Godot developers can now add any C or C++ library to a project by using the godot-cpp 10.0.0 package that landed in ConanCenter, and building the extension with Conan and CMake. The blog post demonstrates a GDExtension that simulates 100,000 particles using the ECS library flecs 4.1.6.
How Conan simplifies the build
Conan treats godot-cpp like any other dependency. You declare it in a conanfile.py along with the third‑party library (e.g., flecs) and Conan resolves, downloads pre‑built binaries when available, and builds the rest from source. The two relevant options are api_version (default picks the oldest Godot version you support, 4.3‑4.7) and target (default template_debug). Each combination is built once and reused across projects, eliminating the per‑project recompilation of godot-cpp for every platform.
Minimal CMake integration
The CMakeLists.txt simply finds the Conan‑generated packages:
find_package(godot-cpp REQUIRED CONFIG)
find_package(flecs REQUIRED CONFIG)
add_library(gdexample SHARED src/register_types.cpp src/swarm.cpp)
target_link_libraries(gdexample PRIVATE godot-cpp flecs::flecs_static)
The GODOTCPP_TARGET cache variable ensures the shared library name matches the target Godot expects (template_debug or template_release). Building the extension is a single command:
conan build . --build=missing
On Windows you may need -s compiler.cppstd=17 because godot-cpp requires C++17.
Running the example
Clone the full demo from the Conan examples repository GitHub and open demo/project.godot in Godot 4.7. The Swarm node appears in the editor like any built‑in node, exposing count and flee_radius properties that can be tweaked in the Inspector. Press Play and move the mouse to see the particles flee.
Caveats to consider
The announcement does not discuss pricing or usage limits—ConanCenter is free, but you must provide compatible toolchains. On Linux the extension links libstdc++ dynamically, so the target system must have a matching version, or you must static‑link and hide symbols manually. These runtime requirements are not covered in the post.
When to try it: If your Godot game needs a native simulation, physics, or ML library, add it via Conan today; the single‑command build and reusable binaries make multi‑platform shipping much faster.
