Item + Icon + Recipe + Tier-1 Unlock

If you’ve generated an item and can’t find it anywhere in-game, this tutorial is almost certainly the fix. It walks through the complete, minimum chain: item, icon, recipe, schematic, end to end. Every snippet below is a complete, working example, not a hypothetical fragment.

The mistake this tutorial fixes

A generated item and a recipe producing it are not enough on their own. Recipe: documents register the recipe class into SML’s UModContentRegistry, so the game knows the class exists. Registration alone doesn’t put the recipe in front of the player, though. Satisfactory gates every recipe behind an unlock, normally granted by a schematic (a HUB milestone or a MAM node). Without a schematic unlocking your recipe, the class exists and the recipe is “known” to the mod content registry, but the player still never sees it. That’s the whole story behind “I don’t see my created item.”

Step 1: the item

super-ingot.item.yml

type: item
items:
  - id: SuperIngot
    parent: /Game/FactoryGame/Resource/Parts/IronIngot/Desc_IronIngot.Desc_IronIngot_C
    properties:
      - path: mDisplayName
        value:
          key: SuperIngot_Name
          ns: KDFSample
          source: Super Ingot
      - path: mDescription
        value: Forged from YAML. Stacks high, sinks well.
      - path: mStackSize
        value: SS_HUGE
      - path: mResourceSinkPoints
        value: 42
      # Placeholder icon see Step 2, loaded by super-ingot-icon.asset.yml
      - path: mSmallIcon
        value: /KDataForge/GenAssets/KDFSample.Gen_KDFSample_SuperIngotIcon
      - path: mPersistentBigIcon
        value: /KDataForge/GenAssets/KDFSample.Gen_KDFSample_SuperIngotIcon

mStackSize is an EStackSize enum (SS_ONE/SS_SMALL/SS_MEDIUM/SS_BIG/SS_HUGE/ SS_FLUID), not a plain item count. See Balancing → Items for the full caveat about the engine’s stack-size cache. KDataForge refreshes that cache automatically, so you don’t need to do anything extra. Just don’t write a raw number here expecting it to mean “N items per stack”.

Step 2: a placeholder icon (type: asset)

You don’t need real art to get an item on-screen and testable. Any PNG/JPG/TGA/BMP works, even your mod’s own logo, as a stand-in until you have real icons:

super-ingot-icon.asset.yml

type: asset
assets:
  - id: SuperIngotIcon
    file: mod-logo.png # pack-relative path any 2D image

Result: /KDataForge/GenAssets/KDFSample.Gen_KDFSample_SuperIngotIcon, referenced directly from the item’s mSmallIcon/mPersistentBigIcon in Step 1. No include: needed. type: asset always runs in the Assets stage, and Assets always runs before Items, regardless of file or pack order. See Data Assets for the full type: asset reference. This is the same 2D-image mechanism, just used for an item icon instead of a KAPI data asset.

Step 3: the recipe

super-ingot.recipe.yml

type: recipe
recipes:
  - id: Recipe_SuperIngot
    properties:
      - path: mDisplayName
        value: 'Super Ingot'
      - path: mIngredients
        value:
          - ItemClass: /Game/FactoryGame/Resource/Parts/IronIngot/Desc_IronIngot.Desc_IronIngot_C
            Amount: 2
      - path: mProduct
        value:
          - ItemClass: /KDataForge/Gen/KDFSample.Gen_KDFSample_SuperIngot
            Amount: 1
      - path: mManufactoringDuration
        value: 4.0
      - path: mProducedIn
        value:
          - /Game/FactoryGame/Buildable/Factory/SmelterMk1/Build_SmelterMk1.Build_SmelterMk1_C

No include: needed for the item reference. Items always finishes before Recipes starts. This alone gets you a real, registered recipe class, but it’s still locked.

Step 4: the Tier-1 schematic (the step that was missing)

super-ingot.schematic.yml

type: schematic
schematics:
  - id: Schematic_SuperIngot
    properties:
      - path: mType
        value: EST_Milestone
      - path: mDisplayName
        value: Super Ingot Production
      - path: mDescription
        value: Unlocks production of the Super Ingot.
      - path: mTechTier
        value: 1
      - path: mTimeToComplete
        value: 10
      - path: mCost
        value:
          - ItemClass: /Game/FactoryGame/Resource/Parts/IronIngot/Desc_IronIngot.Desc_IronIngot_C
            Amount: 20
    unlocks:
      - class: /Game/FactoryGame/Unlocks/BP_UnlockRecipe.BP_UnlockRecipe_C
        properties:
          - path: mRecipes
            value:
              - /KDataForge/Gen/KDFSample.Gen_KDFSample_Recipe_SuperIngot

• mType: EST_Milestone + mTechTier: 1 is what makes this a Tier 1 HUB milestone: the standard “unlocked early, no MAM required” pattern.
• No include: needed. Recipes always finishes before Schematics starts.
• register: true is the default, so this schematic (and, via SML’s auto-propagation, the recipe and item it touches) registers into UModContentRegistry automatically. The schematic is the only piece in this whole chain you need registration for. See Type: recipe → auto-propagation.

With this file in place, a fresh save now shows “Super Ingot Production” as a purchasable Tier 1 HUB milestone. Purchasing it unlocks Recipe_SuperIngot for the player to build.

Recap: what each file contributes

File	type:	Contributes
super-ingot.item.yml	item	The item class itself
super-ingot-icon.asset.yml	asset	A 2D texture the item references as its icon
super-ingot.recipe.yml	recipe	A recipe producing the item (registered, but locked)
super-ingot.schematic.yml	schematic	The unlock: this is what makes it obtainable

Troubleshooting

• Item still not appearing after adding the schematic: run /kdf report and confirm all four documents applied with no errors. A typo’d generated-class path (missing pack ref, wrong id spelling) is the most common cause, and it’s always visible there.
• Icon shows as a checkerboard/missing texture: check that file: is spelled exactly right and is relative to the pack root (the directory containing pack.yml), not the mod’s own folder.
• Recipe exists but isn’t selectable at the smelter: the recipe needs the schematic’s unlock applied. In a fresh save that means actually purchasing “Super Ingot Production” in the HUB.
• Want to unlock a NEW recipe from a schematic that already exists (vanilla or another mod’s, instead of generating your own): that’s a slightly different shape, covered in Adding a Recipe to an Existing Schematic.

For per-document details, use Type: item, Type: recipe, and Type: schematic. Data Assets documents the full type: asset 2D-image mechanism. End-to-End Pack shows a similar chain with localization and sink points.