Running A Core

A libretro core is not a standalone executable. Cargo builds a dynamic library, then a frontend loads that library and drives the lifecycle.

For a workspace example:

cargo build --release -p hello-libretro

The output path is platform-specific. On Linux, the hello example builds to a file like:

target/release/libhello_libretro.so

Use the equivalent .dylib or .dll on other platforms.

The frontend is responsible for loading the core, choosing content or no content, mapping input devices, opening audio/video devices, and calling the core repeatedly. After load_game succeeds, every frontend call to run should produce a video submission and enough audio to keep pacing stable.

When a core fails to load, prefer a diagnosable path:

• return false from load_game for invalid required content,
• use runtime.logger() or runtime.set_message(...) for actionable failures,
• keep hardware-render failures visible with diagnostic frames where possible.

The validation chapter for this workspace is Publishing and Validation.