Kaplay works with any JavaScript bundler — Vite, esbuild, Rollup, Parcel, and others. This page covers the generic setup. The example repo uses Vite.
Install dependencies
npm install kaplay
npm install @wvdsh/sdk-js
@wvdsh/sdk-js's default export is the live, fully-typed Wavedash SDK singleton.
Wire up Wavedash.init()
In the file where you call kaplay(...), import Wavedash and call init() once your game is ready.
Calling Wavedash.init() is required. Your game stays hidden behind the Wavedash loading screen until you do. Call it once your game is ready to play.
import Wavedash from "@wvdsh/sdk-js";
import kaplay from "kaplay";
Wavedash.updateLoadProgressZeroToOne(0.3);
const canvas = document.getElementById("wavedash-target");
const k = kaplay({ canvas, width: 1600, height: 900, letterbox: true });
// ...load sprites, define scenes...
Wavedash.updateLoadProgressZeroToOne(1);
Wavedash.init({ debug: false });
Call updateLoadProgressZeroToOne(...) during async asset loading; init() automatically signals load completion, so call it last.
wavedash.toml
Point upload_dir at your bundler's output directory. For Vite and most other bundlers that's ./dist.
game_id = "YOUR_GAME_ID_HERE"
upload_dir = "./dist"
Local development
Produce a build, then run wavedash dev to serve it through the Wavedash sandbox.
SDK features
Once initialized, Wavedash exposes leaderboards, achievements, P2P multiplayer, and more. The Kaplay example uses P2P for online Pong — broadcasting paddle positions on an unreliable channel and game events on a reliable channel:
// Broadcast paddle position to all peers (unreliable channel)
Wavedash.broadcastP2PMessage(0, false, paddleStatePacked);
// Announce a goal to all peers (reliable channel)
Wavedash.broadcastP2PMessage(1, true, goalEventPacked);
See the multiplayer and leaderboards guides for the full API.