When creating a brand new, blank Plugin: Failed to compile plugin source code.

Development Pipeline & Plugins Plugins
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1

Using windows 11 and Unreal engine 5.6

I am getting this error message when trying to generate a brand new, blank plugin. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling VS, disabling the security settings, creating a new project. I have no idea where else to look and the logs are not particularly helpful. I have also noticed that if I (even with a brand new and blank project) that if I delete the caches, saved, intermediates and binaries, unreal engine will give unable to compile, try compile manually errors - this also appears if I try to import any of the starter content.

I think the problems are linked but I am at wits end on trying to fix it. Below is the section of the log file:

[2025.10.23-19.38.22:385][889]Creating makefile for Enviroment_SimsEditor (no existing makefile)
[2025.10.23-19.38.25:910][889]Expecting to find a type to be declared in a module rules named ‘VisualStudioTools’ in ‘UE5Rules, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null’. This type must derive from the ‘ModuleRules’ type defined by UnrealBuildTool.
[2025.10.23-19.38.25:910][889]
[2025.10.23-19.38.25:910][889]Result: Failed (RulesError)
[2025.10.23-19.38.25:910][889]Total execution time: 4.30 seconds
[2025.10.23-19.39.25:973][889]LogDerivedDataCache: C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/UnrealEngine/Common/DerivedDataCache: Maintenance finished in +00:00:00.000 and deleted 0 files with total size 0 MiB and 0 empty folders. Scanned 0 files in 1 folders with total size 0 MiB.
[2025.10.23-19.43.36:920][889]LogSlate: Window ‘Unable to create plugin’ being destroyed
[2025.10.23-19.43.36:933][889]Message dialog closed, result: Cancel, title: Unable to create plugin, text: Failed to compile plugin source code. See output log for more information.
[2025.10.23-19.43.36:990][890]LogEOSSDK: LogEOS: Updating Product SDK Config, Time: 355.713135
[2025.10.23-19.43.37:882][933]LogEOSSDK: LogEOS: SDK Config Product Update Request Completed - No Change
[2025.10.23-19.43.37:882][933]LogEOSSDK: LogEOS: ScheduleNextSDKConfigDataUpdate - Time: 356.588959, Update Interval: 352.367920
[2025.10.23-19.43.38:187][960]LogSlate: Window ‘New Plugin’ being destroyed
[2025.10.23-19.43.38:197][960]LogSlate: Window ‘New Plugin’ being destroyed

2

Hello there @Feyion!

Checking your log extract, the key line is the following:

Expecting to find a type to be declared in a module rules named ‘VisualStudioTools’ in ‘UE5Rules, Version=0.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null’. This type must derive from the ‘ModuleRules’ type defined by UnrealBuildTool.

This confirms that the issue is coming from one of the modules tying UE and VS. Meaning, that after your reinstall and cache clear, at least one component remains missing, or with the wrong version for your build.

So, the first step here is to go through the UE docs on the matter, and taking notes of which components are required in the install, plus which versions are needed, here:

Another thing to rule out is UE itself, you can select your current install in the Library, and apply “Verify” on it, which should restore any missing files or corrupted elements.

Now, if all VS components are correct, and the issue persists, the remaining path would be a clean state approach, full uninstall/reinstall of all Epic software:

  • First, uninstall the engine, launcher, asset packs, etc
  • Next, open the registry directory HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Epic Games\Unreal Engine\Builds, and delete any build entries
  • Finally, delete the folders %userprofile%\AppData\Local\UnrealEngine and %userprofile%\AppData\Local\UnrealHeaderTool
  • After that, no elements related to UE should be left in your system (at this step, you may uninstall all VS components as well)
  • Now, reinstall UE launcher from scratch, and only add the latest version of the engine
  • Follow the guide above, and refresh the install for all VS components (or fully re-install if you erased them in the previous step)
  • After the process is complete, open a blank project, and create a test plugin