Python Bindings for Raylib 5.5

Libraries: raymath, raygui, rlgl, physac and GLFW

Backends: Desktop, SDL, DRM, Web

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi, Web

Chatroom: Discord

HELP WANTED: writing examples

Features:

• CFFI API static bindings.
• Automatically generated to be as close as possible to original Raylib.
• Faster, fewer bugs and easier to maintain than ctypes.
• Commercial-friendly license.
• Docstrings and auto-completion.
• Type checking with Mypy

Full documentation

Quickstart

pip3 install raylib==5.5.0.0

from pyray import *
init_window(800, 450, "Hello")
while not window_should_close():
    begin_drawing()
    clear_background(WHITE)
    draw_text("Hello world", 190, 200, 20, VIOLET)
    end_drawing()
close_window()

Installation

First make sure you have the latest pip installed:

python3 -m pip install --upgrade pip

Then install

python3 -m pip install setuptools
python3 -m pip install raylib==5.5.0.0

On most platforms it should install a binary wheel. If yours isn't available then pip will attempt to build from source, in which case you will need to have Raylib development libs installed, e.g. using homebrew, apt, etc.

Windows

Binaries require x64 Windows 10 or newer. (For x86 or older Windows you will have to build from source.)

Use an official Windows Python release rather than WSL, MSYS, etc.

MacOS

Binaries require:

• arm64 MacOS 14
• x64 MacOS 10.13, or newer.

Older MacOS requires building from source but this is usually simple:

brew install pkg-config
brew install raylib
python3 -m pip install raylib==5.5.0.0

(I do have binaries for arm64 MacOS 11, 12 and 13 but I have no way of testing they work, so post an issue if you want to test them.)

Linux

Binaries require OS newer than Ubuntu 2020, x64 or arm64. Otherwise build from source. (Pip should attempt automatically but will need Raylib itself installed and also pkg-config.)

The arm64 binaries are built on Raspberry Pi arm64 Bullseye with OpenGL 2.0 so may not work on other boards.

Raspberry Pi

Using on Rasperry Pi

Backends

Dynamic binding version

There is now a separate dynamic version of this binding:

python3 -m pip uninstall raylib
python3 -m pip install raylib_dynamic

It works on some systems where the static version doesn't, but be sure to read these caveats before using it

You can't have multiple raylib packages installed at once.

SDL backend

This is not well tested but has better support for controllers:

python3 -m pip uninstall raylib
python3 -m pip install raylib_sdl

You can't have multiple raylib packages installed at once.

DRM backend

This uses the Linux framebuffer for devices that don't run X11/Wayland:

python3 -m pip uninstall raylib
python3 -m pip install raylib_drm

You can't have multiple raylib packages installed at once.

Problems?

If it doesn't work, try to build manually.. If that works then submit an issue to let us know what you did.

If you need help you can try asking on our discord. There is also a large Raylib discord for issues that are not Python-specific.

If it still doesn't work, submit an issue.

How to use

There are two modules in the raylib package, raylib and pyray. (There is no separate package for pyray. Do not pip install pyray). You can use either or both:

If you are familiar with C coding and the Raylib C library and you want to use an exact copy of the C API

Use the raylib module.

If you prefer a more Pythonistic API

Use the pyray module.

Running in a web browser

Pygbag >=0.8.7 supports running in a web browser. Usually the latest git version is recommended.

Make a folder my_project with a file main.py:

# /// script
# dependencies = [
#     "cffi",
#     "raylib"
# ]
# ///
import asyncio
import platform
from pyray import *

async def main():   # You MUST have an async main function
    init_window(500, 500, "Hello")
    platform.window.window_resize()  # You MAY want to add this line
    while not window_should_close():
        begin_drawing()
        clear_background(WHITE)
        draw_text("Hello world", 190, 200, 20, VIOLET)
        end_drawing()
        await asyncio.sleep(0) # You MUST call this in your main loop
    close_window()

asyncio.run(main())

Then to create the web files and launch a web server:

python3.12 -m pip install --user --upgrade pygbag
python3.12 -m pygbag --PYBUILD 3.12 --ume_block 0 --template noctx.tmpl --git my_project

Point your browser to http://localhost:8000

Some features may not work, so you can disable them like this:

if platform.system() != "Emscripten":  # audio does not work on current version of emscripten
    init_audio_device()

This is all done by Pygbag rather than by me, so you should probably contact them with any issues. Carefully read all their documentation.

It does work for most of these examples

App showcase

Tempest-raylib

KarabinerKeyboard

PyTaiko

DOOM-Clone

Tanki

Alloy Bloxel Editor

Eidolon

Add your app here!

RLZero

A related library (that is a work in progress!):

A simplified API for Raylib for use in education and to enable beginners to create 3d games

Help wanted

• Converting more examples from C to Python
• Testing on more platforms

License

Eclipse Public License, so you are free to statically link and use in non-free / proprietary / commercial projects!

Performance

If you need more performance, do in this order:

1. Use Pypy rather than standard CPython. It is much, much faster and will make more difference than any other optimisations you might do.

2. Every call to C is costly, so it's slightly faster if you use Python data structures and functions when calculating in your update loop and then only convert them to C data structures when you have to call the C functions for drawing.

3. The raylib.* functions are potentially slightly faster than the pyray.* equivalents, so if you need a tiny bit more performance you can switch your inner loop functions to these.

4. There is a version of Python that is faster than Pypy: GraalPy. However it's not fully compatible with all Python packages. It doesn't work with CFFI and so doesn't work with this binding. But it is compatible with the Java binding, Jaylib! There is an example of this here: https://github.com/electronstudio/megabunny/tree/master/raylib-python-jaylib

Bunnymark

Library	Implementation	Bunnies (60 FPS)	Percentage
Raylib 5.0	C	180000	100%
Raylib Python CFFI 5.0.0.2	Python 3.12	10500	5.8%
Raylib Python CFFI 5.0.0.2	Pypy 3.10	95000	53%
Raylib 3.7	C	168100	100%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7	Pypy 3.7	33800	20%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7	Python 3.9	7700	4.5%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7	Python 3.9 Nuitka	8600	5.1%
Raylib Python CFFI 3.7 Dynamic	Python 3.9	6300	3.7%

See also https://github.com/electronstudio/megabunny/

Packaging your app

You can create a standalone binary using the Nuitka compiler. For example, here is how to package Bunnymark:

pip3 install nuitka
cd examples/textures
python3 -m nuitka --onefile --linux-onefile-icon resources/wabbit_alpha.png textures_bunnymark.py

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