Context is a minimal-kernel game engine where every feature is a package, built AI-first without making humans second-class. Project files are the single source of truth, and GUI, CLI, and AI agents are equal clients over one RPC surface — the full authoring loop runs with no GPU and no GUI, and what you play in the editor is what ships.
- ✅ Everything is a package on a minimal kernel — physics, particles, animation, audio, input, UI
- ✅ File-authoritative — every edit is a file write; GUI, CLI, and AI agents are equal clients
- ✅ Windowed editor — dockable panels, command palette, themes, multi-window tear-out
- ✅ TypeScript gameplay on an embedded V8, with a C++/WASM native tier for hot paths
- ✅ WebGPU rendering — native and in the browser; 2D is first-class
- ✅ Deterministic simulation — same inputs, same state hash, on every machine
- ✅ One contract — CLI ≡ RPC ≡ MCP: AI agents get the same surface humans do
Requires CMake ≥ 3.25 and Python 3; on Windows also Visual Studio with the C++ workload (the editor's CEF prebuilt needs MSVC there, clang on Linux/macOS). One command builds it from any shell — on Windows it finds Visual Studio and imports its environment by itself:
python tools/build_editor.pyThe editor lands in src/build/editor/editor/shell/Release/ and spawns or attaches the project
daemon by itself.
Run (release mode):
src/build/editor/editor/shell/Release/context_editor --project samples/platformer-2dA bare launch (no --project) opens the welcome screen.
Run (dev mode):
src/build/editor/editor/shell/Release/context_editor --project samples/platformer-2d --devtools--devtools enables Chromium DevTools, --headless runs the shell without an OS window,
--help lists everything. python tools/build_editor.py --gpu builds with GPU presentation
(without it the editor presents through the CPU fallback).
The headless engine, CLI, and test suite build with any C++20 compiler — no GPU or GUI needed:
cmake -S src --preset dev
cd src
cmake --build --preset dev
ctest --preset devBuilds land in src/build/dev/; the context CLI at src/build/dev/cli/context.
| Directory | Contents |
|---|---|
src/kernel/ |
The microkernel — the ~6 stable interfaces everything else plugs into |
src/editor/ |
EditorKernel — the file-authoritative project daemon, plus the editor shell + web UI |
src/runtime/ |
RuntimeKernel — the runtime the editor embeds and shipped builds use |
src/render/ |
WebGPU renderer (native + Emscripten web) |
src/packages/ |
First-party feature packages (every feature is a package) |
src/cli/ |
The context CLI — one contract registry projected to CLI, RPC, and MCP |
samples/ |
Runnable sample projects, CI-gated (rots-if-broken) |
docs/ |
Engineering docs that live with the code |
Source-available under the Context Engine EULA (draft — see LICENSE.md): free under $200,000/year of gross revenue per product; above that, a 2% marginal royalty on the revenue above the threshold. Not open source — you may build games with it; you may not build engines from it.
External PRs cannot be merged until the CLA flow exists — see CONTRIBUTING.md. Issues, bug reports, and design discussion are welcome.
