Command line tutorial

    Note

    On Windows and Linux, you can run a Godot binary in a terminal by specifying its relative or absolute path.

    On macOS, the process is different due to Godot being contained within an 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.

    General options

    Run options

    Display options

    Debug options

    Note

    Debug options are only available in the editor and debug export templates (they require debug or release_debug build targets, see for more details).

    Standalone tools

    Path

    It is recommended that your Godot binary be in your PATH environment variable, so it can be executed easily from any place by typing 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.

    This can be done by giving the path to the project.godot file of your project as either the first argument, like this:

    Or by using the --path argument:

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

      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 newgame
      2. cd newgame
      3. touch project.godot

      The project can now be opened with Godot.

      Running the editor

      Running the editor is done by executing Godot with the -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.

      Erasing a scene

      Godot is friends with your filesystem and will not create extra metadata files. Use 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

      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

      Catching errors in the command line can be a difficult task because they just fly by. For this, a command line debugger is provided by adding -d. It works for running either the game or a simple scene.

      1. godot -d

      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/project

      The preset name must match the name of an export preset defined in the project’s export_presets.cfg file. If the preset name contains spaces or special characters (such as “Windows Desktop”), it must be surrounded with quotes.

      To export a debug version of the game, use the --export-debug switch instead of --export. Their parameters and usage are the same.

      To export only a PCK file, use the --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

      When specifying a relative path as the path for --export, --export-debug or --export-pack, the path will be relative to the directory containing the project.godot file, not relative to the current working directory.

      It is possible to run a simple .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.

      The script must inherit from SceneTree or MainLoop.

      Here is a simple sayhello.gd example of how it works:

      1. #!/usr/bin/env -S godot -s
      2. extends SceneTree
      4. func _init():
      5.     print("Hello!")
      6.     quit()

      And how to run it:

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

      If no project.godot exists at the path, current path is assumed to be the current working directory (unless --path is specified).

      1. # Mark script as executable.
      2. chmod +x sayhello.gd
      3. ./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: