Bob is a command line tool for building Defold projects outside of the normal editor workflow.
Bob is able to build data (corresponding to the build step of selecting the editor menu item Project ▸ Build), create data archives and create standalone, distributable application bundles (corresponding to the editor menu item Project ▸ Bundle ▸ ... options)
Bob is distributed as a Java JAR archive containing everything needed to build. You find the latest bob.jar distribution on the GitHub Releases page. Select a release, then download bob/bob.jar. If you are using Defold 1.9.6, you will need OpenJDK 21 to run it. For older versions of Defold, you will need openJDK 17 or 11.
Compatible OpenJDK 21 mirrors (from Defold 1.9.6):
If you are on Windows you want the .msi file installer for OpenJDK.
Bob is run from a shell or from the command line by invoking java
(or java.exe
on Windows) and providing the bob java archive as argument:
$ java -jar bob.jar --help
usage: bob [options] [commands]
-a,--archive Build archive
-ar,--architectures <arg> Comma separated list of
architectures to include for the
platform
--archive-resource-padding <arg> The alignment of the resources in
the game archive. Default is 4
-bf,--bundle-format <arg> Which formats to create the
application bundle in. Comma
separated list. (Android: 'apk'
and 'aab')
--binary-output <arg> Location where built engine
binary will be placed. Default is
"<build-output>/<platform>/"
-bo,--bundle-output <arg> Bundle output directory
-br,--build-report <arg> DEPRECATED! Use
--build-report-json instead
-brhtml,--build-report-html <arg> Filepath where to save a build
report as HTML
-brjson,--build-report-json <arg> Filepath where to save a build
report as JSON
--build-artifacts <arg> If left out, will default to
build the engine. Choices:
'engine', 'plugins', 'library'.
Comma separated list.
--build-server <arg> The build server (when using
native extensions)
--build-server-header <arg> Additional build server header to
set
-ce,--certificate <arg> DEPRECATED! Use --keystore
instead
-d,--debug DEPRECATED! Use --variant=debug
instead
--debug-ne-upload Outputs the files sent to build
server as upload.zip
--debug-output-spirv <arg> Force build SPIR-V shaders
--debug-output-wgsl <arg> Force build WGSL shaders
--defoldsdk <arg> What version of the defold sdk
(sha1) to use
-e,--email <arg> User email
-ea,--exclude-archive Exclude resource archives from
application bundle. Use this to
create an empty Defold
application for use as a build
target
--exclude-build-folder <arg> DEPRECATED! Use '.defignore' file
instead
-h,--help This help message
-i,--input <arg> DEPRECATED! Use --root instead
--identity <arg> Sign identity (iOS)
-kp,--key-pass <arg> Password of the deployment key if
different from the keystore
password (Android)
-ks,--keystore <arg> Deployment keystore used to sign
APKs (Android)
-ksa,--keystore-alias <arg> The alias of the signing key+cert
you want to use (Android)
-ksp,--keystore-pass <arg> Password of the deployment
keystore (Android)
-l,--liveupdate <arg> Yes if liveupdate content should
be published
--manifest-private-key <arg> Private key to use when signing
manifest and archive.
--manifest-public-key <arg> Public key to use when signing
manifest and archive.
--max-cpu-threads <arg> Max count of threads that bob.jar
can use
-mp,--mobileprovisioning <arg> mobileprovisioning profile (iOS)
--ne-build-dir <arg> Specify a folder with includes or
source, to build a specific
library. More than one occurrence
is allowed.
--ne-output-name <arg> Specify a library target name
-o,--output <arg> Output directory. Default is
"build/default"
-p,--platform <arg> Platform (when building and
bundling)
-pk,--private-key <arg> DEPRECATED! Use --keystore
instead
-r,--root <arg> Build root directory. Default is
current directory
--resource-cache-local <arg> Path to local resource cache.
--resource-cache-remote <arg> URL to remote resource cache.
--resource-cache-remote-pass <arg> Password/token to authenticate
access to the remote resource
cache.
--resource-cache-remote-user <arg> Username to authenticate access
to the remote resource cache.
--settings <arg> Path to a game project settings
file. More than one occurrence is
allowed. The settings files are
applied left to right.
--strip-executable Strip the dmengine of debug
symbols (when bundling iOS or
Android)
-tc,--texture-compression <arg> Use texture compression as
specified in texture profiles
-tp,--texture-profiles <arg> DEPRECATED! Use
--texture-compression instead
-u,--auth <arg> User auth token
--use-async-build-server DEPRECATED! Asynchronous build is
now the default.
--use-lua-bytecode-delta Use byte code delta compression
when building for multiple
architectures
--use-uncompressed-lua-source Use uncompressed and unencrypted
Lua source code instead of byte
code
--use-vanilla-lua DEPRECATED! Use
--use-uncompressed-lua-source
instead.
-v,--verbose Verbose output
--variant <arg> Specify debug, release or
headless version of dmengine
(when bundling)
--version Prints the version number to the
output
--with-symbols Generate the symbol file (if
applicable)
Available commands:
clean
distclean
build
--archive
option to build a data archive file (“game.darc” in the build directory).bundle
build
with the --archive
option) and that a target platform is specified (with the --platform
option). Bob creates the bundle in the output directory unless a different directory is specified with the --bundle-output
option. The bundle is named according to the project name setting in game.project. The --variant
specifies which type of executable to build when bundling and it together with the --strip-executable
option replaces the --debug
option. If no --variant
is specified you will get a release version of the engine (stripped of symbols on Android and iOS). Setting --variant
to debug and omitting --strip-executable
yields the same type of executable as --debug
used to do.resolve
Available platforms and architectures:
x86_64-darwin
(Defold 1.3.5 and older)x86_64-macos
(Defold 1.3.6 and newer)arm64-macos
(Defold 1.5.0 and older)x86_64-win32
x86-win32
x86_64-linux
x86_64-ios
armv7-darwin
(Defold 1.3.5 and older)armv7-ios
(Defold 1.3.6 and newer)armv7-darwin
and 64-bit arm64-darwin
architectures. By default, --architectures
argument value is armv7-darwin,arm64-darwin
.armv7-android
armv7-android
and 64 bit arm64-android
architectures. By default, --architectures
argument value is armv7-android,arm64-android
.js-web
js-web
and wasm-web
architectures. By default, --architectures
argument value is js-web,wasm-web
.By default, Bob looks in the current directory for a project to build. If you change the current dir to a Defold project and invoke bob, it builds the data for the project in the default output directory build/default.
$ cd /Applications/Defold-beta/branches/14/4/main
$ java -jar bob.jar
100%
$
You can string commands together to perform a sequence of tasks in one go. The following example resolves libraries, wipes the build directory, builds archive data and bundles a macOS application (named My Game.app):
$ java -jar bob.jar --archive --platform x86-darwin resolve distclean build bundle
100%
$ ls -al build/default/
total 70784
drwxr-xr-x 13 sicher staff 442 1 Dec 10:15 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 sicher staff 102 1 Dec 10:15 ..
drwxr-xr-x 3 sicher staff 102 1 Dec 10:15 My Game.app
drwxr-xr-x 8 sicher staff 272 1 Dec 10:15 builtins
-rw-r--r-- 1 sicher staff 140459 1 Dec 10:15 digest_cache
drwxr-xr-x 4 sicher staff 136 1 Dec 10:15 fonts
-rw-r--r-- 1 sicher staff 35956340 1 Dec 10:15 game.darc
-rw-r--r-- 1 sicher staff 735 1 Dec 10:15 game.projectc
drwxr-xr-x 223 sicher staff 7582 1 Dec 10:15 graphics
drwxr-xr-x 3 sicher staff 102 1 Dec 10:15 input
drwxr-xr-x 20 sicher staff 680 1 Dec 10:15 logic
drwxr-xr-x 27 sicher staff 918 1 Dec 10:15 sound
-rw-r--r-- 1 sicher staff 131926 1 Dec 10:15 state
$
Did you spot an error or do you have a suggestion? Please let us know on GitHub!
GITHUB