Console

Source: src/dusk/console/

Overview

The console is a lightweight in-engine debug overlay. It maintains a fixed-size ring buffer of text lines and can render them to the screen as an overlay. On Linux (where DUSK_CONSOLE_POSIX is defined), it also reads commands from stdin on a background thread, allowing interactive input during development without pausing the game loop.

Limits

Constant	Value
`CONSOLE_LINE_MAX`	512 chars per line
`CONSOLE_HISTORY_MAX`	16 lines in the ring buffer
`CONSOLE_EXEC_BUFFER_MAX`	32 pending execution slots

Global state

typedef struct {
  char_t line[CONSOLE_HISTORY_MAX][CONSOLE_LINE_MAX]; // ring buffer
  bool_t visible;

  #ifdef DUSK_CONSOLE_POSIX
    threadmutex_t printMutex;  // guards ring buffer on POSIX targets
  #endif
} console_t;

extern console_t CONSOLE;

API

void consoleInit(void);

// printf-style print into the ring buffer.
// Thread-safe on POSIX (uses printMutex).
void consolePrint(const char_t *message, ...);

// Process any queued script input lines. Must be called from the
// main thread once per frame.
void consoleUpdate(void);

// Draw the ring buffer as an overlay in UI space.
errorret_t consoleDraw(void);

void consoleDispose(void);

POSIX stdin mode (`DUSK_CONSOLE_POSIX`)

On Linux only (DUSK_CONSOLE_POSIX), the console launches a background thread that polls stdin using poll() at 75 ms intervals (CONSOLE_POSIX_POLL_RATE). Lines typed at the terminal are queued and dispatched on the main thread by consoleUpdate().

This allows typing commands or JS expressions into the running game without blocking the render loop. The ring buffer is protected by CONSOLE.printMutex so consolePrint is safe to call from either thread.

POSIX mode is not available on PSP, Vita, or Dolphin targets.

Notes

CONSOLE.visible controls whether consoleDraw renders anything. Toggle it from a debug keybind or always set it to true in development builds.
consolePrint wraps lines at CONSOLE_LINE_MAX -- long messages are truncated. Use multiple calls for long output.
The console is distinct from the error system (errorThrow / errorPrint). Use consolePrint for diagnostic output; use errorThrow for recoverable failures.
Log calls (logDebug, logError) go to the platform's debug output (stdout/stderr), not to the console ring buffer.

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