clay/examples

Building the Examples

This guide describes how to build and run the examples in this project.

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1. Prerequisites

• CMake (3.25 or newer recommended)
• C Compiler with WASM support (GCC, Clang, or MSVC)
• Specific SDKs or Libraries for some examples:
  • Playdate SDK for Playdate examples
  • Raylib, Sokol, stb, termbox2: which are fetched automatically by CMake

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2. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/nicbarker/clay.git
cd clay

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3. Build All Examples (except Playdate)

To build all examples (except the Playdate example which is not built by default):

cmake -B cmake-build
cmake --build cmake-build

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4. Build Other Examples

If you want more control over which examples you want to build, you can use the following cmake options, which can be combined together:

You can selectively build a subset of the examples:

cmake Option	Explanation
No options	Builds all examples except the Playdate examples
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF	Does not build any examples unless told to through other options below
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_DEMOS=ON	Builds video demo and website
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_CPP_EXAMPLE=ON	Builds C++ example
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_RAYLIB_EXAMPLES=ON	Builds raylib examples
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_SDL2_EXAMPLES=ON	Builds SDL 2 examples
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_SDL3_EXAMPLES=ON	Builds SDL 3 examples
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_WIN32_GDI_EXAMPLES=ON	Builds Win32 GDI examples
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_SOKOL_EXAMPLES=ON	Builds Sokol examples
-DCLAY_INCLUDE_PLAYDATE_EXAMPLES=ON	Builds Playdate examples

For example, to building the Playdate examples only we can use:

cmake -DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF -DCLAY_INCLUDE_PLAYDATE_EXAMPLES=ON -B cmake-build
cmake --build cmake-build

Alternatively, here are some cmake invocations to build a specific set of examples:

Build intention	cmake Options
Raylib Examples Only	cmake -DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF -DCLAY_INCLUDE_RAYLIB_EXAMPLES=ON -B cmake-build
SDL2 Example Only	cmake -DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF -DCLAY_INCLUDE_SDL2_EXAMPLES=ON -B cmake-build
Sokol Examples Only	cmake -DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF -DCLAY_INCLUDE_SOKOL_EXAMPLES=ON-B cmake-build
Terminal Examples Only	cmake -DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF -DCLAY_INCLUDE_DEMOS=ON-B cmake-build

Important

The Playdate examples equires the Playdate SDK to be installed.

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5. Playdate Examples

The output .pdx file will be at:

cmake-build/examples/playdate-project-example/clay_playdate_example.pdx

You can open this file using the Playdate simulator.

Building for the Playdate Hardware

Replace /path/to/PlaydateSDK with your Playdate SDK path:

cmake -DTOOLCHAIN=armgcc \
      -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/PlaydateSDK/C_API/buildsupport/arm.cmake \
      -DCLAY_INCLUDE_ALL_EXAMPLES=OFF \
      -DCLAY_INCLUDE_PLAYDATE_EXAMPLES=ON \
      -B cmake-release-playdate
cmake --build cmake-release-playdate

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6. Web Example

To build the official website demo as a WebAssembly app, in order for you to be able to view it in the browser. An additional step is needed:

cd examples/clay-official-website
./build.sh

Warning

If you are on Mac OS X and see the following error:

error: unable to create target: 'No available targets are compatible with triple "wasm32"'

... then you may need to install llvm using homebrew and add it to your PATH, resulting in it being used instead of clang which comes bundled with Mac OS X (which does not support WASM). An alternative is using emscripten but this requires modifying the build.sh script.

Resulting files are found in the ./build/clay subfolder:

• build/clay/index.html
• build/clay/index.wasm

In order to view the page correctly, you will need to serve the build folder via a webserver, and then navigate to index.html in a web browser.

Using vscode, open the build directory in own's workspace then use the Live Preview extension.

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7. Running Examples

After building, the examples can be found in their respective subfolders within the output folder cmake-build/examples:

./cmake-build/examples/introducing-clay-video-demo/clay_examples_introducing_clay_video_demo

If the executable is missing, run the command make in the respective subfolder.

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Note

• Many examples automatically fetch dependencies using CMake's FetchContent – no manual installs needed for Raylib, Sokol, stb, or termbox2.
• For example-specific instructions, check the README files inside each examples/ folder.

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