When working with Unreal Engine’s BuildGraph system, the default pipeline defined in BuildAndTestProject.xml already provides a solid foundation for building, cooking, testing, and packaging your project.

However, real productions often require additional steps:

• Custom validation
• Game-specific automation
• Extra packaging logic
• Internal tools
• Uploading artifacts
• Console-specific steps

Instead of modifying the engine’s BuildAndTestProject.xml (which would break on engine upgrades), the correct approach is to extend it inside your game project.

This article explains how to do it cleanly and safely.

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Where to Put Your Custom Graph

Your custom BuildGraph file should live in:

Game\Build\Graph\BuildAndTestExtended.xml

This keeps:

• Engine graph files untouched
• Game-specific logic versioned with the project
• The pipeline upgrade-safe

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Understanding BuildAndTestProject.xml

The engine file:

Engine/Build/Graph/Tasks/BuildAndTestProject.xml

Declares:

• Default options
• Core build targets
• Test targets
• An aggregate named:

BuildAndTest $(ProjectName)

This aggregate is the entry point for the default project pipeline.

We will:

1. Include this graph
2. Add additional requirements
3. Create a new aggregate that extends it

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Extending the Graph

Here is the complete example:

<?xml version='1.0' ?>
<BuildGraph xmlns="http://www.epicgames.com/BuildGraph" 
            xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
            xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.epicgames.com/BuildGraph ../../../Engine/Build/Graph/Schema.xsd" >

	<!-- Additional game specific options and property -->
	<Include Script="Inc/MyCustomOptions.xml" />

	<!-- This will declare an aggregate called BuildAndTest -->
	<Property Name="DefaultProjectName" Value="MyGame" />
	<Property Name="DefaultProjectPath" Value="MyGame" />
	<Property Name="DefaultEditorPlatforms" Value="Win64" />
	<Property Name="DefaultTargetConfigurations" Value="Development" />
	<Include Script="../../../Engine/Build/Graph/Tasks/BuildAndTestProject.xml" />

	<!-- Add BuildAndTest project target node as the base requirement -->
	<Property Name="BuildAndTestExtendedRequirements" 
	          Value="BuildAndTest $(ProjectName)" />

	<!-- Custom pipeline that runs after BuildAndTestProject.xml -->
	<Include Script="Inc/MyCustomPipeline.xml" />
		
	<!-- Define the final aggregated build command -->
	<Aggregate Name="BuildAndTestExtended $(ProjectName)" 
	           Requires="$(BuildAndTestExtendedRequirements)" />

</BuildGraph>