I would like to create actors at run time, and set things like skeletal mesh based on a string (name) is this possible ?
One can refer to assets at runtime by using their filename if they’re set up to be primary assets with the Asset Manager. Off the top of my head I don’t think skeletal meshes are primary assets out the box. I’ve only really used custom data assets as primary assets so your mileage may vary but I think one could set it up for any kind of UObject. Though you’d need C++ to get it going: here’s more info on Tom Looman’s website.
[Edit] You could create data assets that hold all parameters these runtime spawned actors need and use those as primary assets. (Instead of making every mesh, etc. to be set one by one at runtime.) Then you use the name of the data asset for each configuration you need. Would be easier and it’s a pattern I’ve actually seen a lot (see Lyra source for example).
You could use a data table, or even just a map (string → skeletal mesh).