/godot-project-setup

name: godot-project-setup
description: Use when creating a new Godot 4.x project — scaffolds recommended directory structure, project settings, autoloads, and .gitignore

Godot Project Setup

This skill scaffolds a new Godot 4.3+ project with recommended directory structure, project settings, autoloads, and version control configuration.

> **Related skills:** **scene-organization** for structuring scene trees, **event-bus** for the EventBus autoload pattern, **save-load** for the SaveManager autoload pattern.

Recommended Directory Structure (Split Layout)

The split layout separates assets, scenes, and scripts into distinct top-level directories. This scales well for medium-to-large projects and makes it easy to find resources by type.

res://
├── assets/
│   ├── audio/
│   │   ├── music/
│   │   └── sfx/
│   ├── fonts/
│   ├── shaders/
│   ├── sprites/
│   │   ├── characters/
│   │   ├── environment/
│   │   └── ui/
│   └── textures/
├── scenes/
│   ├── autoloads/
│   ├── characters/
│   ├── environment/
│   ├── levels/
│   ├── screens/
│   └── ui/
├── scripts/
│   ├── autoloads/
│   ├── characters/
│   ├── components/
│   ├── resources/
│   └── ui/
├── resources/
│   ├── items/
│   ├── levels/
│   └── themes/
└── addons/

**Why split layout?**

• Assets managed by artists can be updated without touching script directories.
• Glob patterns in export presets are simpler (`assets/**` stays separate from `scripts/**`).
• Easier to configure `.gitattributes` binary rules per directory.
• Scales to teams where artists and programmers work in different areas.

Alternative: Co-Located Structure

For solo projects or small teams, keep scenes and scripts together by feature. Easier to move a feature wholesale; harder to apply binary `gitattributes` rules.

res://
├── assets/
│   ├── audio/
│   ├── fonts/
│   └── textures/
├── entities/
│   ├── player/
│   │   ├── player.tscn
│   │   ├── player.gd          # or Player.cs
│   │   └── player_state.gd
│   └── enemy/
│       ├── enemy.tscn
│       └── enemy.gd
├── levels/
│   ├── level_01/
│   │   ├── level_01.tscn
│   │   └── level_01.gd
│   └── main_menu/
│       ├── main_menu.tscn
│       └── main_menu.gd
├── systems/
│   ├── inventory/
│   └── dialogue/
├── autoloads/
├── resources/
└── addons/

.gitignore

# Godot editor data — never commit
.godot/

# Export artifacts
*.apk
*.aab
*.ipa
*.exe
*.x86_64
*.x86_32
*.arm32
*.arm64
*.pck
*.zip
export/

# C# / Mono build output
.mono/
.import/
bin/
obj/
*.csproj.user
*.sln.user
*.user

# IDE and OS files
.vs/
.vscode/settings.json
.idea/
*.swp
.DS_Store
Thumbs.db

# GodotPrompter (if used in-project)
.godot-prompter-cache/

.gitattributes

Normalize line endings for text files and mark binary assets so Git does not attempt text diffs on them.

# Default: normalize line endings to LF on commit
* text=auto eol=lf

# Godot-specific text files
*.gd text eol=lf
*.gdshader text eol=lf
*.gdshaderinc text eol=lf
*.tscn text eol=lf
*.tres text eol=lf
*.godot text eol=lf
*.cfg text eol=lf
*.import text eol=lf

# C# source
*.cs text eol=lf
*.csproj text eol=lf
*.sln text eol=lf

# Binary assets — no diff, no merge, no EOL conversion
*.png binary
*.jpg binary
*.jpeg binary
*.webp binary
*.svg binary
*.psd binary
*.aseprite binary
*.wav binary
*.ogg binary
*.mp3 binary
*.ttf binary
*.otf binary
*.woff binary
*.woff2 binary
*.glb binary
*.gltf binary
*.blend binary
*.fbx binary
*.mp4 binary
*.ogv binary

Project Settings

Configure these in `Project > Project Settings` or directly in `project.godot`.

Display

| Setting | Recommended value | Notes | |---|---|---| | `display/window/size/viewport_width` | 1920 | Base resolution — art reference size | | `display/window/size/viewport_height` | 1080 | | | `display/window/stretch/mode` | `canvas_items` | Scales 2D content; use `viewport` for pixel-perfect | | `display/window/stretch/aspect` | `keep` | Adds letterbox/pillarbox; `expand` fills screen | | `display/window/size/resizable` | `true` | Allow window resize on desktop |

For pixel-art projects use `stretch/mode = viewport` and `texture_filter = nearest` on the root CanvasItem or globally via `rendering/textures/canvas_textures/default_texture_filter`.

> **Godot 4.7+:** Projects **newly created** in Godot 4.7 already default `display/window/stretch/mode` to `canvas_items` and `display/window/stretch/aspect` to `expand` (previously `disabled` / `keep`), so only `aspect` needs changing if you want `keep`'s letterboxing. Projects created on older versions keep their existing values — set both explicitly when upgrading.

Input Map

Define actions in `Project > Project Settings > Input Map` rather than hard-coding key constants. This lets players rebind controls at runtime.

**GDScript — reading input actions:**

# Good: action-based (rebindable)
func _process(delta: float) -> void:
    var direction := Input.get_axis("move_left", "move_right")
    if Input.is_action_just_pressed("jump"):
        _jump()

# Avoid: hard-coded key checks
func _input(event: InputEvent) -> void:
    if event is InputEventKey and event.keycode == KEY_SPACE:
        _jump()

**C# — reading input actions:**

// Good: action-based (rebindable)
public override void _Process(double delta)
{
    float direction = Input.GetAxis("move_left", "move_right");
    if (Input.IsActionJustPressed("jump"))
        Jump();
}

// Avoid: hard-coded key checks
public override void _Input(InputEvent @event)
{
    if (@event is InputEventKey key && key.Keycode == Key.Space)
        Jump();
}

**Saving and restoring custom bindings at runtime (GDScript):**

func save_bindings() -> void:
    var config := ConfigFile.new()
    for action in InputMap.get_actions():
        if action.begins_with("ui_"):
            continue  # skip built-in UI actions
        var events := InputMap.action_get_events(action)
        config.set_value("bindings