This section will help you setup MonoGame by building it from source code.

Prerequisites

Install the tools for the system you are building from:

• Windows:
  • Git for Windows
  • Visual Studio
  • Xamarin.Android (Optional)
  • Windows Phone 8 SDK (Optional)
• Mac:
  • Git
  • Xamarin Studio
  • Xamarin.Android and Xamarin.iOS can be installed with the Xamarin Studio installer (Optional)
• Linux:
  • Git
  • Monodevelop

Getting the source code

Start up a Terminal (Mac/Linux) or Git Bash (Windows) and clone the MonoGame repository:

git clone https://github.com/MonoGame/MonoGame.git
cd MonoGame
git submodule init
git submodule update

Building from source

MonoGame uses Protobuild to generate project and solution files. Protobuild.exe will be in your MonoGame folder. To run Protobuild:

• On Windows run Protobuild.exe either by double-clicking or by executing it from the command line.
• On Mac/Linux open a terminal and run mono Protobuild.exe in the MonoGame folder.

Once the project and solution files are generated you can build them with the IDE you installed.

Referencing the projects

First get the MonoGame SDK from the downloads page and install it to get the IDE templates. Start up the IDE you have installed and create a new project from one of the templates. Click Add > Existing Project... on your solution and select the MonoGame.Framework project that matches the template (i.e. MonoGame.Framework.Windows.csproj for a MonoGame Windows project template). The project files are located in MonoGame/MonoGame.Framework. Delete the existing MonoGame.Framework reference and add a reference to the added project by clicking Add Reference... > Projects and selecting the project. You can run your game now. If you make changes to the MonoGame.Framework project it will automatically rebuild when running your game.