GameCI CLI

Build automation for game engines — Unity, Unreal Engine, Godot, and more.

The CLI is a thin, plugin-based runtime. Engine support, provider integrations, and remote build orchestration are loaded as plugins. The orchestrator is the intended provider/backend layer for local, Docker, and remote execution flows.

Install

No Node.js or package manager required. Download a standalone binary:

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/game-ci/cli/main/install.sh | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/game-ci/cli/main/install.ps1 | iex

Options

Variable	Description	Default
GAME_CI_VERSION	Pin a specific version (e.g. v0.1.0)	latest
GAME_CI_INSTALL	Override install directory	~/.game-ci/bin

After install, add ~/.game-ci/bin to your PATH (the installer will prompt you).

From source (requires Bun)

git clone https://github.com/game-ci/cli.git
cd cli
bun install
bun run start -- --help

Usage

game-ci --help
game-ci build --engine unity --projectPath ./my-project
game-ci remote build --providerStrategy local-docker

Quick Start: Godot

Godot — Local

# Export a Godot project (requires Godot installed locally)
godot --headless --export-release "Linux/X11" ./build/game

# Or run tests
godot --headless --script res://tests/run_tests.gd

Godot — Local Docker

# Export using the community Godot CI image (no local install needed)
docker run --rm \
  -v "$(pwd):/project" \
  -w /project \
  barichello/godot-ci:4.3 \
  godot --headless --export-release "Linux/X11" /project/build/game

Godot via Orchestrator (Local Docker)

game-ci orchestrate \
  --engine godot \
  --provider-strategy local-docker \
  --target-platform linux \
  --custom-job '- name: godot-export
  image: barichello/godot-ci:4.3
  commands: |
    godot --headless --export-release "Linux/X11" /build/output/game'

Godot via Orchestrator (Local System)

game-ci orchestrate \
  --engine godot \
  --provider-strategy local-system \
  --target-platform linux \
  --custom-job '- name: godot-export
  image: local
  commands: |
    godot --headless --export-release "Linux/X11" ./build/game'

Quick Start: Unreal Engine

Unreal Engine — Local

Requires a local UE installation. RunUAT is in the engine's Engine/Build/BatchFiles/ directory:

# Linux / macOS
/path/to/UnrealEngine/Engine/Build/BatchFiles/RunUAT.sh \
  BuildCookRun \
  -project="$(pwd)/MyProject.uproject" \
  -targetplatform=Linux \
  -clientconfig=Shipping \
  -build -cook -stage -pak -archive \
  -archivedirectory="$(pwd)/output" \
  -noP4 -unattended

# Windows
"C:\Program Files\Epic Games\UE_5.4\Engine\Build\BatchFiles\RunUAT.bat" ^
  BuildCookRun ^
  -project="%cd%\MyProject.uproject" ^
  -targetplatform=Win64 ^
  -clientconfig=Shipping ^
  -build -cook -stage -pak -archive ^
  -archivedirectory="%cd%\output" ^
  -noP4 -unattended

Unreal Engine — Local Docker

UE Docker images are large (35–120 GB). Choose an image source based on your access:

Image	Size	Access
ghcr.io/epicgames/unreal-engine:dev-slim-5.4	~35 GB	Requires Epic Games GitHub org membership
Community UE5 images	~40 GB	Self-built from your UE license via ue5-docker or similar

# Using the official Epic slim image
docker run --rm \
  -v "$(pwd):/project" \
  -w /project \
  ghcr.io/epicgames/unreal-engine:dev-slim-5.4 \
  /home/ue4/UnrealEngine/Engine/Build/BatchFiles/RunUAT.sh \
    BuildCookRun \
    -project=/project/MyProject.uproject \
    -targetplatform=Linux \
    -clientconfig=Shipping \
    -build -cook -stage -pak -archive \
    -archivedirectory=/project/output \
    -noP4 -unattended

Unreal Engine via Orchestrator (Local Docker)

game-ci orchestrate \
  --engine unreal \
  --provider-strategy local-docker \
  --target-platform linux \
  --custom-job '- name: ue-build
  image: ghcr.io/epicgames/unreal-engine:dev-slim-5.4
  commands: |
    /home/ue4/UnrealEngine/Engine/Build/BatchFiles/RunUAT.sh \
      BuildCookRun \
      -project=/build/MyProject.uproject \
      -targetplatform=Linux \
      -clientconfig=Shipping \
      -build -cook -stage -pak -archive \
      -archivedirectory=/build/output \
      -noP4 -unattended'

Unreal Engine via Orchestrator (Local System)

Runs directly on the host using your local UE installation:

game-ci orchestrate \
  --engine unreal \
  --provider-strategy local-system \
  --target-platform linux \
  --custom-job '- name: ue-build
  image: local
  commands: |
    /path/to/UnrealEngine/Engine/Build/BatchFiles/RunUAT.sh \
      BuildCookRun \
      -project=$(pwd)/MyProject.uproject \
      -targetplatform=Linux \
      -clientconfig=Shipping \
      -build -cook -stage -pak -archive \
      -archivedirectory=$(pwd)/output \
      -noP4 -unattended'

Plugin System

The CLI discovers functionality through plugins. Built-in plugins ship with the CLI; external plugins can be loaded from npm, local paths, or GitHub.

Built-in

• Unity — engine detection, build commands, platform setup

External (loaded at runtime)

game-ci --plugin @game-ci/orchestrator-plugin remote build --providerStrategy aws

Plugins can register:

• Engine detectors — detect project engines (Unity, UE5, Godot)
• Commands — add CLI subcommands
• Options — add CLI flags
• Providers — remote build providers (AWS, K8s, local-docker)

See src/plugin/plugin-interface.ts for the plugin API.

CI Coverage Notes

The Unreal Engine CI coverage in this repo uses a lightweight AutomationTool-compatible stub for validation on GitHub runners.

That stub is only for CI and workflow-shape verification. It is not presented as a production Unreal runtime. Real Unreal builds are expected to run either:

• against a local UE installation
• against a real UE-capable container image
• through an orchestrator/provider backend that targets one of those environments

Development

Requires Bun >= 1.0.

bun install           # install dependencies
bun test              # run tests
bun run start         # run CLI
bun run build:binary  # compile standalone binary for current platform

Community

Feel free to join us on and engage with the community.

Contributing

To help improve the documentation, please find the docs repository.

To contribute to the CLI, kindly read the contribution guide.

Support us

GameCI is free for everyone forever.

You can support us at OpenCollective.

Licence

This repository is MIT licensed.

This includes all contributions from the community.