Runtime commands

Commands served by the Player / dev-build server. Many require a Development build with the runtime Pipeline enabled — see Runtime setup. Commands tagged runtime target a running Player: they are registered and listed everywhere, but they can only do something useful against a Player, and an Editor batch refuses them.

runtime status

Get comprehensive runtime application status.

No parameters.

Returns: RuntimeStatusResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime.

runtime quit

Gracefully quit the Unity application.

Parameter Required Default Description
exitCode no 0 Exit code for the application

Returns: string Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime.

runtime set_target_frame_rate

Set the target frame rate for the application.

Parameter Required Default Description
frameRate yes – Target frame rate (-1 for platform default, 0 for unlimited)

Returns: string Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime.

runtime set_time_scale

Set the time scale for the application.

Parameter Required Default Description
scale yes – Time scale multiplier (0.0 to pause, 1.0 for normal speed)

Returns: string Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime.

runtime simulate_key

Simulate a keyboard key event (Input System). Drives the running app.

Parameter Required Default Description
key yes – Input System Key name, e.g. Space, W, Enter, LeftArrow.
action no press down | up | press (down+up).

Returns: InputSimulationResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime. Requires the Input System package (ENABLE_INPUT_SYSTEM); reports unavailable otherwise.

runtime simulate_pointer

Simulate a mouse/pointer event at screen coordinates (Input System).

Parameter Required Default Description
x yes – Screen X in pixels (origin bottom-left).
y yes – Screen Y in pixels (origin bottom-left).
action no click move | down | up | click (down+up).
button no left left | right | middle.

Returns: InputSimulationResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime. Requires the Input System package (ENABLE_INPUT_SYSTEM); reports unavailable otherwise.

console write

Write a message to Unity console.

Parameter Required Default Description
message yes – Message to log to console
level no info Log level: info, warning, error

Returns: string Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged runtime.

console get

Get captured Unity console output (Editor or Player; supports tail, level filtering, and follow via a cursor).

Parameter Required Default Description
tail no 100 Maximum number of most-recent entries to return
level no log Minimum severity to include: log warn error
since no -1 Cursor: only return entries newer than this seq. Use the 'cursor' from a previous response to follow.
since_session no – Session the since cursor came from: pass the session from a previous response. A cursor from another session is refused and the tail returned with reset=true.

Returns: ConsoleLogResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = false. Available in both the Editor and player builds.

A cursor is only meaningful paired with the session that issued it. Sequence numbers restart from zero when the Editor restarts (the buffer is persisted under Temp/, which Unity deletes at every launch), so a cursor from an earlier session names different entries. Always echo session back as since_session; when the pair cannot be honored the response sets reset=true, returns the tail instead of nothing, and gives you a fresh cursor/session to adopt.

Beyond the entries, the response carries:

  • counts — errors/warnings/logs the buffer currently retains, before the level filter and tail.
  • groundTruth — what the Editor itself reports: compilationFailed, compiling, the Editor console's own consoleErrors/consoleWarnings/consoleLogs, whether the buffer has been seeded from the console's store, and ageMs for how stale the sample is. Null in a player.

groundTruth.consoleErrors exceeding counts.error means the Editor console is showing entries the buffer does not hold. That is expected for output produced before the package was first imported; otherwise it is the signal that something was missed.

console status

Console ground truth and buffer counters without pulling entries: compile-failure flag, Editor console counts, and the buffer's retained counts and cursor.

No parameters.

Returns: ConsoleLogResponse with an empty entries array. Notes: MainThreadRequired = false. Cheap enough to poll in a loop while a compile runs; use console get when you want the entries themselves.

console clear

Clear the captured log buffer and the Unity Editor console.

No parameters.

Returns: object Notes: Available in both the Editor and player builds; in a player only the captured buffer is cleared, since there is no Editor console. Editor compile errors are logged as sticky entries, which Unity's own clear skips, so they remain in the Console window until the next compile completes. Clearing keeps the cursor, so a client following console get sees dropped=true on its next poll rather than silently skipping the window that was cleared.

script eval

Evaluate C# code dynamically using Roslyn compiler.

Parameter Required Default Description
code yes – C# code to evaluate
timeout no 30 Timeout in seconds

Returns: EvalResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true. Available on both editor and runtime.

script eval_file

Evaluate C# code read from a .cs file on disk. A convenience alternative to script eval for code too long to pass inline — edit the file, then evaluate it. The resolved source is run through the same evaluation path as script eval.

Parameter Required Default Description
file yes – Path to a .cs file to evaluate
timeout no 30 Timeout in seconds

The file is read on the Unity side (relative paths resolve against the Unity process working directory) and must end in .cs. A missing file, a non-.cs extension, or an empty file returns a Bad Request.

Returns: EvalResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true. Available on both editor and runtime.

For anything beyond an ad-hoc one-liner — bulk construction, builder scripts — prefer the Editor-side script run command, which compiles a versioned project .cs file in memory and runs a named entry point instead of carrying code through the protocol.

script.methodreload reload

Compile and apply [MethodReload] edits from a source file.

Parameter Required Default Description
filename yes – Source file containing [MethodReload] methods (e.g. Assets/Scripts/Player.cs)
timeout no 60 Compilation timeout in seconds
assemblyDir no – Directory to save compiled assemblies to disk (optional, default is in-memory only)
pdb no false Emit debug symbols (portable PDB) mapped to the original source so breakpoints bind in your editor. Compiles unoptimized.

Returns: MethodReloadResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true. See Reloading code.

script.methodreload reload_editor

Compile [MethodReload] edits and run them through the IlInterpreter VM in this process instead of Assembly.Load (IL2CPP-safe; only a minimal host API + the target type are available).

Parameter Required Default Description
filename yes – Source file containing [MethodReload] methods (e.g. Assets/Scripts/Player.cs)
timeout no 60 Compilation timeout in seconds
assemblyDir no – Directory to also save the compiled IL to disk (optional, default is in-memory only)
pdb no false Emit a portable PDB mapped to the original source. Runtime errors already report source lines on this backend, so this only matters if you also want the .pdb on disk.

Returns: MethodReloadResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true. The public-members-only constraint of script.methodreload reload does not apply. See Editor interpreter.

script.methodreload reload_player

Compile a file's (or folder's) [MethodReload] methods in the Editor and push the IL to connected development players over PlayerConnection (IL2CPP-safe). Folders are walked recursively; files that do not mention MethodReload are skipped.

Parameter Required Default Description
filename yes – Source .cs file or a folder containing [MethodReload] methods (e.g. Assets/pong.cs or Assets/Scripts)
player no -1 Target connected player id; -1 broadcasts to all connected players

Returns: { success, message, diagnostics } for a file; { success, message, pushed, failed } for a folder. Notes: MainThreadRequired = true. Served by the Editor server (it needs Roslyn and PlayerConnection), not the player; the player only needs the runtime Pipeline driver, not its HTTP server. See Player interpreter.

script.methodreload status

Show current method reload registry status and statistics.

No parameters.

Returns: MethodReloadResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged scripts/methodreload. Reachable on an Editor server too — it only reads registry statics.

Generate the method-reload link.xml at ProjectSettings/Packages/com.unity.pipeline/MethodReload.link.xml. Development builds pass it to the linker while Enable in Development & Profiled Builds is on, so method reloaded onto an IL2CPP device can call any member of a type the game already uses. Same as Generate link.xml in Project Settings → Pipeline → Runtime → Method Reload.

Parameter Required Default Description
delete no false Remove the generated file instead of (re)generating it.

Returns: object with path, a one-line message, and stats (types kept per source: referenced engine/package types, the game's own types, the interpreter's host surface, [MethodReload] targets; file size). With delete=true: deleted (whether a file existed) and path. Notes: MainThreadRequired = true. Reads the compiled player assemblies under Library/ScriptAssemblies, so run it after a successful compile. The file is a snapshot: run again after larger code changes. See Method reload on IL2CPP devices and managed stripping.

script.methodreload cleanup

Remove old method reload DLL versions and clear registry.

Parameter Required Default Description
assemblyDir yes – Directory containing assemblies to cleanup
force_domain_reload no true Force Unity domain reload after cleanup

Returns: MethodReloadResponse Notes: MainThreadRequired = true, tagged scripts/methodreload. Reachable on an Editor server too, but excluded from job batch: it requests a domain reload, which would tear the batch down mid-run.

See Creating commands and Connectivity.