, enabling any node to declare gizmo-enabled parameters. Nodes like Blur, Transform, or Gradient will gain interactive canvas controls without custom gizmo code.

Deliverables

• Gizmo Registry System — Lookup mapping node types to gizmo-enabled parameters
• Generic Gizmo Types — SliderGizmo (f64), DialGizmo (u32), PositionGizmo (DVec2), AngleGizmo
• Generic Gizmo Manager — Auto-detects and creates gizmos for selected nodes
• Migration — All 6 existing shape gizmos refactored to the generic system
• New Node Gizmos — Blur, Transform, and optionally Gradient nodes with gizmos
• Documentation — Developer guide for adding gizmos to new nodes

Progress

Week 0–2 (May 8–28)

• Integrated the Heart shape into the Shape tool with drawing mode, dropdown entry, fill/stroke defaults, selection sync, and gizmo registration — #4167