Development¶

Tools, libraries, languages and environments for building Pebble watchfaces and apps.

Pebble Platforms¶

The SDK refers to each watch by its platform codename.

Watch	Platform
Pebble (Classic), Pebble Steel	`aplite`
Pebble Time, Pebble Time Steel	`basalt`
Pebble Time Round	`chalk`
Pebble 2	`diorite`
Pebble Time 2	`emery`
Pebble 2 Duo	`flint`
Pebble Round 2	`gabbro`

PebbleKit.ts - A modern Pebble app boilerplate using TypeScript by @jccit
microPebble - An open source Pebble companion app based on the libpebble3 by @matejdro.
Better Pebble Emulator - A Pebble emulator for Ubuntu and Debian.
PebbleGL - OpenGL for Pebble. Uses minimal OpenGL engine (miniGL) for rendering a 3D world on the Pebble Smartwatch.

pebble-wrapper - Wrapper script to run the Pebble SDK in Docker or Podman.
docker-pebble-dev - Docker image for Pebble development.
Docker and the Pebble Emulator - Guide to running the SDK and emulator in Docker.
pebble-setup - Pebble development setup guide.
pebble-devcontainer - VS Code devcontainer for Pebble development.
pebble-codespace - Fully featured Pebble dev environment using GitHub Codespaces.
pebble-time2-dev-setup - Tested setup guide for a Pebble Time 2 Linux dev machine.
pebble-sdk-arm - Pebble SDK on ARM machines.
pebble-bazel - Build Pebble apps using Bazel.
github_action_pebble_build - GitHub Action for building Pebble apps in CI.
pebble_watchface_framework - Demo watchface built with GitHub Actions, with tips for GitHub Codespaces and importing into CloudPebble.
cloudpebble-composed - Self-hosted CloudPebble using Docker Compose. Not considered safe to expose publicly.
Pebble-NMBS - Example of a Docker-based Pebble build running under GitHub Actions.
python-pebble-tools - Process locker and other helper tools for the Pebble SDK.
rebbletool - Python 3 port of pebble-tool. Popular before Core Devices' updated pebble-tool.
Building Pebble Watchfaces on Modern Systems - Blog post on getting the SDK running on modern systems.
pebble-wf-agent-skill - AI agent skill for building Pebble watchfaces end to end.

pebble-modern-js - Use modern JavaScript in PebbleKit JS.
pybble - Write Pebble apps in Python.
rust4pebble - Rust bindings for the Pebble SDK.
pebble-rust-2026 - Rust wrapper for the Pebble C API.
zig-pebble-sdk - Zig SDK for Pebble.
Nebble - Modern, type-safe Nim wrapper for the Pebble SDK.
pebble-cpp - C++ wrapper for the Pebble SDK.
GeaStack Pebble - Compiles Gea TSX apps into native Pebble apps with no JavaScript engine on the watch.
example-pebble-inferencing - Run TinyML models on Pebble with Edge Impulse.

pebble-scalable - Library to help scale apps to all Pebble display sizes.
pebble-fctx - Anti-aliased vector drawing and text, including rotated text.
SDFDemo - Scalable fonts using signed distance fields.
EffectLayer - Visual effects layer (invert, mirror, blur etc.) for Pebble apps.
GBitmap Colour Palette Manipulator - Manipulate the colour palettes of GBitmaps at runtime.
enamel - Helper for generating Clay settings code.
pebble-events - Lets multiple handlers subscribe to Pebble event services.
pebble-libraries - Collection of libraries, including an accelerated tick timer for debugging.
pebble-gbc-graphics - Game Boy Color style tile-based graphics engine.
pebble-math-sll - Fixed-point maths library.
pebble-timeline-js - JavaScript library for pushing Timeline pins.
Custom Status Bar - Custom status bar layer, including a battery indicator.
pebble_memory_tools - Tools for tracking down memory usage and leaks.

node-red-pebble-timeline - Node-RED nodes for sending Pebble Timeline pins.
Pebble-Timeline-Worker - Cloudflare Worker for pushing custom Timeline pins.
pypebbleapi - Python client library for the Timeline API (works with Rebble's Timeline service).
pebble-image-viewer - Watchapp for previewing images on a Pebble (app store).
Preview App by Tack Mobile - Watchapp for previewing UI mockups on a Pebble.
Clay with manual message keys - Example Clay config page with manually defined message keys.
pbw-tools - Tools for inspecting and modifying .pbw files.
Pebble App Config Page Backup - Archived configuration pages for older Pebble apps whose config sites have gone offline.

rockgarden - Patch and modify existing watchfaces and apps (maintained fork of cpfair/rockgarden).
sand - Remix existing Pebble apps.
pebble-pyrite - Utilities for working with Pebble app resources.
pebble_patch_tts - Patch voice dictation to remove punctuation. Uses rockgarden.
pebble-autoconfig - Generate configuration pages, handy for recreating config pages that have gone offline.
radare2 - Reverse engineering framework with support for Pebble apps. See this guide.

PBW files are ZIP files. You can unzip a .pbw, edit its JavaScript (e.g. to fix a dead settings page or weather API), and zip it back up. No checksums or manifest changes are needed.
View logs from a real watch. Enable Developer Mode in the Pebble app, then run pebble logs --phone <PHONE_IP> to see logs from both C and JavaScript code.
Emulator hung? Run pebble kill, stop any remaining emulator processes, then run pebble wipe.
SDK versions. Use SDK 4.x. SDK 3.x can still build apps that run on firmware 4.x. SDK 2 has incompatibilities with SDK 1, and SDK 1 should not be used.
Look for unmerged fixes. Some tool fixes only exist as open pull requests, e.g. pebble-tool PRs (such as logging on Windows) and Clay PRs (such as Clay config working in the emulator with a modern browser). Rebble's Clay fork is active again and published as @rebble/clay.
Download a PBW from the Rebble store. Add ?dev_settings=true to an app's Rebble store URL to get a download link for its PBW in your browser.

Pebble Dev Retreat 2014: Memory - Talk on memory usage on Pebble (slides).
Rebble boot weather bootstrap - Where Rebble's boot process sets the weather service URL.
SDK 3 Migration Guide - Moving older apps to SDK 3. See also Remy Sharp's porting notes.