The .gdextension file

Introduction

The .gdextension file in your project contains the instructions for how to load the GDExtension. The instructions are separated into specific sections. This page should give you a quick overview of the different options available to you. For an introduction how to get started with C++ (godot-cpp), take a look at the Getting started.

Configuration section

Property	Type	Description
entry_symbol	String	Name of the entry function for initializing the GDExtension. This function should be defined in the register_types.cpp file when using godot-cpp. Adding this is necessary for the extension to work.
compatibility_minimum	String	Minimum compatible version. This prevents older versions of Godot from loading extensions that depend on features from newer versions of Godot. Only supported in Godot 4.1 or later
compatibility_maximum	String	Maximum compatible version. This prevents newer versions of Godot from loading the extension. Only supported in Godot 4.3 or later
reloadable	Boolean	Reloads the extension upon recompilation. Reloading is supported for the godot-cpp binding in Godot 4.2 or later. Other language bindings may or may not support it as well. This flag should be mainly used for developing or debugging an extension.
android_aar_plugin	Boolean	The GDExtension is part of a Godot Android plugins. During export this flag will indicate to the editor that the GDExtension native shared libraries are exported by the Android plugin AAR binaries.

Libraries section

In this section you can set the paths to the compiled binaries of your GDExtension libraries. By specifying feature flags you can filter which version should be loaded and exported with your game depending on which feature flags are active. Every feature flag must match to Godot's feature flags or your custom export flags to be loaded in an exported game. For instance macos.debug means that it will be loaded if Godot has both the macos and debug flag active. Each line of the section is evaluated from top to bottom.

Here is an example of what that can look like:

; A comment line starts with a semicolon. This line is ignored by the engine.
[libraries]

macos.debug = "./bin/libgdexample.macos.template_debug.dylib" ; Inline comments are also allowed.
macos.release = "./bin/libgdexample.macos.template_release.dylib"
windows.debug.x86_32 = "./bin/libgdexample.windows.template_debug.x86_32.dll"
windows.release.x86_32 = "./bin/libgdexample.windows.template_release.x86_32.dll"
windows.debug.x86_64 = "./bin/libgdexample.windows.template_debug.x86_64.dll"
windows.release.x86_64 = "./bin/libgdexample.windows.template_release.x86_64.dll"
linux.debug.x86_64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_debug.x86_64.so"
linux.release.x86_64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_release.x86_64.so"
linux.debug.arm64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_debug.arm64.so"
linux.release.arm64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_release.arm64.so"
linux.debug.rv64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_debug.rv64.so"
linux.release.rv64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_release.rv64.so"

Paths can be relative or absolute (starting with res://). Relative paths are recommended, as they allow the extension to keep working if it's installed to a different folder than what's specified in the path.

Entries are matched in order, so if two sets of feature tags could match the same system, be sure to put the more specific ones first:

[libraries]

linux.release.editor.x86_64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.template_release.x86_64.so"
linux.release.x86_64 = "./bin/libgdexample.linux.noeditor.template_release.x86_64.so"

Here are lists of some of the available built-in options (for more look at the Feature tags):

Running system

Flag	Description
windows	Windows operating system
macos	Mac operating system
linux	Linux operating system
bsd	BSD operating system
linuxbsd	Linux or BSD operating system
android	Android operating system
ios	iOS operating system
web	Web browser

Build

Flag	Description
debug	Build with debugging features (editor builds always have debugging features)
release	Optimized build without debugging features
editor	Editor build

Architecture

Flag	Description
double	double-precision build
single	single-precision build
x86_64	64-bit x86 build
arm64	64-bit ARM build
rv64	64-bit RISC-V build
riscv	RISC-V build (any bitness)
wasm32	32-bit WebAssembly build

Icons section

By default, Godot uses the Node icon in the scene dock for GDExtension nodes. A custom icon can be set by reference to its name and resource path of an SVG file.

For example:

[icons]

GDExample = "res://icons/gd_example.svg"

The path should point to a 16×16 pixel SVG image, with two options enabled on the image in the Import dock:

• Editor > Scale with Editor Scale.

• Editor > Convert Colors with Editor Theme.

Enabling both options ensures the icon behaves as closely as possible to the stock editor icons. Read the guide for Editor icons for more information.

Dependencies section

In this section, you set the paths of the GDExtension dependencies. This is used internally to export the dependencies when exporting your game executable. You are able to set which dependency is loaded depending on the feature flags of the exported executable. In addition, you are able to set an optional subdirectory to move your dependencies into. If no path is supplied, Godot will move the libraries into the same directory as your game executable.

WARNING

On macOS, it is necessary to have shared libraries inside a folder called Frameworks with a directory structure like this: Game.app/Contents/Frameworks.

[dependencies]

macos.debug = {
    "res://bin/libdependency.macos.template_debug.framework" : "Contents/Frameworks"
}
macos.release = {
    "res://bin/libdependency.macos.template_release.framework" : "Contents/Frameworks"
}
windows.debug = {
    "res://bin/libdependency.windows.template_debug.x86_64.dll" : "",
    "res://bin/libdependency.windows.template_debug.x86_32.dll" : ""
}
windows.release = {
    "res://bin/libdependency.windows.template_release.x86_64.dll" : "",
    "res://bin/libdependency.windows.template_release.x86_32.dll" : ""
}
linux.debug = {
    "res://bin/libdependency.linux.template_debug.x86_64.so" : "",
    "res://bin/libdependency.linux.template_debug.arm64.so" : "",
    "res://bin/libdependency.linux.template_debug.rv64.so" : ""
}
linux.release = {
    "res://bin/libdependency.linux.template_release.x86_64.so" : "",
    "res://bin/libdependency.linux.template_release.arm64.so" : "",
    "res://bin/libdependency.linux.template_release.rv64.so" : ""
}