Warning

This document covers development and contribution aspects. Visit cerf.cx for user-oriented documentation. This repository includes emulator frontends, website and other tools.

Root repository - UIs and build tools
libCerfEngine - JIT repository; libCerfCore - Emulator repository; cerf.cx - read more information about the project

Warning

Beta stage. It is a hobby project, developed in spare time and can't be a called production-grade/exceptionally stable project. Expect bugs, crashes, and breaking changes. CERF stays beta permanently

Warning

Project is under CE Runtime Foundation License since 8.0.4. All the prior code is permanently under MIT. For 8.0.4+ code:

• If you are using code heavily - write "Based on CE Runtime Foundation - https://cerf.cx" in its UI
• Non-commercial use only. The goal of the project is historical preservation rather than earning money. If you want to use the project to do business - contact cerf.commercial@yaroslavkibysh.com for enterprise license.
• Barter and common goals are welcome. If you want to use CERF in commercial for the sake of historical showcase; you contribute to the project or want any other exceptions - I'm open to discussions anytime.
• The license is experimental, and we might drop it later if circumstances prove it

Downloads

Visit the website to learn how to download a stable or an unstable build.

8.1

Contribution Guidelines

Please read these if you are planning on contributing.

Building

CERF builds on Windows, Linux and macOS with the same build.py script.

Windows

Install modern Visual Studio with the C++ desktop development workload.

Note

The first build on a new machine takes more than one hour. vcpkg compiles the dependencies from source, and build.py builds Qt into third_party/qt/. This occurs one time on each machine. Later builds use the cached trees and are complete in a few minutes. Do not stop the first build.

Linux

Install the build packages. These are the Ubuntu 26.04 names:

sudo apt install git cmake ninja-build g++ pkg-config ccache wine clang patchelf curl zip unzip tar make perl bison flex libgl-dev libasound2-dev libxcb1-dev libxcb-randr0-dev libwayland-dev

Clone vcpkg and run bootstrap-vcpkg.sh in the clone. Set VCPKG_ROOT to the clone. The build downloads Qt into third_party/qt/ and ships it with CERF.

macOS

Install the Xcode Command Line Tools (xcode-select --install) and Homebrew. Then install the build packages:

brew install cmake ninja pkgconf ccache qtbase qtsvg qtdeclarative libslirp libzip nlohmann-json

All hosts

Caution

Development environment might need additional configuration on your machine that this guide doesn't explain. If you find a bug there, or find a more universal approach - feel free to submit a pull request.

Configure the clone (one time on each machine), then build the entire project with a helper script. On Windows:

python tools/dev_setup.py
python build.py

On Linux and macOS:

python3 tools/dev_setup.py
python3 build.py

tools/dev_setup.py --check is a dry run. The setup will

• point git at tracked hooks
• report missing prerequisite

The build script will:

• wait for a parallel build (Claude Code-special feature for parallel agents work)
• install a pinned Rust toolchain into third_party/rust and build the resvg SVG renderer
• build the emulator itself (and will pick appropriate SDK/toolchain from your installations)
• build all the bundled Windows CE apps (at ce_apps/)

Android

python build.py --android builds build/<Config>/android-arm64/cerf.apk on a Windows or x86-64 Linux host.

python build.py --android=amd64 builds build/<Config>/android-amd64/cerf.apk for an x86_64 Android emulator. Install these first:

• the Android SDK with platforms;android-36, build-tools;36.0.0 and ndk;29.0.14206865, and set ANDROID_SDK_ROOT to it
• a JDK 17 or newer, and set JAVA_HOME to it
• on Linux, a vcpkg checkout with bootstrap-vcpkg.sh run in it, and set VCPKG_ROOT to it

The build downloads Qt 6.12 for Android and for the host into third_party/qt/.

To sign the package, set QT_ANDROID_KEYSTORE_PATH, QT_ANDROID_KEYSTORE_ALIAS, QT_ANDROID_KEYSTORE_STORE_PASS and QT_ANDROID_KEYSTORE_KEY_PASS.

Building the CE-side binaries (optional)

ce_apps/ holds various Windows CE applications CERF is bundled with including the Guest Additions driver.

You don't need those if you are not working with Guest Additions. You may copy Guest Additions binaries from an artifact or skip them entirely. On x86-64 Linux the build runs these tools through Wine.

macOS and ARM64 Linux cannot run these tools. Give build.py the ce_apps directory of a Windows or x86-64 Linux build, for example from a CI artifact. The build then copies the binaries from that directory:

python3 build.py --ce-apps-from=<the ce_apps directory>

To build ce_apps/, install eMbedded Visual C++ 4.0 (a free Microsoft download from the Microsoft archive). CERF includes a script that will unpack the installation (you dont want and probably can't install ancient tools) and will place the build tools / SDK into appropriate directories. See docs/ce_apps_setup.md.

python tools/dev_setup.py --check reports whether the CE toolchain is present.

Website

This repository includes cerf.cx source code at docs/website.

python tools/build_site.py --serve runs the website on your machine with live reload.

AI Usage / Vibecode Notice

AI-assisted contributions are welcome. That's a nice thing to have in 2026 - you have access to tons of resources right in your pocket. Let me show generic use cases on this project:

• study emulators, study JIT, study assembly on various archs, study every piece that affects your code that you don't understand how it works yet
• learn and use AI to reverse engineer; use AI to reach for more correct architecture calls when you stall
• use AI to find projects/resources with compatible license to learn/borrow something complex
• use it to find manuals and papers for devices you target, SoCs/peripherals you target and to extract quotes from them
• use it to work with and explain complex data structures and non trivial algorithms
• use it to review your code and to criticize it
• the AI is an instrument to convert plain thoughts into a code - that's a replacement for typing code in order to get the same code you wanted but faster

The vibe code is banned. Please read Contribution Guidelines. Do not turn this into an AI slop. We put an effort here and we maintain a quality level.

Vibecoding non complex modules is fine but you will most likely violate the Contribution Guidelines by producing shitcode.

Claude Development Environment

The environment includes several controversial things you need to know before using it.

• Full project documentation is injected into a system prompt - this eats tokens
• The environment kills global clangd.exe and own claude.exe instances if they leak memory
• Thinking is set to high; bypass permissions mode is set
• Several own/3rd-party skills included
• Powerful hooks triggering when agent might do something bad to the codebase
• IDA MCP is ready to be installed at tools\ida_server.py and tools\ida_claude.py
• FS Read MCP is a workaround for Read() tool, useful for /tracking restore and massive text files (tools\fs_read_mcp.py)

The environment gives you the /implement-device skill. Run the skill and agent will start the new board bring-up on its own. You need experience - the skill won't do all the work instead of you. (it actually will do, and that's the problem)

Run the environment:

python run_claude.py

Supported Devices

SoC	Family	Board	Features
ARM ARM720T ARM720T	Microsoft Hardware Reference Platform	Microsoft Hardware Reference Platform odo
Freescale i.MX31L ARM1136	Toshiba Gigabeat S	Microsoft Zune 30 zune_30
Freescale i.MX51 Cortex-A8	Ford SYNC Gen 2	Ford MyFord Touch ford_sync_2
Intel IOP13xx XScale	Siemens SIMATIC MP 377	Siemens SIMATIC MP 377 12" Key * siemens_mp377_12_key
		Siemens SIMATIC MP 377 12" Touch siemens_mp377
		Siemens SIMATIC MP 377 15" Touch siemens_mp377_15_touch
		Siemens SIMATIC MP 377 19" Touch siemens_mp377_19_touch
Intel SA-1100 StrongARM	HP Jornada 820	HP Jornada 820 jornada_820
Intel SA-1110 StrongARM	Compaq iPAQ H3000	Compaq iPAQ H3100 Series ipaq_h31xx
		Compaq iPAQ H3600 Series ipaq_h36xx
		Compaq iPAQ H3660/H3670 ipaq_h3660_h3670
	HP Jornada 700 series	HP Jornada 720 jornada_720
	Pangolin	SmartBook G138 smartbook_g138
	Siemens SIMpad	Siemens SIMpad SL4 simpad_sl4
Intel XScale PXA255 XScale	Askey PC3xx	PSC/Datalogic Falcon 4220 falcon_4220
	NEC MobilePro 900 Series	NEC MobilePro 900(c) nec_mobilepro_900
Intel XScale PXA270 XScale	Symbol Hamptons	Symbol MK500 (A035QN02 panel) symbol_mk500_a035qn02
		Symbol MK500 (T35QM7117 panel) symbol_mk500
		Symbol MK590 * symbol_mk590
Samsung S3C2410 ARM920T	Samsung SMDK2410	Device Emulator 2003 (QVGA) devemu_gen1
		Device Emulator 2003 (VGA) devemu_gen1_vga
		Device Emulator 2003 Smartphone (QCIF+) devemu_gen1_sp
		Device Emulator 2003 Smartphone (QVGA) devemu_gen1_sp_qvga
		Device Emulator 2003 WinCE (SVGA) devemu_gen1_wince_svga
		Device Emulator 2008 (QVGA) devemu
		Device Emulator 2008 (VGA) devemu_vga
		Device Emulator 2008 (WQVGA) devemu_wqvga
		Device Emulator 2008 (WVGA) devemu_wvga
		Device Emulator 2008 Smartphone (QCIF+) devemu_sp
		Device Emulator 2008 Smartphone (QVGA) devemu_sp_qvga
		Device Emulator 2008 WinCE (SVGA) devemu_wince_svga
	Siemens SIMATIC TP 177B 4"	Siemens SIMATIC TP 177B 4" color PN/DP siemens_p177
TI OMAP 3530 Cortex-A8	TI OMAP35x EVM	TI OMAP35x EVM Gen1 omap_3530_evm
		TI OMAP35x EVM Gen2 * omap_3530_evm_gen2
NEC VR4102 MIPS III	NEC MobilePro 700	NEC MobilePro 700 nec_mobilepro_700
NEC VR4111 MIPS III	Casio Tomcat	Casio Cassiopeia E-55 casio_cassiopeia_e55
	Compaq Aero 1500	Compaq Aero 1520 compaq_aero_1520
		Compaq Aero 1530 * compaq_aero_1530
NEC VR4121 MIPS III	Casio PocketPostPet	Casio Message-Cam casio_message_cam
		Casio PocketPostPet casio_pocketpostpet
		Casio Toricomail casio_toricomail
	IBM WorkPad z50	IBM WorkPad z50 ibm_workpad_z50
		IBM WorkPad z50 (Canada) * ibm_workpad_z50_canada
		IBM WorkPad z50 (Japan) * ibm_workpad_z50_japan
	NEC CRONOS3E	NEC MobilePro 780 * nec_mobilepro_780
		NEC MobilePro 790 nec_mobilepro_790
NEC VR4122 MIPS III	Casio JX670	Casio Cassiopeia E-700 casio_cassiopeia_e700
		Casio Cassiopeia EM-500 casio_cassiopeia_em500
NEC VR5500 MIPS IV	NEC Solution Gear 2-Vr5500	NEC Rockhopper SG2_VR5500 nec_rockhopper
Philips PR31500 MIPS I	Philips Velo 1	Philips Velo 1 philips_velo_1
Philips PR31700 MIPS I	Philips Nino	Philips Nino 300 philips_nino_300
	Sharp Mobilon HC	Sharp Mobilon HC-4100 sharp_mobilon_hc4100
		Sharp Mobilon HC-4100 (8 MB) sharp_mobilon_hc4100_8mb
		Sharp Mobilon HC-4500 sharp_mobilon_hc4500
		Sharp Mobilon HC-4500 (8 MB) sharp_mobilon_hc4500_8mb
		Sharp Mobilon HC-4600 sharp_mobilon_hc4600

* Supported, but CERF does not model this board's differences.

Changelog

Version	Release Date	Changes
v8.1	TBA	📱 Devices 🆕 NEC MobilePro 790 support 🆕 IBM WorkPad z50 support 🆕 Compaq Aero 1500 family support 🆕 Sharp Mobilon HC4xxx: HC4500/HC4600 support; suspend support 💿 Emulator 🆕 Save states improved: Emulator attempts to restore RAM with user objects instead of giving up 🆕 Low battery deadlock helper for a shutdown dialog ✅ Various styling/usability fixes on all platforms 🗂️ Devices Manager 🆕 Board parts editor in Board Settings dialog ✨ Guest Additions 🆕 Indexed palettes rework and configuration
v8.0	31 Oct 2026	📱 Devices 🆕 DevEmu 2003: Added board type, keyboard layout and screen configuration support 🆕 iPAQ 1st gen: keypad support 🆕 iPAQ 1st gen: battery support 🆕 iPAQ 1st gen: alarm/charge LED ✅ Fixed WM2003SE touch crash regression 💿 Emulator 🆕 Support for Linux (x86-64 and ARM64) 🆕 Support for macOS (ARM64) 🆕 Support for Android (ARM64) 🆕 Startup screen scale configuration and dynamic mode for retina screen 🆕 Device HUDs - simplified hardware buttons in a canvas 🆕 Rotation of any device screen ✅ Serial connection regression on some MIPS boards 🚀 Launcher ❌ Replaced with Devices Manager ✨ Guest Additions 🆕 Screen rotation support ✅ Moved "untrusted apps hack" for WM into optional switch since it broke WM6 ✅ Fixed miniport driver causing hangs at soft resets 🚑 Patches ✅ Patch 1: Added DevEmu 2003 screen configuration support ✅ Patch 2: Fixed emulator startup race crash ✅ Patch 3: Linux build now bundles many libraries instead of using system ones ✅ Patch 4: Live theme change bug fixed; Linux ARM64 support ✅ Patch 5: Crash fixes on non-Windows systems; styling fixes
Previous versions - see the full changelog.

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CERF was known earlier as WCECL (2019)

CE Runtime Foundation License | Third-Party Notices
Copyright © 2019-2026 Yaroslav Kibysh