Getting started

PawnKit tools work with existing Pawn projects. You do not need to move files or adopt every tool at once.

Install the CLI

Download pawn from the pawnkit-cli releases, then put it on your PATH.

Check the project from its root directory:

pawn doctor
pawn check

pawn doctor reports missing tools and configuration problems. pawn check runs the configured formatter, linter, tests, and compiler checks.

Describe the project

Create pawn.json in the project root. Start with the target and entry point:

{
  "$schema": "https://schemas.pawnkit.dev/pawn-project/v1/schema.json",
  "preset": "openmp",
  "entry": "gamemodes/main.pwn",
  "output": "gamemodes/main.amx"
}

Add include directories and tool settings only when the project needs them. The project manifest RFC lists every field.

Add tools gradually

Formatting is a low-risk first step:

pawn fmt --check
pawn fmt

Then add linting and tests. Keep the commands in CI once the existing codebase passes them consistently.

Build and run

Build with the compiler selected by the project:

pawn build

For an open.mp project, pawn run builds the script and starts it with the reviewed server runtime:

pawn run

PawnKit downloads and verifies the compiler and runtime when they are not already available. Projects that need native plugins or filterscripts still require a configured build backend.