Simple STB-style cross-platform libraries for C and C++, written in C.

# Sokol [**See what's new**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/CHANGELOG.md) (**11-Jun-2026**: bugfix in sokol_app.h `sapp_get_clipboard_string()` on Linux) [![Build](/../../actions/workflows/main.yml/badge.svg)](/../../actions/workflows/main.yml) [![Bindings](/../../actions/workflows/gen_bindings.yml/badge.svg)](/../../actions/workflows/gen_bindings.yml) [![build](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-zig/actions/workflows/main.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-zig/actions/workflows/main.yml) [![build](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-nim/actions/workflows/main.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-nim/actions/workflows/main.yml) [![Odin](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-odin/actions/workflows/main.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-odin/actions/workflows/main.yml)[![Rust](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-rust/actions/workflows/main.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-rust/actions/workflows/main.yml)[![Dlang](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-d/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-d/actions/workflows/build.yml)[![C3](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-c3/actions/workflows/build.yml/badge.svg)](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-c3/actions/workflows/build.yml) ## Examples and Related Projects - [Live Samples](https://floooh.github.io/sokol-html5/index.html) via WASM ([source](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-samples)) - [Doom Shareware](https://floooh.github.io/doom-sokol/) ported to the Sokol headers ([source](https://github.com/floooh/doom-sokol)) - [Syntonic Dentiforms Redux](https://aras-p.github.io/SyntonicDentiforms/) demo remaster by Aras Pranckevičius ([blog post](https://aras-p.info/blog/2026/04/13/Syntonic-Dentiforms-redux/)). - [Everybody Wants to Crank the World](https://aras-p.github.io/demo-pd-cranktheworld/) demo by Aras Pranckevičius, PC/web port via sokol ([source](https://github.com/aras-p/demo-pd-cranktheworld)). - [sokol_gp.h](https://github.com/edubart/sokol_gp) a 2D shape drawing library on top of sokol_gfx.h - [NanoVG backend](https://github.com/vinnyhorgan/nanovg) a sokol_gfx backend for the amazing [NanoVG](https://github.com/memononen/nanovg) library. - [Dear ImGui starterkit](https://github.com/floooh/cimgui-sokol-starterkit) a self-contained starterkit for writing Dear ImGui apps in C. - [qoiview](https://github.com/floooh/qoiview) a basic viewer for the new QOI image file format - [Tiny 8-bit emulators](https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/) - A 'single-file' [Pacman clone in C99](https://github.com/floooh/pacman.c/), also available in [Zig](https://github.com/floooh/pacman.zig/) - [Soluna](https://github.com/cloudwu/soluna), a framework to make 2D games in Lua by @cloudwu - [Deep Future](https://github.com/cloudwu/deepfuture): ...and a game implemented with Soluna - [Solar Storm](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2754920/Solar_Storm/), a turn-based scifi artillery game built with Odin and Sokol, released on Steam. - [Spanking Runners (Samogonki)](https://store.steampowered.com/app/2599800/Spanking_Runners/), arcade racing in a bright and unusual world, released on Steam. - [MEG-4](https://bztsrc.gitlab.io/meg4) a virtual fantasy console emulator in C89, ported to sokol - A [Minigolf game](https://mgerdes.github.io/minigolf.html) ([source](https://github.com/mgerdes/minigolf)). - [hIghQube](https://github.com/RuiVarela/hIghQube) A game demo that used sokol rendering extensively - [Senos](https://github.com/RuiVarela/Senos) A music app that uses sokol as backend - ['Dealer's Dungeon'](https://dealers-dungeon.com/demo/) ([lower graphics quality](https://dealers-dungeon.com/demo/?q=3), [source](https://github.com/bqqbarbhg/spear)) - ['Brick Warrior'](https://github.com/chrishulbert/brickwarrior) - a 1990's Breakout clone ported to Sokol :) - [LearnOpenGL examples ported to sokol-gfx (may be outdated)](https://zeromake.github.io/learnopengl-examples/) ([git repo](https://github.com/zeromake/learnopengl-examples)) - [Command line tools](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-tools) (shader compiler) - [How to build without a build system](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-samples#how-to-build-without-a-build-system): useful details for integrating the Sokol headers into your own project with your favourite C/C++ build system ## Core libraries - [**sokol\_gfx.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_gfx.h): 3D-API wrapper (GL/GLES3/WebGL2 + Metal + D3D11 + WebGPU) - [**sokol\_app.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_app.h): app framework wrapper (entry + window + 3D-context + input) - [**sokol\_time.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_time.h): time measurement - [**sokol\_audio.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_audio.h): minimal buffer-streaming audio playback - [**sokol\_fetch.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_fetch.h): asynchronous data streaming from HTTP and local filesystem - [**sokol\_args.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_args.h): unified cmdline/URL arg parser for web and native apps - [**sokol\_log.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/sokol_log.h): provides a standard logging callback for the other sokol headers ## Utility libraries - [**sokol\_imgui.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_imgui.h): sokol_gfx.h rendering backend for [Dear ImGui](https://github.com/ocornut/imgui) - [**sokol\_nuklear.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_nuklear.h): sokol_gfx.h rendering backend for [Nuklear](https://github.com/Immediate-Mode-UI/Nuklear) - [**sokol\_gl.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_gl.h): OpenGL 1.x style immediate-mode rendering API on top of sokol_gfx.h - [**sokol\_fontstash.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_fontstash.h): sokol_gl.h rendering backend for [fontstash](https://github.com/memononen/fontstash) - [**sokol\_gfx\_imgui.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_gfx_imgui.h): debug-inspection UI for sokol_gfx.h (implemented with Dear ImGui) - [**sokol\_app\_imgui.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_app_imgui.h): debug-inspection UI for sokol_app.h (implemented with Dear ImGui) - [**sokol\_debugtext.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_debugtext.h): a simple text renderer using vintage home computer fonts - [**sokol\_memtrack.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_memtrack.h): easily track memory allocations in sokol headers - [**sokol\_shape.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_shape.h): generate simple shapes and plug them into sokol-gfx resource creation structs - [**sokol\_color.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_color.h): X11 style color constants and functions for creating sg_color objects - [**sokol\_spine.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_spine.h): a sokol-style wrapper around the Spine C runtime (http://en.esotericsoftware.com/spine-in-depth) - [**sokol\_letterbox.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_letterbox.h): compute viewport params for rendering fixed-aspect-ratio content in a variable-aspect-ratio canvas - [**sokol\_framebuffer.h**](https://github.com/floooh/sokol/blob/master/util/sokol_framebuffer.h): provides CPU-framebuffers rendered via sokol_gfx.h ## 'Official' Language Bindings These are automatically updated on changes to the C headers: - [sokol-zig](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-zig) - [sokol-odin](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-odin) - [sokol-nim](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-nim) - [sokol-rust](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-rust) - [sokol-d](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-d) - [sokol-jai](https://github.com/colinbellino/sokol-jai) - [sokol-c3](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-c3) ## Notes WebAssembly is a 'first-class citizen', one important motivation for the Sokol headers is to provide a collection of cross-platform APIs with a minimal footprint on the web platform while still being useful. The core headers are standalone and can be used independently from each other. ### Why C: - easier integration with other languages - easier integration into other projects - adds only minimal size overhead to executables A blog post with more background info: [A Tour of sokol_gfx.h](http://floooh.github.io/2017/07/29/sokol-gfx-tour.html) ## Quick build troubleshooting When a first Sokol integration fails to compile or link, the problem is usually one of the following configuration mismatches: - Define `SOKOL_IMPL` (or the per-header `SOKOL_*_IMPL` define) in exactly one C or C++ translation unit before including the Sokol headers. Other files should include the headers without the implementation define. - Select exactly one rendering backend in that same implementation translation unit, for example `SOKOL_GLCORE`, `SOKOL_GLES3`, `SOKOL_D3D11`, `SOKOL_METAL`, `SOKOL_WGPU` or `SOKOL_VULKAN`. The backend define must match the shader code and any window/context setup code you use. - If `sokol_gfx.h` and `sokol_app.h` are used together, use the same backend define for both headers. `sokol_app.h` creates the matching window and 3D API context; `sokol_glue.h` then forwards the platform-specific environment via `sglue_environment()` and `sglue_swapchain()`. - macOS and iOS builds which use `sokol_app.h` or Metal must compile the implementation file as Objective-C or Objective-C++ (`.m` or `.mm`, or the equivalent compiler flag), and link the frameworks listed in the header docs. - Emscripten WebGL2 builds require the linker option `-s USE_WEBGL2=1` when using `SOKOL_GLES3`. WebGPU builds use `SOKOL_WGPU` and need the WebGPU port/options described in the `sokol_gfx.h` header comments. - On Linux, OpenGL builds commonly need the GL/X11 development packages installed by the platform package manager. `SOKOL_GLCORE` uses GLX by default; define `SOKOL_FORCE_EGL` if your build intentionally uses EGL instead. - On Windows, MSVC and Clang builds usually pick up common system libraries via in-source `#pragma comment(lib, ...)` directives. MinGW/MSYS2 builds may need explicit linker flags such as `-ld3d11` for `SOKOL_D3D11`. - For shader-related errors, confirm that generated shader headers come from a `sokol-shdc` version compatible with the Sokol headers and were generated for the same backend(s) selected at compile time. For exact per-header compiler and linker requirements, see the comment block at the top of each Sokol header and the build notes in [`sokol-samples`](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-samples). # sokol_gfx.h: - simple, modern wrapper around GLES3/WebGL2, GL3.3, D3D11, Metal, and WebGPU - buffers, images, shaders, pipeline-state-objects and render-passes - does *not* handle window creation or 3D API context initialization - does *not* provide shader dialect cross-translation (**BUT** there's now an 'official' shader-cross-compiler solution which seamlessly integrates with sokol_gfx.h and IDEs: [see here for details](https://github.com/floooh/sokol-tools/blob/master/docs/sokol-shdc.md) # sokol_app.h A minimal cross-platform application-wrapper library: - unified application entry - single window or canvas for 3D rendering - 3D context initialization - event-based keyboard, mouse and touch input - supported platforms: Win32, MacOS, Linux (X11), iOS, WASM, Android, UWP - supported 3D-APIs: GL3.3 (GLX/WGL), Metal, D3D11, GLES3/WebGL2 The vanilla Hello-Triangle using sokol_gfx.h, sokol_app.h and the sokol-shdc shader compiler (shader code not shown): ```c #include "sokol_app.h" #include "sokol_gfx.h" #include "sokol_log.h" #include "sokol_glue.h" #include "triangle-sapp.glsl.h" static struct { sg_pipeline pip; sg_bindings bind; sg_pass_action pass_action; } state; static void init(void) { sg_setup(&(sg_desc){ .environment = sglue_environment(), .logger.func = slog_func, }); float vertices[] = { 0.0f, 0.5f, 0.5f, 1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.5f, -0.5f, 0.5f, 0.0f, 1.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f, -0.5f, -0.5f, 0.5f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f, 1.0f }; state.bind.vertex_buffers[0] = sg_make_buffer(&(sg_buffer_desc){ .data = SG_RANGE(vertices), }); state.pip = sg_make_pipeline(&(sg_pipeline_desc){ .shader = sg_make_shader(triangle_shader_desc(sg_query_backend())), .layout = { .attrs = { [ATTR_triangle_position].format = SG_VERTEXFORMAT_FLOAT3, [ATTR_triangle_color0].format = SG_VERTEXFORMAT_FLOAT4 } }, }); state.pass_action = (sg_pass_action) { .colors[0] = { .load_action=SG_LOADACTION_CLEAR, .clear_value={0.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f, 1.0f } } }; } void frame(void) { sg_begin_pass(&(sg_pass){ .action = state.pass_action, .swapchain = sglue_swapchain() }); sg_apply_pipeline(state.pip); sg_apply_bindings(&state.bind); sg_draw(0, 3, 1); sg_end_pass(); sg_commit(); } void cleanup(void) { sg_shutdown(); } sapp_desc sokol_main(int argc, char* argv[]) { (void)argc; (void)argv; return (sapp_desc){ .init_cb = init, .frame_cb = frame, .cleanup_cb = cleanup, .width = 640, .height = 480, .window_title = "Triangle", .icon.sokol_default = true, .logger.func = slog_func, }; } ``` # sokol_audio.h A minimal audio-streaming API: - you provide a mono- or stereo-stream of 32-bit float samples which sokol_audio.h forwards into platform-specific backends - two ways to provide the data: 1. directly fill backend audio buffer from your callback function running in the audio thread 2. alternatively push small packets of audio data from your main loop, or a separate thread created by you - platform backends: - Windows: WASAPI - macOS/iOS: CoreAudio - Linux: ALSA - emscripten: WebAudio + ScriptProcessorNode (doesn't use the emscripten-provided OpenAL or SDL Audio wrappers) A simple mono square-wave generator using the callback model: ```c // the sample callback, running in audio thread static void stream_cb(float* buffer, int num_frames, int num_channels) { assert(1 == num_channels); static uint32_t count = 0; for (int i = 0; i < num_frames; i++) { buffer[i] = (count++ & (1<<3)) ? 0.5f : -0.5f; } } int main() { // init sokol-audio with default params saudio_setup(&(saudio_desc){ .stream_cb = stream_cb, .logger.func = slog_func, }); // run main loop ... // shutdown sokol-audio saudio_shutdown(); return 0; ``` The same code using the push-model ```c #define BUF_SIZE (32) int main() { // init sokol-audio with default params, no callback saudio_setup(&(saudio_desc){ .logger.func = slog_func, }); assert(saudio_channels() == 1); // a small intermediate buffer so we don't need to push // individual samples, which would be quite inefficient float buf[BUF_SIZE]; int buf_pos = 0; uint32_t count = 0; // push samples from main loop bool done = false; while (!done) { // generate and push audio samples... int num_frames = saudio_expect(); for (int i = 0; i < num_frames; i++) { // simple square wave generator buf[buf_pos++] = (count++ & (1<<3)) ? 0.5f : -0.5f; if (buf_pos == BUF_SIZE) { buf_pos = 0; saudio_push(buf, BUF_SIZE); } } // handle other per-frame stuff... ... } // shutdown sokol-audio saudio_shutdown(); return 0; } ``` # sokol_fetch.h Load entire files, or stream data asynchronously over HTTP (emscripten/wasm) or the local filesystem (all native platforms). Simple C99 example loading a file into a static buffer: ```c #include "sokol_fetch.h" #include "sokol_log.h" static void response_callback(const sfetch_response*); #define MAX_FILE_SIZE (1024*1024) static uint8_t buffer[MAX_FILE_SIZE]; // application init static void init(void) { ... // setup sokol-fetch with default config: sfetch_setup(&(sfetch_desc_t){ .logger.func = slog_func }); // start loading a file into a statically allocated buffer: sfetch_send(&(sfetch_request_t){ .path = "hello_world.txt", .callback = response_callback .buffer_ptr = buffer, .buffer_size = sizeof(buffer) }); } // per frame... static void frame(void) { ... // need to call sfetch_dowork() once per frame to 'turn the gears': sfetch_dowork(); ... } // the response callback is where the interesting stuff happens: static void response_callback(const sfetch_response_t* response) { if (response->fetched) { // data has been loaded into the provided buffer, do something // with the data... const void* data = response->buffer_ptr; uint64_t data_size = response->fetched_size; } // the finished flag is set both on success and failure if (response->failed) { // oops, something went wrong switch (response->error_code) { SFETCH_ERROR_FILE_NOT_FOUND: ... SFETCH_ERROR_BUFFER_TOO_SMALL: ... ... } } } // application shutdown static void shutdown(void) { ... sfetch_shutdown(); ... } ``` # sokol_time.h: Simple cross-platform time measurement: ```c #include "sokol_time.h" ... /* initialize sokol_time */ stm_setup(); /* take start timestamp */ uint64_t start = stm_now(); ...some code to measure... /* compute elapsed time */ uint64_t elapsed = stm_since(start); /* convert to time units */ double seconds = stm_sec(elapsed); double milliseconds = stm_ms(elapsed); double microseconds = stm_us(elapsed); double nanoseconds = stm_ns(elapsed); /* difference between 2 time stamps */ uint64_t start = stm_now(); ... uint64_t end = stm_now(); uint64_t elapsed = stm_diff(end, start); /* compute a 'lap time' (e.g. for fps) */ uint64_t last_time = 0; while (!done) { ...render something... double frame_time_ms = stm_ms(stm_laptime(&last_time)); } ``` # sokol_args.h Unified argument parsing for web and native apps. Uses argc/argv on native platforms and the URL query string on the web. Example URL with one arg: https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/kc85.html?type=kc85_4 The same as command line app: > kc85 type=kc85_4 Parsed like this: ```c #include "sokol_args.h" int main(int argc, char* argv[]) { sargs_setup(&(sargs_desc){ .argc=argc, .argv=argv }); if (sargs_exists("type")) { if (sargs_equals("type", "kc85_4")) { // start as KC85/4 } else if (sargs_equals("type", "kc85_3")) { // start as KC85/3 } else { // start as KC85/2 } } sargs_shutdown(); return 0; } ``` See the sokol_args.h header for a more complete documentation, and the [Tiny Emulators](https://floooh.github.io/tiny8bit/) for more interesting usage examples.