Command prompts - XBOX Game Development Documentation

The Microsoft Game Development Kit (GDK) provides several command prompts. They are used to properly set up the developer environment variables for each supported platform (XBOX One, XBOX Scarlett, or Desktop) and Visual Studio configuration (Visual Studio 2019 or Visual Studio 2022). The command-prompt shortcuts are in the Microsoft GDK folder on the Start menu or in the GDK installation location under the Command Prompts folder (that is, C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft GDK\Command Prompts). The command prompts are as follows.

(Month Year) Desktop VS 2019 Gaming Command Prompt: Calls the GamingDesktopVars.cmd file with the GamingDesktopVS2019 parameter specified
(Month Year) Desktop VS 2022 Gaming Command Prompt: Calls the GamingDesktopVars.cmd file with the GamingDesktopVS2022 parameter specified
(Month Year) XBOX One VS 2019 Gaming Command Prompt: Calls the GamingXboxVars.cmd file with the GamingXboxVS2019 and (GXDKEDITION) parameters specified
(Month Year) XBOX One VS 2022 Gaming Command Prompt: Calls the GamingXboxVars.cmd file with the GamingXboxVS2022 and (GXDKEDITION) parameters specified
(Month Year) XBOX Scarlett VS 2019 Gaming Command Prompt: Calls the GamingXboxVars.cmd file with the GamingXboxScarlettVS2019 and (GXDKEDITION) parameters specified
(Month Year) XBOX Scarlett VS 2012 Gaming Command Prompt: Calls the GamingXboxVars.cmd file with the GamingXboxScarlettVS2022 and (GXDKEDITION) parameters specified

GamingDesktopVars.cmd and GamingXboxVars.cmd are also in the Command Prompts folder. Ensure that you use the corresponding command-prompt shortcut that reflects your title’s supported platform and Visual Studio configuration during development to set up the correct developer environment. For more information about configuring GDK command prompts and development environments from an extracted flat deployment of the GDK, see Configuring the build environment without installing the Microsoft Game Development Kit.