How do you pronounce Godot ? 🦴

"Godot, or to dog... is it even a question?"

This library lets your C# application code start and pump Godot's MainLoop - not the other way around.

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What is 2dog?

2dog is a .NET/C# front-end for Godot Engine that inverts the traditional architecture. Instead of having Godot's process and scene tree drive your application, you now control Godot as a library.

Think of it like this: Godot is your loyal companion that follows your lead, learns new tricks, and does exactly what you tell it to. All this while still having all the capabilities of the full engine.

using twodog;

using var engine = new Engine("myapp", "./project");
using var godot = engine.Start();

// Load a scene
var scene = GD.Load<PackedScene>("res://game.tscn");
engine.Tree.Root.AddChild(scene.Instantiate());

// Run the main loop
while (!godot.Iteration())
{
    // Your code here – every frame
}

What does this mean?

• 🎮 Full Godot Power – access the complete GodotSharp API: scenes, physics, rendering, audio, input – everything Godot can do
• 🔄 Inverted Control – your .NET process controls Godot, not the other way around
• 🧪 First-Class Testing – built-in xUnit fixtures for testing Godot code, run headless in CI/CD pipelines

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Features

• Godot as an embedded library (libgodot)
• Full GodotSharp API access
• Custom .NET-first project structure
• Three build configurations: Debug, Release, and Editor (with TOOLS_ENABLED)
• xUnit test fixtures (GodotFixture, GodotHeadlessFixture)
• dotnet new project templates
• Headless mode for servers and CI/CD

Prerelease packages are now available on NuGet! Linux and Windows supported. macOS is WIP.

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Quick Start

Prerequisites

• .NET SDK 8.0 or later
• Godot Mono (for importing project assets)

Using Templates (Recommended)

# Install the template
dotnet new install 2dog.Templates::0.1.9-pre

# Create a new project (optionally with xUnit tests)
dotnet new 2dog --tests True -n MyGame

# Navigate into the project
cd MyGame

# Import assets with Godot
godot-mono --path MyGame/project --import

# Run tests
dotnet test

# Run the game
dotnet run --project MyGame

# Edit in Godot
godot-mono -e --path MyGame/project

Adding to an Existing Project

dotnet add package 2dog --version 0.1.9-pre

Building from Source

If you prefer to build everything locally instead of using NuGet packages:

1. Clone and initialize submodules

git clone --recursive https://github.com/outfox/2dog
cd 2dog

2. Build Godot (requires Python with uv)

uv run poe build-godot

3. Build .NET packages

uv run poe build

You can also run uv run poe build-all to do steps 2 and 3 in one go.

4. Run the demo

dotnet run --project demo

Build Configurations

dotnet build -c Debug    # Development with debug symbols
dotnet build -c Release  # Optimized production build
dotnet build -c Editor   # Editor tools with TOOLS_ENABLED

Currently tested on Linux and Windows only. macOS support is WIP.

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Documentation

Full documentation at 2dog.dev

• Getting Started – installation and first project
• Core Concepts – architecture and design
• Build Configurations – Debug, Release, and Editor modes
• API Reference – Engine, GodotInstance, and more
• Testing with xUnit – test fixtures and CI/CD setup
• Project Templates – scaffolding new projects

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Join the Pack

Questions? Ideas? Want to teach 2dog new tricks?

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Acknowledgements

Inspired by and built upon Ben Rog-Wilhelm's libgodot_example. You're the GOAT. Or a DIESEL HORSE. Same difference!

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No squirrels were harmed in the making of this README.