Create a project

Choose an application shape

wax new my-wax-app

The command asks how the application will run:

• One shot calls Main once and exits.
• Standalone runs Initialize, Update, and Teardown in a 60 fps loop.
• Embedded exposes an API to a native or WebAssembly host.

One shot is the default. Embedded projects also ask where they will run and which host language bindings to generate.

Create a project without prompts

Pass the same choices as options and add --yes:

wax new my-command --runtime oneshot --yes
wax new my-loop --runtime standalone --yes
wax new my-library --runtime embedded --delivery native --bindings c,python --yes
wax new my-web-module --runtime embedded --delivery wasm --bindings js,typescript --yes

Native embedding supports C, C++, C#, Java, Python, Rust, and Swift. WebAssembly supports JavaScript and TypeScript. --output changes the artifact directory; it must remain inside the project.

Delivery chooses the host artifact format, not the compiler backend. Native delivery creates a host library and records backend: "auto", so Wax can choose the backend for each build tier. WebAssembly delivery creates a .wasm module and records backend: "wasm".

What gets created

my-wax-app/
  Src/App.wax
  .gitignore
  README.md
  wax.json

wax.json records the runtime, backend, bindings, and output directory. One shot and standalone projects therefore need no build flags:

cd my-wax-app
wax check
wax run
wax build

Embedded projects use wax check and wax build; their native library or WebAssembly module runs inside a host rather than through wax run.

Artifacts are written to Generated/ by default. One shot and standalone projects produce a lowercase executable name, with punctuation replaced by underscores. Run this project on macOS or Linux with:

./Generated/my_wax_app

On Windows, run:

.\Generated\my_wax_app.exe

An embedded project with native delivery produces a host library. One with WebAssembly delivery produces a .wasm module. Either form also writes the requested host binding files to Generated/.

Compiler options remain available for a temporary override. For projects with several output shapes, define named build targets.

Start from an example

wax new warehouse --example warehouse
cd warehouse
wax run --record first-run.wxs

Named examples skip confirmation. The warehouse example is a standalone app whose state can be recorded and replayed with waxdbg.

The terminal draws the warehouse floor as the robot makes its delivery. Native Release runs need no separate C compiler or Node on macOS ARM64, Linux x64/ARM64, and Windows x64. See Your first investigation to explain the detour and compare a changed route.