What is gdnative?

This library lets you write code in Rust for games built with the Godot game engine, specifically the older Godot 3 version. Godot is a free, open-source tool for making 2D and 3D games. Normally you write game logic in Godot's built-in scripting language called GDScript, but this library lets you write that logic in Rust instead, then load it into Godot as a compiled plugin. The appeal is that Rust offers stronger safety guarantees and can run faster for performance-heavy code. Important context: this library is no longer actively developed. When Godot 4 was released in early 2023, the team shifted focus to a new library called gdext, which works with Godot 4's updated plugin system. If you are starting a new project today, the README recommends using gdext instead. This gdnative library remains available and stable for projects still on Godot 3, but no major new features are planned. For anyone still using Godot 3, the library supports versions 3.2 through 3.5.1, with the latest Godot 3 release working out of the box and older versions requiring a manual configuration step. It works by compiling your Rust code into a shared library file that Godot loads at runtime, then you can attach your Rust logic to objects in the game scene just like you would with a regular GDScript file. The repository includes a user guide, API documentation, and examples to help with setup. There is also partial support for async programming patterns if you need Rust code to wait for events without blocking the game loop.