Command line tutorial

Some developers like using the command line extensively. Godot is designed to be friendly to them, so here are the steps for working entirely from the command line. Given the engine relies on almost no external libraries, initialization times are pretty fast, making it suitable for this workflow. Note On Windows and Linux, you can run a Godot binary in a terminal by specifying its relative or absolute path. .app bundle (which is a folder, not a file). To run a Godot binary from a terminal on macOS, you have to cd to the folder where the Godot application bundle is located, then run Godot.app/Contents/MacOS/Godot followed by any command line arguments. If you’ve renamed the application bundle from Godot to another name, make sure to edit this command line accordingly.

Command line reference

General options Run options Display options Debug options Note debug or release_debug build targets, see Target for more details). Standalone tools

Path

godot. You can do so on Linux by placing the Godot binary in /usr/local/bin and making sure it is called godot.

Setting the project path

Depending on where your Godot binary is located and what your current working directory is, you may need to set the path to your project for any of the following commands to work correctly. project.godot file of your project as either the first argument, like this:

  1. godot path_to_your_project/project.godot [other] [commands] [and] [args]

--path argument:

  1. godot --path path_to_your_project [other] [commands] [and] [args]

For example, the full command for exporting your game (as explained below) might look like this:

  1. godot --path path_to_your_project --export my_export_preset_name game.exe

Creating a project

Creating a project from the command line can be done by navigating the shell to the desired place and making a project.godot file.

  1. mkdir newgamecd newgametouch project.godot

The project can now be opened with Godot.

Running the editor

-e flag. This must be done from within the project directory or a subdirectory, otherwise the command is ignored and the project manager appears.

  1. godot -e

If a scene has been created and saved, it can be edited later by running the same code with that scene as argument.

  1. godot -e scene.tscn

Erasing a scene

rm to erase a scene file. Make sure nothing references that scene or else an error will be thrown upon opening.

  1. rm scene.tscn

Running the game

To run the game, simply execute Godot within the project directory or subdirectory.

  1. godot

When a specific scene needs to be tested, pass that scene to the command line.

  1. godot scene.tscn

Debugging

-d. It works for running either the game or a simple scene.

  1. godot -d
  1. godot -d scene.tscn

Exporting

Exporting the project from the command line is also supported. This is especially useful for continuous integration setups. The version of Godot that is headless (server build, no video) is ideal for this.

  1. godot --export "Linux/X11" /var/builds/projectgodot --export Android /var/builds/project.apk

export_presets.cfg file. If the preset name contains spaces or special characters (such as “Windows Desktop”), it must be surrounded with quotes. --export-debug switch instead of --export. Their parameters and usage are the same. --export-pack option followed by the preset name and output path, with the file extension, instead of --export. The output path extension determines the package’s format, either PCK or ZIP. Warning project.godot file, not relative to the current working directory.

Running a script

.gd script from the command line. This feature is especially useful in large projects, e.g. for batch conversion of assets or custom import/export. SceneTree or MainLoop. sayhello.gd example of how it works:

  1. #!/usr/bin/env -S godot -sextends SceneTreefunc _init():    print("Hello!")    quit()

And how to run it:

  1. # Prints "Hello!" to standard output.godot -s sayhello.gd

project.godot exists at the path, current path is assumed to be the current working directory (unless --path is specified). sayhello.gd above is commonly referred to as a shebang. If the Godot binary is in your PATH as godot, it allows you to run the script as follows in modern Linux distributions, as well as macOS:

  1. # Mark script as executable.chmod +x sayhello.gd# Prints "Hello!" to standard output../sayhello.gd

If the above doesn’t work in your current version of Linux or macOS, you can always have the shebang run Godot straight from where it is located as follows:

  1. #!/usr/bin/godot -s