Installation

Welcome! Let's get Renzora running on your computer. There are two ways to get it — pick whichever feels easiest, and you'll be in the editor in a few minutes.

Here's what you're installing — the Renzora editor, where you'll build your games:

The two ways to get Renzora:

• Download a prebuilt build — the easiest start. No tools to set up; just download, extract, and run.
• Install the renzora CLI — the way to scaffold and build your own projects. Every build runs inside the engine's Docker toolchain.

Renzora only builds inside its pinned Docker toolchain. There is no supported native cargo build — the container is what guarantees your bevy_dylib and engine build hash match everyone else's, which is exactly what keeps community plugins ABI-compatible across machines. The editor and game still run natively on your GPU; only the build happens in the container.

System requirements

	Minimum
Windows	Windows 10+, 64-bit
macOS	macOS 12 Monterey or newer
Linux	Ubuntu 22.04+ / Fedora 38+
GPU	A GPU with Vulkan, Metal, or DX12 (Renzora renders through wgpu)
RAM	4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended

Renzora is a Bevy 0.18 engine and uses WebGPU/wgpu for rendering. Very old GPUs without a Vulkan/Metal/DX12 backend are not supported.

Download a prebuilt build (easiest)

Want the quickest start? Grab a prebuilt engine for your platform from the download page — no Docker, no Cargo, no terminal required:

renzora.com/download

Each platform ships as a .zip archive built from the GitHub releases — download it, extract, and run the engine directly. The editor opens automatically because the renzora_editor bundle ships beside the binary inside the archive.

Windows

Download the Windows .zip, extract it anywhere, and double-click renzora.exe.

macOS

Download the macOS .zip and extract it, then move the Renzora app to your Applications folder.

On first launch macOS Gatekeeper may block an unsigned build. Right-click the app, choose Open, then confirm in the security dialog.

Linux

Download the Linux .zip and extract it:

unzip renzora-linux-*.zip
cd renzora
./renzora

Install the CLI (to build your own projects)

The renzora CLI scaffolds projects and runs every build inside the pinned ghcr.io/renzora/engine Docker toolchain, so your build environment matches everyone else's — and the plugin ABI. Install it with Cargo:

cargo install renzora

It needs Docker (the toolchain runs in a container) and git (for renzora new). Rust/Cargo is needed only to install the CLI itself — not to build the engine. Then scaffold and run a project:

renzora new my-game     # clone the engine into ./my-game
cd my-game
renzora init            # build/pull the toolchain image + container (first run is slow)
renzora run             # build the editor in the container and launch it

renzora run launches the editor (renzora run runtime runs the game shape). Other commands include renzora build [platforms], renzora test, renzora add <name>, renzora shell, and renzora destroy. Only the build runs in the container — the GPU editor and game run natively.

The CLI is the published renzora crate. The crate named renzora inside the engine repo is a different thing (the SDK library), so cargo install renzora installs the CLI — not that library.

Working from a checkout

Contributors and anyone who wants to hack on the engine itself can clone the repo directly and drive it with the same CLI — the build still happens in the container, so the plugin ABI stays consistent:

git clone https://github.com/renzora/engine.git
cd engine
renzora init            # build/pull the toolchain image + container (first run is slow)
renzora run             # build the editor in the container and launch it

The first build takes several minutes (Bevy is large); subsequent builds are incremental. renzora run runtime runs the shipped-game shape, renzora run (no args) the editor, and renzora test / renzora check reproduce CI — all inside the container.

Good to know: one binary, editor as a removable bundle

There is exactly one workspace binary: renzora (renzora.exe on Windows). The editor is not a compile-time feature — it ships as a removable bundle (renzora_editor.dll / librenzora_editor.so / .dylib) placed beside the exe:

• Bundle present → the binary launches as the editor.
• Delete that one file (or pass --no-editor) → the same binary is the shipped game.

You don't need the deeper details to get started — the cross-compile toolchain and every launch flag are covered in the build reference below and in the Advanced docs.

Cross-compiling for other platforms

Cross-platform builds run inside the same ghcr.io/renzora/engine toolchain image — the host only needs Docker. The CLI drives it:

renzora build windows linux

renzora build [platforms...] (no args = every platform the container can produce) accepts these platform tokens: windows, linux, macos, wasm (Web), android, and ios. Builds land in dist/<platform>/.

The web build is game-runtime only — there is no WebAssembly editor. tvOS is not a supported target.

What's next?

• Core concepts — how scenes, entities, and scripts fit together
• Your first project — build something in the editor