Light is a particularly powerful stimulus for gaining spatiotemporal control over dynamic material transformations. In contrast to intrinsic stimuli such as pH, temperature, and protease levels that are challenging to regulate in a biological setting, light's ability to be precisely administered affords unique control over when, where, and to what degree materials undergo pre-programmed responses as well as a route to sidestep challenges associated with patient-topatient variability in clinical applications. Recognizing this unique utility, the biomaterials community has invested substantial efforts towards the development of photoresponsive hydrogels -water-swollen polymer networks that elicit a prespecified change upon directed light irradiation . The resulting systems have driven significant advances across multiple fields, including cellular biology , drug discovery , tissue engineering platforms for directing cell fate , and the formation of organoids . Photodynamic hydrogels take advantage of light's spatiotemporal control to trigger photoinduced material softening , biochemical release , and species uncaging/activation for in vivo material modification .