Find Expensive References. Understand Them. Fix Them.

Unreal Engine’s Reference Viewer shows you what references what.

Blueprint Reference Doctor shows you why a reference exists, how much it costs, whether it is necessary, and how to fix it safely.

Find hidden hard references, oversized dependency chains, unused asset variables, reference cycles, broken packages, redirectors and migration risks — directly inside the Unreal Editor.

Right-click a folder → Audit With Reference Doctor
Right-click an asset → Reference Doctor → Analyse References

Documentation: Download

Audit Entire Folders

Audit any folder — including all of /Game — and rank assets by:

• Total load footprint

• Packages loaded

• Findings and errors

• Reference-cycle membership

• Referencer count

The project-health summary shows broken references, redirectors, cycles and the heaviest individual footprint.

Every column is sortable. Double-click an asset to open its full report.

Standard audits use the Asset Registry without loading your assets, making them fast enough for large projects. Enable Deep Analysis for Blueprint graph and variable-level diagnostics.

Cancelled or limited scans are clearly marked. An incomplete audit is never presented as complete.

Understand Every Dependency

View both directions in one searchable window:

• Everything the asset uses

• Everything that uses the asset

Dependency trees include package sizes and can be filtered by name, path or class.

Every edge is colour-coded as hard or soft. Soft references are not expanded as part of the hard-load footprint because they do not automatically load their target.

See Why a Reference Exists

Blueprint Reference Doctor traces dependencies back to their exact source:

• Hard: default value of property DeathEffect

• Hard: component Mesh property StaticMesh

• Soft: path literal on Open Level, pin Level Name

• Hard: parent class BP_BaseWeapon

• Hard: graph pin literal on Spawn Actor From Class

See the exact property, component, graph, node or pin responsible instead of manually searching through the Blueprint.

Find What Is Increasing Your Load Footprint

For every direct hard dependency, the plugin calculates the complete size of everything behind it.

Quickly identify:

• The references responsible for most of an asset’s footprint

• Dependencies pulling large package chains into memory

• The references worth optimising first

Real Cut-Saving Analysis

Removing a large-looking reference does not always reduce memory usage. Another dependency may still load the same assets.

Blueprint Reference Doctor virtually removes each direct hard-reference edge, recalculates the dependency closure and reports the real saving.

Sometimes the result is zero because another reference still loads the same asset chain. When this happens, the responsible sibling dependency is identified.

Stop wasting time replacing references that would not reduce the actual footprint.

Diagnose Complete Reference Cycles

Assets inside a hard-reference cycle cannot load independently.

Blueprint Reference Doctor:

• Detects the complete cycle

• Reports it once

• Lists every asset and edge involved

• Shows which edges must be broken together

• Calculates the footprint after the cycle is removed

See the complete problem instead of chasing individual circular references.

Find Hidden and Unnecessary References

Unused Hard-Reference Variables

Find Blueprint variables that:

• Hold a hard asset or class reference

• Have a default value

• Are never read by any Blueprint node

The referenced asset still loads even though the Blueprint never uses it.

Hard References Inside Graph Pins

Assets or classes assigned directly to graph pins can create hard references with no visible variable.

The plugin reports the:

• Graph

• Node

• Pin

• Referenced asset or class

For supported class pins on an execution path, Blueprint Reference Doctor can rewrite the graph automatically.

Detect Rename, Migration and Packaging Problems

Find:

• Broken references and missing packages

• References resolving through redirectors

• Hard references into /Developers/

• References outside /Game

• Hard references to entire Levels

• Redundant dependencies loaded through another path

Ideal after folder reorganisations, asset renames, project migrations, Marketplace imports and large refactors.

Fix Problems Directly

Replace References

Replace supported references to asset A with asset B inside a Blueprint.

Supported locations include:

• CDO properties

• Component templates

• Graph pin defaults

• Variable defaults

• TSoftObjectPtr

• FSoftObjectPath

The replacement picker is class-filtered to reduce invalid substitutions.

Convert Hard References to Soft References

Convert eligible variables to:

• TSoftObjectPtr

• TSoftClassPtr

The default value is preserved.

Before making changes, the plugin runs a dry-run preview and rates the conversion:

• Safe

• Needs Review

• Unsafe

It also lists node connections that may require Resolve, Load Asset or Async Load logic.

Promote Pin Literals to Soft References

For supported hard class references stored directly on graph pins, the plugin can:

• Create a soft class variable

• Preserve the selected class

• Insert a blocking load

• Rewire the execution path

• Clear the original hard-reference literal

If compilation fails, the entire rewrite is rolled back automatically.

Additional Fixing and Navigation Tools

• Fix up redirectors

• Open the referenced asset

• Show it in the Content Browser

• Open the owning Blueprint

• Jump directly to the offending graph node

Bulk Fixes and Safe Editing

Multi-select findings and use:

• Convert All Safe Variables

• Fix Up All Redirectors

• Apply Selected Fixes

Each batch uses one transaction and one recompile.

A single Ctrl+Z undoes the entire operation.

Every supported modification is transactional:

• Changes can be undone

• Assets are not saved automatically unless enabled

• Failed graph rewrites are rolled back

• Compilation is checked after relevant fixes

After a fix, rescan to see the result:

Load footprint: 214 MB → 61 MB — 153 MB removed

When nothing changes, the plugin explains why.

Ignore Intentional Findings

Not every hard reference is a mistake.

Use Ignore This Finding to suppress a deliberate diagnosis for a specific path and optionally add an explanation.

Ignored findings remain visible and are counted separately.

An ignored warning never makes an unhealthy report appear clean.

Export Reports

Export results as:

• JSON

• CSV

• Graphviz DOT

• Markdown

Reports can also be copied to the clipboard for tickets, reviews, optimisation tasks and documentation.

Who It Is For

• Technical artists and technical designers investigating memory and load-time problems

• Solo developers and small teams working with inherited or older projects

• Lead developers who need clear dependency reports

• Marketplace and plugin developers checking unwanted dependencies before release

• Blueprint-heavy projects with references hidden inside variables, components and graph pins

Support

For questions, suggestions or bug reports, please contact:

[email protected]

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