PlaydateKit

Swift bindings to the Playdate C API.

Namespaces per subsystem, wrapper types that own their C objects, closures instead of function-pointer/userdata pairs, OptionSets and enums instead of raw constants, and typed throws. All ten C subsystems are covered:

Namespace	Wraps	Highlights
System	playdate->system	input, time, menu items, logging
Display	playdate->display	refresh rate, scale, mosaic, flip
Graphics	playdate->graphics	drawing, Bitmap, Font, TileMap, video
Sprite	playdate->sprite	display list, collisions, custom draw
Sound	playdate->sound	players, synths, sequences, effects
File	playdate->file	Handle, directory operations
JSON	playdate->json	Value tree decode/encode
Lua	playdate->lua	C functions, classes, stack access
Scoreboards	playdate->scoreboards	online leaderboards
Network	playdate->network	wifi, HTTPConnection, TCPConnection

Requirements

• Playdate SDK 3.1.1+ (not bundled).
• Swift 6.4 tools.
• Any macOS. InlineArray overloads are @available(macOS 26, *) in Simulator builds; unrestricted on device and Linux.

Device builds also need:

• A swift.org toolchain (6.4 release or a snapshot); Xcode's lacks the Embedded Swift stdlib. With Swiftly: swiftly install main-snapshot.
• The Arm GNU toolchain (arm-none-eabi-gcc) on your PATH.

One-time SDK setup

CPlaydate finds pd_api.h through a playdate pkg-config module. Create it once per machine:

make setup

It reads PLAYDATE_SDK_PATH (default ~/Developer/PlaydateSDK) and writes /usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/playdate.pc; pass another directory with Scripts/install-pkgconfig.sh <directory>. If Xcode had the package open, run File ▸ Packages ▸ Reset Package Caches.

Adding the dependency

// Package.swift of your game
dependencies: [
    .package(
        url: "https://github.com/rock-n-code/playdate-kit.git", 
        from: "0.1.0"
    ),
],
targets: [
    .target(
        name: "MyGame",
        dependencies: [
            .product(
                name: "PlaydateKit", 
                package: "playdate-kit"
            )
        ]
    ),
]

Getting started

A Playdate game has one C entry point, eventHandler. Export it with @c, call Playdate.initialize(with:) on the first event, and install an update callback:

import CPlaydate
import PlaydateKit

@c(eventHandler)
func eventHandler(
    pointer: UnsafeMutableRawPointer,
    event: PDSystemEvent,
    argument: UInt32
) -> Int32 {
    switch SystemEvent(event: event, argument: argument) {
    case .initialize:
        Playdate.initialize(with: pointer)   // must happen before anything else
        Game.shared.start()
    case .pause:
        Game.shared.pause()
    default:
        break
    }

    return 0
}

final class Game {
    nonisolated(unsafe) static let shared = Game()

    var player = Sprite()

    func start() {
        Display.refreshRate = 50

        System.setUpdateCallback {
            self.update()
            return true   // true = redraw the display this frame
        }
    }

    func pause() {
        System.log("paused")
    }

    func update() {
        let (_, pushed, _) = System.buttonState
        if pushed.contains(.a) {
            System.log("A pressed at \(System.currentTimeMilliseconds)ms")
        }

        Sprite.updateAndDrawAll()
        System.drawFPS()
    }
}

Calling any wrapper before Playdate.initialize(with:) crashes.

Tour of the API

System: input, time, menu

// Buttons: held now, pushed this frame, released this frame.
let (current, pushed, released) = System.buttonState
if current.contains([.b, .down]) { /* charge shot */ }

// Crank.
if !System.isCrankDocked {
    aim(degrees: System.crankAngle)
    spin(by: System.crankChange)
}

// Enable the accelerometer before reading it.
System.setPeripheralsEnabled(.accelerometer)
let (x, y, z) = System.accelerometer

// Menu items stay alive until removed.
System.addCheckmarkMenuItem(title: "music", isChecked: true) { item in
    Audio.musicEnabled = item.isChecked
}
System.addOptionsMenuItem(title: "mode", options: ["easy", "hard"]) { item in
    Game.shared.difficulty = item.value
}

// Logs go to the Simulator console or the device's serial port.
System.log("spawned \(count) enemies")
System.error("unrecoverable")   // stops the game

Graphics: drawing, bitmaps, fonts

Loads (Bitmap(path:), Font(path:), …) throw PlaydateError with the OS's message:

let font = try Graphics.Font(path: "fonts/Asheville-Sans-14-Bold.pft")
Graphics.setFont(font)

Graphics.clear(color: .white)
Graphics.fillRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 400, height: 32, color: .black)
Graphics.drawText("Hëllo, Playdate", x: 8, y: 8)

// Colors are solid or 8×8 patterns. On macOS 26+, the device, and Linux,
// `rows:` also takes an array literal.
let checker = Graphics.Pattern(rows: (0xAA, 0x55, 0xAA, 0x55,
                                      0xAA, 0x55, 0xAA, 0x55))
Graphics.fillEllipse(x: 100, y: 100, width: 64, height: 64,
                     color: .pattern(checker))

// Draw into a bitmap by pushing it as the drawing context.
let logo = try Graphics.Bitmap(path: "images/logo")
logo.draw(x: 168, y: 88)

let canvas = Graphics.Bitmap(width: 64, height: 64)
Graphics.pushContext(canvas)
Graphics.drawLine(x1: 0, y1: 0, x2: 63, y2: 63, width: 2, color: .black)
Graphics.popContext()

Sprites and collisions

let ball = Sprite()
ball.setImage(try Graphics.Bitmap(path: "images/ball"))
ball.moveTo(x: 200, y: 120)
ball.collideRect = Rect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 16, height: 16)
ball.setCollisionResponseFunction { _, _ in .bounce }
ball.add()   // the display list keeps the sprite alive until it is removed

// In the update callback:
let (actual, collisions) = ball.moveWithCollisions(goalX: goalX, goalY: goalY)
for collision in collisions where collision.other.tag == Tags.brick {
    collision.other.remove()
}

// Collision and query APIs also have a visitor form that allocates no array:
ball.moveWithCollisions(goalX: goalX, goalY: goalY) { collision in
    if collision.other.tag == Tags.brick { collision.other.remove() }
}

The binding owns the C userdata slot; store your own per-sprite data in Sprite.userdata.

Sound

// Stream from disk.
let music = try Sound.FilePlayer(path: "audio/theme")
music.play(repeat: 0)   // 0 = loop forever

// Play from memory.
let blip = try Sound.SamplePlayer(path: "audio/blip")
blip.play()

// Synthesis.
let synth = Sound.Synth(waveform: .square)
synth.setAttackTime(0.01)
synth.setReleaseTime(0.2)
synth.playMIDINote(Sound.noteC4, velocity: 0.8, length: 0.5)

// Channels mix sources and effects.
let channel = Sound.Channel()
channel.add()
channel.addSource(synth)
let filter = Sound.TwoPoleFilter(kind: .lowPass)
filter.setFrequency(800)
channel.addEffect(filter)

// Modulator properties accept any SignalValue (LFO, Envelope, …).
let wobble = Sound.LFO(shape: .sine)
wobble.setRate(2)
synth.frequencyModulator = wobble

Files and JSON

// The open mode decides whether paths resolve in the Data directory or the pdx.
let save = try File.Handle(path: "save.json", mode: .write)
try save.write(JSON.encode(.table([
    "level": .int(3),
    "name": .string("Röck"),
])))
try save.close()

let loaded = try JSON.decodeFile(path: "save.json")
if case .table(let entries) = loaded, case .int(let level)? = entries["level"] {
    Game.shared.level = level
}

try File.listFiles(at: "replays") { name in
    System.log("found \(name)")
}

Network

Each server needs the user's permission:

let reply = Network.HTTPConnection.requestAccess(
    server: "example.com", purpose: "Fetching daily puzzles") { allowed in
    guard allowed else { return }
    Puzzles.fetch()
}

func fetch() {
    guard let connection = Network.HTTPConnection(server: "example.com") else { return }
    connection.setRequestCompleteCallback { connection in
        let body = try? connection.read(length: connection.bytesAvailable)
        // Keep `connection` referenced until this callback fires.
    }
    try? connection.get(path: "/daily.json")
}

Lua interop

Lua callbacks are C function pointers with no context, so they cannot capture:

let double: Lua.CFunction = { _ in
    Lua.push(Lua.intArgument(at: 1) * 2)
    return 1   // number of return values pushed
}
try Lua.addFunction(double, name: "mylib.double")

Conventions

• Namespaces. Subsystems are top-level; only the bootstrap lives in Playdate. Qualify on a clash: PlaydateKit.System.
• Properties vs. methods. Readable state is a property; set… methods are write-only or take extra arguments. Callbacks: set…Callback / set…Function.
• Paths. path: for files, at: for directories; File.stat/mkdir/unlink are unlabeled like C.
• Errors. Typed throws: PlaydateError, or Network.NetError for network I/O.
• Buffers. Span/MutableSpan, valid only during the call. Mono audio gets an empty right.
• Ownership. Wrappers free what they create on deinit and retain what their C object references. Objects vended by the OS (a table's Bitmap, a Sequence track) need their owner alive. File.Handle is non-copyable and closes at end of scope or on close().
• Callbacks. C callbacks without a userdata slot (serial, headphones, scoreboards, getServerTime) keep one closure at a time.
• Threading. Single-threaded except audio callbacks; don't call the API from other threads.

Building for the simulator and device

Game logic builds and tests on the host with swift build / swift test. For a .pdx:

• Simulator: a host dylib inside the pdx; see Examples/HelloPlaydate/build.sh.
• Device: Embedded Swift for armv7em-none-none-eabi (-fshort-enums), linked by the SDK's make rules.

Examples/swift.mk runs the device pipeline; a game adds a short Makefile like Examples/HelloPlaydate/Makefile, and make builds a .pdx with both binaries. Swift compiles -Osize (~15% smaller than -O); override with make SWIFT_OPT=-O. Adapted from Apple's swift-playdate-examples.

The library stays within Embedded Swift (no Foundation, reflection, or untyped throws). make embedded checks this by compiling the module for the device; it uses ~/Library/Developer/Toolchains/swift-latest.xctoolchain unless SWIFT_BIN=<path to swift> is set.

Make targets

embedded and example* need the device toolchains; the rest need only Xcode and make setup.

Target	Effect
make setup	Point the playdate pkg-config module at the SDK (once per machine)
make build / make test	Build the bindings for the host / run the unit tests
make outdated / make upgrade	Show / apply updates to the SwiftPM dependencies
make embedded	Compile-only device check (Embedded Swift, armv7em-none-none-eabi)
make consumer-test	Build and run a scratch package depending on playdate-kit
make check	build, test, embedded, and consumer-test
make docs / make docs-preview	Generate / preview the DocC documentation
make example / make example-run	Build the HelloPlaydate example / open it in the Playdate Simulator
make clean	Remove build products of the package and the example

Example

Examples/HelloPlaydate: a bouncing box, crank needle, buttons, and a menu item.

cd Examples/HelloPlaydate

# Simulator only (SwiftPM, no extra toolchains):
./build.sh
open -a "$HOME/Developer/PlaydateSDK/bin/Playdate Simulator.app" HelloPlaydate.pdx

# Device and Simulator (swift.org toolchain and arm-none-eabi-gcc required):
make

Install on a device with Device ▸ Upload Game to Device in the Simulator, or pdutil.

Documentation

DocC: make docs, make docs-preview, or Xcode's Product ▸ Build Documentation.

Layout

Examples/
  swift.mk               Device build rules
  HelloPlaydate/         Example game
Scripts/
  install-pkgconfig.sh   Writes the playdate pkg-config module
  build-embedded.sh      Device compile check
  consumer-test.sh       Builds a package that depends on playdate-kit
Sources/
  CPlaydate/             pd_api.h module and log/error shims
  PlaydateKit/           Bindings: a folder per subsystem, a type per file, plus the DocC catalog
Tests/
  PlaydateKit/           Tests against a mock PlaydateAPI

License

MIT (LICENSE). The Playdate SDK is licensed separately by Panic, Inc.