Hi Solar2D community,
I ran into a hard blocker today that I believe affects many
developers, especially those using automated or server-based
workflows.
The Problem
Building for iOS Simulator requires CoronaBuilder — but the
binary is NOT included in the community DMG.
Even after automating the full GUI flow (File → Build → iOS →
select device → Build), Solar2D immediately returns:
“Unable to find Corona Builder.”
This happens even with:
✓ Valid Apple Developer certificate installed
✓ Xcode 26.2 present
✓ iPhone 17 Pro Max simulator booted and ready
Everything else IS already shipped inside Solar2D.app:
- iostemplate/iphonesimulator_26.2.tar.bz ✓
- libtemplate.a ✓
- build.lua + Builder.lua ✓
- BuilderPluginDownloader.lua ✓
- xcodesim_sendapp.sh ✓
The CoronaBuilder SOURCE is also fully present in the GitHub
repo at tools/CoronaBuilder/ — including main.mm,
BuilderPluginDownloader.lua, Rtt_AppPackagerAppleFactory.mm
and the full Lua build toolchain.
The only missing piece is the compiled CoronaBuilder binary.
Why This Matters Beyond Just Builds
CoronaBuilder does two critical things:
- Compiles and packages the iOS app
- Downloads and links third-party plugins
(AdMob, IronSource, SpiralCodeStudio, etc.)
Without it, CLI and headless workflows cannot resolve plugins
at all — making the entire native plugin ecosystem inaccessible
outside the GUI, even for Simulator-only targets that don’t
require App Store signing.
Request
Ship the compiled CoronaBuilder binary inside the Solar2D.app
bundle or alongside the DMG — at minimum for iOS Simulator
targets. This would unlock:
- Headless/automated builds on Mac minis and servers
- CI/CD pipelines for Solar2D projects
- AI-assisted development workflows
- Plugin resolution without opening the GUI
Is this intentionally locked to enterprise, or is it simply
a packaging oversight? Would love to hear from the team.
Thanks for keeping Solar2D open source — it’s a great engine
and this one missing piece is the only thing blocking a fully
automated workflow.