Install

Download a binary release (recommended)

No build step needed — download the SDK, add it to your PATH, and start making games.

Requirement: Zig 0.16.0 must be on your PATH. Nothing else — no C compiler, no system SDK, no extra dependencies.

→ [Download the latest release]({{< param releases >}})

Linux / macOS

tar xf turian-sdk-linux-x86_64-v0.1.0.tar.gz
export PATH="$PWD/turian-sdk-linux-x86_64-v0.1.0:$PATH"

Windows (PowerShell)

Expand-Archive turian-sdk-windows-x86_64-v0.1.0.zip
$env:Path += ";$PWD\turian-sdk-windows-x86_64-v0.1.0"

After adding the SDK to your PATH, create and build your first project:

turian-cli new-project my-game "My Game"
turian-cli build       my-game
my-game/.cache/zig-out/bin/game   # run it

The SDK is portable and fully relocatable — nothing is written to your system. Multiple SDK versions can coexist side by side. See the SDK guide.

Platform support

macOS SDK is CLI-only; Turian Studio and SDL3 are not yet included.

Build from source

For contributors and developers who want to work on the engine itself.

Requirements

Clone and build

git lfs install            # once per machine
git clone {{< param repo >}}.git
cd turian

zig build          # compile studio + CLI (Debug)
zig build run      # compile and launch Turian Studio
zig build test     # run all unit tests
zig build ci       # tests + ReleaseFast (matches CI)

Output binaries land in zig-out/bin/:

• turian-studio — the GUI editor
• turian-cli — the headless CLI

CLI usage (from source)

./zig-out/bin/turian-cli new-project ../my-game "My Game"
./zig-out/bin/turian-cli info        ../my-game
./zig-out/bin/turian-cli build       ../my-game

Adding a built-in component

1. Create engine/components/MyComponent.zig:

   pub const MyComponent = struct {
       value: f32 = 1.0,
   };
   

2. Register it in engine/components/root.zig.
3. Add a tag to the Component union in engine/scene/Component.zig.
4. Update BuiltinEntry.zig and scanner.zig (populateBuiltins).

Running tests

zig build test

Tests live inline in source files using Zig's built-in test blocks.

Environment variable overrides

Override the paths the CLI resolves automatically (useful for CI or multi-version setups):

See the SDK guide for the full list.

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