Defold editor

Install the Defold editor from defold.com. The editor is the engine UI you use to open the project folder, inspect assets, and run the game.

In the CLI-driven loop you author code in TypeScript and build from the command line (defold build, see Build) — so the editor is opened mainly for visual assets: collections, atlases, tilemaps, GUI scenes, and previewing the running game. Compiling and running can happen entirely from the CLI without it.

Open the project

Start Defold to open the launcher. (If the editor is already open, choose File → Open Project to bring the launcher back up.)
On the launcher, click Open From Disk... and select the game.project file in your project folder.

For a project created with bunx @defold-typescript/cli@latest init my-game, that is the destination folder you named — the same folder where you run the CLI commands.

Build before running

Run the TypeScript build before launching the game:

bunx @defold-typescript/cli build
# or keep it running while you edit:
bunx @defold-typescript/cli watch

By default the scaffolded tsconfig.json has no outDir, so generated Lua lands next to its .ts source.

Lifecycle-factory files — those whose export default is one of these factories — become Defold script components, ready to be attached.

Source factory	Compiled artifact	Referenced by
`defineScript`	`<name>.ts.script`	a game object (`.go` / `.collection`) as a component
`defineGuiScript`	`<name>.ts.gui_script`	a GUI scene (`.gui`), as its Script property
`defineRenderScript`	`<name>.ts.render_script`	the render pipeline (a `.render` file, set via `game.project`)

A source exporting no lifecycle factory compiles to a Lua module (src/util.ts -> src/util.lua) — a generated artifact you import through the .ts and never edit or reference by hand. Keep generated output up to date with build or watch while you work.

Set a concrete outDir if you prefer the outputs collected under a separate tree.

Attach a script to a game object

A built script does nothing on its own. src/main.ts compiles to src/main.ts.script, but it runs only once it is added to a game object as a component — a new script that "does nothing" is almost always unattached, and its properties stay inert until it is a live component instance.

In the editor, select a game object (in a .go file or a collection), add the compiled .ts.script as a component, and Build. Defold writes the component: "/src/….ts.script" reference for you; you always point at the compiled .ts.script, never the .ts source. GUI and render scripts attach the same way — through a .gui scene's Script field and the render pipeline; see Script lifecycle for which factory produces which kind.

Driving this without the editor — editing .go / .collection text directly and verifying the attachment from the command line — is the agent path: Add a script.

Run the game

With the project open in Defold, press Build or Project > Build to run the game. If you change TypeScript code, rebuild with bunx @defold-typescript/cli build before running again, or keep watch running in a terminal.