TOC format

.toc (Table of Contents) files contain information about a particular addon (such as its name, description, saved variables, etc), as well as instructions on how the addon should be loaded by the client (for example, the order in which lua and xml files should be loaded). The file must be present, and have the same name (plus extension) as its parent folder for the addon to be recognized by the client.

Basic rules

The .toc file and addon folder name need to match, e.g. ..\Interface\AddOns\MyAddon\ and MyAddon.toc

The file may contain the following elements:

Metadata as ## Directive: Value
Comments as # this is a comment
A list of files as myFile.xml or subfolder\anotherFile.lua

Whitespace before # will be interpreted as the start of a filename. However, the client trims whitespace around metadata values (after the colon).

Backslashes (\) are recommended for subdirectories to prevent issues with <Include> tags.

## Interface: 110002
## Title: Waiting for Godot
## Notes: Nothing to be done.
## Version: 1.0.0

# This line is a comment
Vladimir.xml
Estragon.lua
libs\SomeLibrary.lua

Multiple client flavors

Classic and retail versions of the game can be properly supported by including multiple TOC files in the same addon.^[1] The client first searches for the respective suffix and otherwise falls back to AddonName.toc

Flavor		Suffix
	Mainline	`AddonName_Mainline.toc`
	All classic flavors	`AddonName_Classic.toc`
	Cataclysm Classic	`AddonName_Cata.toc`
	Wrath of the Lich King Classic	`AddonName_Wrath.toc`
	Burning Crusade Classic	`AddonName_TBC.toc`
	Classic Era	`AddonName_Vanilla.toc`

Clients also recognize legacy suffixes -WOTLKC and -BCC.
The _Classic suffix has changed and is now used for addons that can be loaded on all Classic client flavors.
- Files with this TOC suffix have a lower priority than other suffixes that target specific clients. For example, having both a _Cata.toc and _Classic.toc file will result in the former being used on Cataclysm Classic clients, and the latter in all other Classic client flavors.

File load order

The .toc file provides an ordered list of files to be loaded by the client. In the earlier example:

Vladimir.xml loads first, and is in the same folder as the .toc file
Estragon.lua loads second, and is in the same folder as the .toc file
SomeLibrary.lua loads third, and is in a subfolder called libs

Not every file must appear in a .toc list:

XML files may contain <Script file="nameOfAnotherFile.lua" /> or <Include file="alsoLoadThis.xml" />
Texture:SetTexture() and PlaySoundFile() can use images and sounds contained within the addon folder and its subfolders

Interface version

"Interface" is the WoW version the addon was made for. WoW uses this number to tell if an addon is out of date.

If an addon has an older interface version than the user's current WoW client version, the addon is classified as out of date. If you don't specify an Interface version, WoW will always treat the addon as out of date.

If the game version is 10.2.7, then the interface version is 100207:

## Interface: 100207

You can also specify multiple versions with commas (this example targets 11.0.2, 4.4.0 and 1.15.3):

## Interface: 110002, 40400, 11503

Determining the interface version

GetBuildInfo

Type /dump (select(4, GetBuildInfo())) in the chat box.

Warcraft Wiki

This wiki maintains a list template of the latest interfaces for each flavor of the game. The template is also shown below (these values are updated by contributors, so they may be out of date).

	Patch	TOC version
Mainline PTR	11.0.5	`110005`
Mainline	11.0.2	`110002`
Cataclysm Classic	4.4.0	`40400`
Classic Era	1.15.4	`11504`

AddOns list formatting

The following directives change how an AddOn appears in the AddOns list. Both may be coloured using UI escape sequences (e.g. |c########|r), or localized by appending a hyphen and the locale code (e.g.Title-enGB). Later entries overwrite earlier ones, so the non-localized fallback should go first.

Title

Name displayed in the AddOns list.

## Title: Waiting for Godot
## Title-frFR: En attendant Godot

Notes

Tooltip displayed in the AddOns list.

## Notes: This word is |cFFFF0000red|r

IconTexture

Path to a texture file to be shown as the icon for this addon in the addon list. Optional.

## IconTexture: Interface\Icons\TEMP

IconAtlas

Name of a texture atlas to be shown as the icon for this addon in the addon list. Optional, and has a lower priority than IconTexture if both are set.

## IconAtlas: TaskPOI-Icon

Addon compartment integration

The following directives will control the registration of the addon into the Addon compartment dropdown accessible from the minimap.

AddonCompartmentFunc

Name of a global function to be executed when the dropdown list button for this addon has been clicked. This field is required to have the addon be shown in the Addon Compartment list.

## AddonCompartmentFunc: MyAddon_OnAddonCompartmentClick

AddonCompartmentFuncOnEnter

Name of a global function to be executed when this dropdown list button for this addon has been highlighted. Optional.

## AddonCompartmentFuncOnEnter: MyAddon_OnAddonCompartmentEnter

AddonCompartmentFuncOnLeave

Name of a global function to be executed when this dropdown list button for this addon is no longer highlighted. Optional.

## AddonCompartmentFuncOnLeave: MyAddon_OnAddonCompartmentLeave

Loading conditions

The following directives control when an AddOn loads, and any dependencies that must or may load first.

LoadOnDemand

1 to delay loading until LoadAddOn().

## LoadOnDemand: 1

Dependencies

AddOns that must load first. Aliases include RequiredDeps and any word beginning with Dep.

## Dependencies: someAddOn, someOtherAddOn

OptionalDeps

AddOns that should load first if available.

## OptionalDeps: someAddOn, someOtherAddOn

LoadWith

AddOns that, once loaded, trigger this one to load. Implies LoadOnDemand.

## LoadWith: someAddOn, someOtherAddOn

LoadManagers

AddOns that, if present, trigger this one to behave as LoadOnDemand. See AddonLoader for an example.

## LoadManagers: someAddOn, someOtherAddOn

DefaultState

disabled to require the user to explicitly enable the AddOn in the AddOns list.

## DefaultState: disabled

Saved variables

Main article: Saving variables between game sessions

SavedVariables

Variables saved in WTF/[account]/SavedVariables.

## SavedVariables: MyAddOnNameFoo, MyAddOnNameBar

SavedVariablesPerCharacter

Variables saved in WTF/[account]/[server]/[character]/SavedVariables.

## SavedVariablesPerCharacter: MyAddOnNameAnotherVariable

Informational

The following metadata may be accessed using GetAddOnMetadata().

Author: The AddOn author's name, displayed
Version: The AddOn version. Some automatic updating tools may prefer that this string begins with a numeric version number.
X-_____: Any custom metadata prefixed by "X-", such as "X-Date", "X-Website" or "X-Feedback"

Restricted

The following tags are inaccessible to third-party AddOns.

AllowLoad

Restricts loading this addon to either the GlueXML or FrameXML environments.

Value	Environment
`Both`	Allow this addon to load without restriction in all environments.
`Game`	Only load this addon in the FrameXML environment.
`Glue`	Only load this addon in the GlueXML environment.

AllowLoadGameType

Restricts loading this addon to specific client flavors. Multiple values may be supplied, delimited by commas.

Game Type	Flavors
`mainline`		Mainline
`classic`		All Classic flavors
`cata`		Cataclysm Classic
`wrath`		Wrath of the Lich King Classic
`tbc`		Burning Crusade Classic
`vanilla`		Classic Era
`standard`		Normal game mode in all client flavors
`wowlabs`		Special game modes, such as Plunderstorm

LoadFirst

1 if a secure addon is not permitted to be disabled and should be loaded before any other addons without this flag.

OnlyBetaAndPTR

1 if an addon should only be loadable on test realms.

SavedVariablesMachine

List of global variable names to be persisted across all accounts on the same machine.

Secure

1 with Blizzard's digital signature to indicate a secure AddOn.

UseSecureEnvironment

1 if all files present in an addon should be loaded into a private function environment.

Details

WoW reads up to the first 1024 characters of each line only. Additional characters are ignored and do not cause an error.
Starting from Patch 9.0, 1.14.0 and 2.5.3, newly created/added files and even complete addons, are also detected when doing a /reload after the game started.

Patch changes

Retail

Patch 11.0.0 (2024-07-23): Added the restricted UseSecureEnvironment metadata field. Removed the SuppressLocalTableRef metadata field.
Patch 10.2.7 (2024-05-07): Added support for comma-delimited Interface versions, and the restricted AllowLoadGameType and SuppressLocalTableRef metadata fields. Renamed AllowLoadByGameMode to AllowLoadGameType, and GuardedAddOn to LoadFirst.
Patch 10.2.6 (2024-03-19): Added the restricted AllowLoadByGameMode metadata field.
Patch 10.1.0 (2023-05-02): Added IconAtlas, IconTexture, and Addon compartment related metadata fields. Added the restricted GuardedAddOn metadata field.
Patch 9.1.0 (2021-06-29): Multiple TOC files are now supported using a suffix to disambiguate Classic, BCC and Retail.^[1]
Patch 9.0.1 (2020-10-13): /reload recognizes changes to TOC metadata and entirely new files in the Interface/AddOns/ directory tree.
Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12): /reload recognizes changes to the file order.
Patch 2.1.0 (2007-05-22): Added LoadManagers metadata
Patch 1.11.0 (2006-06-19): Added Secure metadata
Patch 1.9.0 (2006-01-03): Added LoadWith metadata

Classic

Patch 4.4.1 (PTR): Includes all changes present in patch 11.0.0.
Patch 4.4.0 (2024-04-30): Includes all changes present in patch 10.2.7. Additionally, the behavior of the _Classic TOC suffix has changed such that it now loads on all Classic clients, and not just Classic Era.

Classic Era

Patch 1.15.4 (2024-09-24): Includes all changes present in patch 11.0.0.

References

^ ^a ^b Meorawr. Multiple Interface Version Support. WoWUIBugs.

[WoWUIBug#68-1] Meorawr. Multiple Interface Version Support. WoWUIBugs.

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