FAQ
What is ScratchX?
ScratchX is a platform that enables people to test experimental functionality built by developers for the visual programming language Scratch.
What's the difference between Scratch and ScratchX?
Scratch is a programming language and online community where you can create your own interactive stories, games, and animations. ScratchX is a separate experimental platform built to test experimental Scratch features, also known as Experimental Extensions. There is no login or community component to ScratchX, and projects created within ScratchX can only be run on ScratchX.
What are Scratch Extensions?
Scratch extensions make it possible for Scratch to interface with external hardware and information outside of the Scratch website through new blocks. Extensions are written in JavaScript for the ScratchX project editor.
What is the difference between Experimental and Official Extensions?
Experimental Extensions are extensions created for Scratch by the community; they are not managed or endorsed by Scratch in any way. Experimental Extensions can run only in the ScratchX environment. Official Extensions can be found and run from within Scratch 2.0 (both online and offline editors), accessible in the 'More Blocks' section of the blocks menu.
Are Experimental Extensions safe?
The Scratch Team has created ScratchX to enable people to create and test Experimental Extensions. However, the Scratch Team does not endorse, support or maintain specific Experimental Extensions. People using Experimental Extensions should be careful not to provide any personal details such as login passwords or personally-identifiable information if prompted by an Experimental Extension.
How do I use ScratchX?
There are three pathways into ScratchX. If you have been given or sent a .sbx file, you can load that into ScratchX via the homepage (look for 'Open an Extension Project'). If you have been sent a ScratchX URL (starts with 'scratchx.org/'), you can click your link and the extension will load automatically, or you can enter that URL into the box on the homepage (look for 'Open an Extension URL'). Lastly, if you don't have an example extension, you can try out one on the site by visiting the Gallery page and clicking on an example extension there.
I made a cool project on ScratchX. How do I share it?
Click the 'Save' button at the top of the page to download your project as an .sbx file on to your local computer. You can then send this file to other people, and they can upload your file onto ScratchX to play with your project.
Where can I find example Experimental Extensions to play around with?
You can find a list of example extensions in the ScratchX Gallery. We plan to add more extensions to this page in the coming months.
What is a ScratchX URL?
Developers who make extensions for ScratchX can choose to create a custom web address or URL that points to their extension and/or demo project. Clicking on a ScratchX extension URL will take you directly to a project with an extension loaded.
What is an .sbx file?
The SBX (.sbx) ScratchX file format is the file format used to encode ScratchX projects when they are downloaded to a user's computer. SBX files can only be used on the ScratchX site. Other Scratch environments use different formats, including the .sb2 format for Scratch 2.0 (read more here) and .sb format for Scratch 1.4 (read more here).
Why can't I open .sbx files in Scratch 2.0 or the offline editor?
Experimental Extensions are extensions created for Scratch by the community and are not managed or endorsed by Scratch in any way. Because of this, we do not allow Experimental Extensions to run on the larger Scratch site.
