API Guide

sfml.js is based on SFML 3.1.0. The handwritten guides explain usage, return values and Node.js adaptations; TypeDoc generates complete signatures and type constraints from the source.

Documentation · Quick start · Core concepts

Import all public APIs from sfml.js; see src/index.ts for the export list. Application code does not need to access dist/internal or native module handles.

Choose by task

Task	Guide	Main APIs
Calculate coordinates, angles and frame times	System	Vector2/3, Angle, Time, Clock, named operators
Integrate custom file sources	Input streams	InputStream, MemoryInputStream, FileInputStream
Open windows and receive input	Window	RenderWindow, Window, Event, Keyboard, Mouse
Display images and animation	Graphics	Image, Texture, Sprite
Draw shapes and text	Graphics	Shape, Font, Glyph, Text
Cameras, off-screen composition and batched geometry	Graphics	View, RenderTexture, VertexArray, VertexBuffer
Custom drawing and shaders	Graphics	Drawable, RenderStates, Shader, Glsl
Play, record and process audio	Audio	SoundBuffer, Sound, Music, SoundStream, SoundRecorder
Connect to networks and transfer files	Network	Packet, TcpSocket, UdpSocket, Http, Ftp, Sftp

System

Vector2/Vector3 support multiple scalar types; Vector2i/u/f and Vector3i/u/f are common specializations. degrees()/radians() create an Angle, and time factories create a Time.

JavaScript does not support C++ operator overloading, so use add(), multiply(), equal() and *Assign() for the corresponding operations. This module also includes Clock, asynchronous sleep(), TimeoutWithPredicate, input streams, Unicode and error logging APIs.

See System.

Window

Window provides a system window and an OpenGL context. For 2D drawing, use RenderWindow, which combines Window and RenderTarget capabilities.

Receive events through pollEvent(), handleEvents() or synchronous waitEvent(). Keyboard, mouse, joystick and sensor APIs also provide real-time queries. Clipboard, Cursor, Context and Vulkan cover system integration.

See Window.

Graphics

Image stores CPU-side pixels, Texture stores a GPU texture, and Sprite references a texture for drawing. Shape provides circles, rectangles, convex polygons and custom convex shapes; Font and Text provide font loading, layout and editable vertices.

RenderTarget unifies drawing APIs for windows and off-screen targets. View controls the camera and viewport; RenderStates controls transforms, blending, stencil settings, textures and shaders. Vertex arrays and GPU vertex buffers let you organize geometry directly.

See Graphics and draw snapshots.

Audio

Use SoundBuffer + Sound for short effects and Music for long audio. SoundSource provides volume, panning and spatial audio properties; SoundStream, SoundRecorder and EffectProcessor use Worker callbacks to process custom data.

See Audio, paying particular attention to sample counts, channel layout and buffer lifetime.

Network

Network implements SFML-style APIs using Node.js transports; production code does not call SFML C++ Network. Packet preserves SFML encoding conventions; TCP, UDP, DNS, TLS, HTTP, FTP and SFTP I/O use promises.

See Network for returned statuses, partial sends, protocol limits and shutdown methods.

Compatibility boundaries

Feature	Current behavior
C++ pointers and reference output parameters	Represented as objects, views or returned objects
C++ templates and operators	Represented by explicit scalar tags, classes and named functions
File loading	Uses promises, preserving each API's specific failure status
Destruction	Native ownership works with JS references; explicitly close resources that expose a close method
drawAsync()/displayAsync()	Not provided; legacy examples explicitly report them as unsupported
Android SuspendAwareClock	Conditionally compiled API; the current download flow targets desktops
Vulkan	Query APIs are exported; availability depends on the SFML platform backend, with no macOS backend

See the development guide for platform build and test coverage.

SFML C++ reference

TypeDoc is the authority for JavaScript signatures and types. The SFML 3.1.0 reference index is the authority for upstream C++ concepts, not a drop-in JavaScript API reference.

Each module guide links to relevant C++ classes and explains binding-specific differences: System, Window, Graphics, Audio and Network.