While developing my plugin, I wrote a utility script to watch my main.js/styles.css/manifest.json for changes, and automatically copy them into the plugins folder of my obsidian sandbox. I published it with my plugin here.
The utility script does not require a virtual environment or have dependencies, it can just be dropped into your root directory and ran via python3 -m pluginloader.
When using, be sure to refresh your plugins or window (from within the app) to load any changes.
Copy the files once and quit
python3 -m pluginloader
Copy the files once and quit, using a custom path to your sandbox vault and project root
python3 -m pluginloader --dotobsidian "path/to/your/obsidian/sandbox/vault/.obsidian" --dev-dir "path/to/your/plugin/source/code/root/directory"
Watch for changes in your files and copy them when they change
python3 -m pluginloader --onchange
The dotobsidian path does not necessarily need to be your sandbox. It can be any vault’s .obsidian directory.