AeThex-Engine-Core/engine/modules/studio_bridge

AeThex Studio Bridge Module

Communication bridge between AeThex Studio (web UI) and AeThex Engine (C++ runtime).

Overview

This module provides a JSON-RPC API that allows AeThex Studio to control the engine remotely. The Studio UI (TypeScript/Next.js) can manipulate scenes, nodes, and properties through this bridge without requiring the traditional Godot editor UI.

Architecture

AeThex Studio (localhost:3000)
    ↕ HTTP/WebSocket
StudioBridge Server (localhost:6007)
    ↕ Direct API Calls  
Engine Scene System (C++ Godot Core)

API Endpoints

All endpoints accept JSON-RPC format:

{
  "method": "loadScene",
  "params": {
    "path": "res://main.tscn"
  }
}

Scene Management

• loadScene - Load a scene file

  • Params: path (String)
  • Returns: Scene tree structure

• saveScene - Save current scene

  • Params: path (String)
  • Returns: Success confirmation

• getSceneTree - Get full scene hierarchy

  • Params: None
  • Returns: Tree of all nodes

Node Operations

• createNode - Create new node

  • Params: type (String), parent (String), name (String)
  • Returns: Created node info

• deleteNode - Delete node

  • Params: path (String)
  • Returns: Deleted node path

• selectNode - Select node in editor

  • Params: path (String)
  • Returns: Selected node info

Property Manipulation

• setProperty - Set node property

  • Params: path (String), property (String), value (Variant)
  • Returns: Updated property info

• getProperty - Get node property value

  • Params: path (String), property (String)
  • Returns: Property value

Game Control

• runGame - Start game instance

  • Params: None
  • Returns: Success confirmation

• stopGame - Stop running game

  • Params: None
  • Returns: Success confirmation

Events (Engine → Studio)

The bridge emits WebSocket events to notify Studio of changes:

• scene_changed - Scene loaded/modified
• node_selected - Node selection changed
• property_changed - Property value updated
• console_output - Engine log message

Usage from GDScript

# Access the singleton
var bridge = StudioBridge

# Start the server
bridge.start_server(6007)

# Check if running
if bridge.is_server_running():
    print("Bridge active")

# Send console output to Studio
bridge.emit_console_output("Game initialized", "info")

# Stop the server
bridge.stop_server()

Usage from Studio (TypeScript)

// studio/src/engine/bridge.ts
const response = await fetch('http://localhost:6007/rpc', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    method: 'loadScene',
    params: { path: 'res://main.tscn' }
  })
});

const result = await response.json();
if (result.success) {
  console.log('Scene loaded:', result.result);
}

Build Configuration

The module is automatically compiled when building the engine:

cd engine
scons platform=linuxbsd target=editor

No additional flags needed - the module is detected automatically.

Future Enhancements

• WebSocket server for real-time events
• Scene viewport texture streaming
• Debugger integration
• Profiler data streaming
• Asset import pipeline hooks
• Collaborative editing support

Security Notes

⚠️ Development Only: This bridge should only run in development mode. Production games should not expose this API.

The server binds to localhost only by default, preventing external access.

See Also

• docs/STUDIO_INTEGRATION.md - Complete integration plan
• modules/aethex_ai/README.md - AI assistant module