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Getting Started

Kanama's normal desktop path is a packaged addon or desktop kit. Choose source only when you need unreleased Kanama changes or are working on Kanama itself.

Path Use it when Start here
Release kit You want to try Kanama or start a small new Godot project without cloning Kanama source. Use a Release Kit
Store addon You want to add Kanama to an existing Godot project without cloning Kanama source. Use a Store Addon
Source checkout You want to use the current main branch or validate a local Kanama change in your own project. Use a Source Checkout
Contributor checkout You want to work on Kanama runtime, wrappers, docs, native bootstrap, or release packaging. Work on Kanama

Android export is experimental and uses a separate Gradle/Android toolchain. See Android Experimental after the desktop workflow is running.

Requirements

Desktop Kanama projects use:

  • Godot 4.7 beta 4 from the Godot 4.7 beta 4 archive.
  • JDK 25+ for desktop runtime and Gradle builds.
  • macOS arm64, Windows x64, Linux x64, or Linux ARM64 for the current desktop package targets.

Source and contributor workflows also require CMake 3.22.1+ and the platform C toolchain because they build the native bootstrap locally. Release kits already contain the native bootstrap for their platform, and store addons contain the desktop native libraries included in the release artifact.

How Kanama Fits Into Godot

flowchart LR
    KT[".kt script<br/>in your Godot project"]
    BUILD["Build Scripts<br/>Gradle + KSP"]
    JAR["kanama-scripts.jar"]
    ADDON["addons/kanama<br/>GDExtension runtime"]
    NODE["Godot node<br/>script = Player.kt"]
    GAME["Game runs<br/>Kotlin callbacks"]

    KT --> BUILD --> JAR --> ADDON --> NODE --> GAME

Kanama .kt files are Godot script resources. Attach them to compatible nodes the same way you would attach a .gd script. Kotlin changes must be compiled with Build Scripts before Godot can run the updated behavior.