Install Feather 2

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Feather 2 is in preview and is built from source. One Cargo workspace produces three programs: the editor, the standalone game player and a command-line tool for automation.

Requirements

Requirement	Notes
Rust 1.89 or newer	The crate declares `rust-version = "1.89"` and uses the 2024 edition
Platform build tools	On macOS, install the Xcode Command Line Tools (`xcode-select --install`)
Python 3	Only for the packaging and example build scripts

Run the editor from source

Clone the engine repository and open a terminal in its root folder.
Start the editor:
Terminal window
```
cargo run --bin feather-editor
```
The first build compiles every dependency and takes a while. Later builds are incremental.

The editor opens the included Shred & Sort starter. It is a template: Save asks you for a destination, so your own copy never overwrites the example. Use File → New project… to start from an empty scene instead.

To open a specific project:

cargo run --bin feather-editor -- --project examples/paper-shredder/project.feather.json

The three programs

Binary	What it is
`feather-editor`	The editor. The default target for `cargo run`
`feather-player`	The standalone game runtime, without editor features. Exported games ship with it
`feather-cli`	The JSON command runner and MCP server used by scripts and AI agents

Build all three at once with cargo build. The binaries are written to target/debug/.

Editor command-line options

Option	Effect
`PROJECT`	Open a `.feather` or `.feather.json` project given as a bare path. This is how Windows and Linux open a double-clicked project file
`--project FILE`	Open a saved project
`--new`	Start with a new, empty project
`--panel NAME`	Open a tool panel on launch, for example `code`, `blueprint`, `landscape`, `prefab`, `ai`, `navigation`, `material-graph` or `automation`
`--workspace DIR --automation FILE`	Enable a live automation session for AI tools; see MCP setup
`--check`	Validate the project, print a summary and exit without opening a window
`--export`	Build the game for this computer into an `exports/` folder and exit: in the engine repository from a source checkout, or in the Feather data folder from the app. See Build a game
`--screenshot PNG`	Capture the editor window once the scene has loaded, then exit

For example, to validate a project without opening a window:

cargo run --bin feather-editor -- --project examples/paper-shredder/project.feather.json --check

Build a macOS app

On macOS you can package the editor as a Finder application:

python3 scripts/package_macos.py
open "dist/Feather v2.app"

The script builds all three programs and assembles dist/Feather v2.app:

Location in the bundle	Contents
`Contents/MacOS/feather-editor`	The editor
`Contents/MacOS/feather-cli`	The automation CLI, ready for MCP client configuration
`Contents/Resources/feather-player`	The player used by Build for macOS games
`Contents/Resources/`	The Shred & Sort and Fluid Playground examples

The bundle is ad-hoc signed for local use. It is a development build for your Mac’s architecture, not a signed or notarised installer. A source-checkout editor builds the player with Cargo when you build a game; the app uses the player inside its bundle instead.

The app registers the .feather project type with Finder, so double-clicking a project opens it in the editor, whether or not the editor is already running.

Where Feather stores data

Feather keeps its working data outside your projects: the imported-asset cache, the converted model library, thumbnails, crash reports and recovery autosaves.

Platform	Location
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/Feather v2/`
Windows	`%LOCALAPPDATA%/Feather v2/`
Linux	`${XDG_DATA_HOME:-$HOME/.local/share}/feather-v2/`

If the editor closes unexpectedly, it offers to restore the recovery autosave the next time it starts.