The essentials to get started: what you get, how to install it, and the keys you'll use first. Every tool, mode and option lives in the full documentation.
SORT Tools is a modeling suite for Blender, built around precise modeling work: alignment, cuts, live edits and workflow shortcuts, all reached from pie menus and tools you drive with the mouse in the viewport. It assumes you already know Edit Mode, faces, edges and loops.
H while a tool runs to see its keys.V) and, with NEXUS, the Smart Tools 1 pie (C).Both editions share the same interface and the same bug fixes. NEXUS adds the full arsenal.
| Feature | CORE | NEXUS |
|---|---|---|
| Smart Tools 1 pie: Quick Loops, Resample, Arc Circle, Bend Face, Smart Slide, Slide Merge, projections, Curve Stretch, Diamond Poke | — | Yes |
| Edge Cutter (Edit and Object Mode) | — | Yes |
| Smart Tools 2 pie: Cursor Loop, Slide Merge Live, Merge by Distance, Insert Vert | Yes | Yes |
| Modal Seam and Attach Tool | Yes | Yes |
| Echo Selection, Geo Instance and Camera Turntable | Yes | Yes |
| Every other pie, the selection and modeling actions, and Stack Tools | Yes | Yes |
| New features | Selected | All |
Not sure? Start with CORE: installing NEXUS over it later keeps your settings.
Requires Blender 4.3 or newer, up to 5.2. Developed and tested on Windows; macOS and Linux have not been tested.
.zip from your purchase — do not unzip it.Edit → Preferences → Get Extensions..zip.SORT Tools installs and turns on. Its version ends in -core or -nexus, matching your edition.
.zip.Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → SORT Tools, General tab, Update box.Your hotkeys and settings are kept. To switch edition, install the other edition's .zip over the current one — no uninstall needed.
Find them at Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → SORT Tools, in three tabs.
Settings are saved in Blender's config folder: they survive updates and reinstalls.
Default keys for the most-used pies and tools. Every key can be changed in Preferences → Keymaps.
| Hotkey | Pie | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Shift + Right Click | SORT Pie | Object & Edit Mode |
| C | Smart Tools 1 · NEXUS only | Edit Mode |
| V | Smart Tools 2 | Edit Mode |
| ` | View | 3D View |
| F | Focus | Object Mode |
| Alt + A | Align | Object & Edit Mode |
| Space | Selection | Object & Edit Mode |
| H | Hide | Edit Mode |
| Shift + A | Primitives | Object Mode |
| E | Connect | Object Mode |
| Ctrl + A | Apply | Object Mode |
| Q | Properties Switcher | Properties Editor |
| 1 | Arrange (Attach, Fix Gap, Grid, Geo Instance) | Object Mode |
| Hotkey | Tool | Where |
|---|---|---|
| T | Modal Seam | Edit Mode |
| Shift + W | Edge Cutter · NEXUS only | Object Mode |
| B | Smart Bevel | Edit Mode |
| 2 | Smart Connect | Edit Mode |
| X | Smart Delete | Object & Edit Mode |
| Ctrl + B | Smart Subdivide | Object Mode |
| Alt + Q | SubD On / Off | Object & Edit Mode |
| N | Fold Stack | Properties Editor |
| 1 | Up To Active (Apply · Hide / Show · Delete) | Properties Editor |
| Shift + F | Focus on selection or cursor | Edit Mode |
| H | Hide / Restore | Object Mode |
| Double Click | Smart Select (loop or marked edges) | Edit Mode |
| C · Shift + C | New collection from the selection | Outliner |
| X · Shift + X | Delete with / without children, and clean up unused data | Outliner |
Edge Cutter in Edit Mode has no key of its own: choose it in the Smart Tools 1 pie. Inside any tool, press H for its keys; Left Click confirms and Esc cancels. The Smart Tools 2 tools can get direct keys (off by default, in General → Pie Settings); if you turn them on, Alt + Q (Cursor Loop) clashes with SubD On / Off. The View pie takes ` from Blender's own: turn it off in General → Activate to get that back.
If none of these help, use Preferences → SORT Tools → General → Bug Report → Get Support.
.zip again and don't unzip it.SORT in the Add-ons list. If it's there but off, tick its checkbox.Preferences → SORT Tools → Keymaps.