SmartHopper 2.0 needs testers

Rhino AI
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1

Hello Grasshopper community,

After months of work behind the scenes (well, exposed publicly on GitHub), SmartHopper 2.0 is (almost) ready.

This release is a big step forward. It brings a new Google Gemini provider, a Batch API for running prompts across data trees efficiently, Vision Input and Speech/Audio processing, deeper GhJSON integration, and a number of architectural clean-ups that pave the way for future providers and tools. You can read the full list of changes in the CHANGELOG, but the short version is that the plugin is now more capable and more extensible than the 1.4.x line.

My goal is to deliver a high-quality plugin that is free of annoying bugs, allowing everyone to focus on their design work rather than resolving irksome component issues. However, I am aware that this version has not yet reached this stage. For this reason, SmartHopper 2.0 will not be available in Rhino Package Manager until it has undergone extensive testing. I have already tested many features to enhance stability and reliability, but a lot has moved under the hood, and I cannot afford the testing alone. That is why I am calling for community testers. The goal is to guarantee that version 2.0 is flawless for all users before releaseing it on the Package Manager.

How to test

  1. Download the latest 2.0.0-dev pre-release from the GitHub Releases page.
  2. Install it in Rhino 8 as usual. You will have to uninstall any other SmartHopper 1.x version first.
  3. Pick an open issue labeled ‘status: needs testers’ and follow the checklist inside.
  4. Report back in the issue with what worked, what broke, and anything that felt confusing.

What to expect

This is a dev build. Icons are missing, things might break, and some behaviors are not intuitive. Your old 1.4.x files may show warnings on load, some components have been renamed, and new features like vision input and speech processing are still stabilizing. However, you will also discover many new helpful features that you will probably enjoy. Here is a preview of what you can expect in SmartHopper 2.0:

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Thank you for taking the time to look at this. Any bug report, ambiguous user interface detection, or simple “this worked perfectly” comment will be very beneficial!

Happy designing,
Marc

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Hi @mrocam9
you are doing really amazing work here, and I wholeheartedly appreciate the effort and openness.

As rh/gh-ai tools emerge, and a while ago I took a brief dive into the pool of available plugins, at first I kinda dismissed Smarthopper all together because of the logo. I have to say that in its naive form, it at first seems like a 2 min prompt and done - job, and gives a first appearance that the author has not really spend time on this plugin. And that is far from the truth in case of this plugin!

I might be alone in my opinion, but at least for me it seems that a more polished logo could give more credibility to your plugin in the current wave of ai-related tools.

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Hi @Toni_Osterlund,

Thanks for your comments! Honestly, the logo design is exactly as you described :sweat_smile: It was generated with an AI tool, and my sister helped vectorize it. I’m not great at graphic design.

I also think the component icons could be improved. Right now, I’m just using Material Design icons and adapting them to fit each component’s purpose.

If you or anyone else have ideas for a new logo (or even a full icon set for components), feel free to PR the GitHub repo. If you’re not sure how to do that, just PM me, and I’ll take care of it. We’re still in time to rethink SmartHopper 2.0’s graphical design!