CMake

The CMake integration is for projects whose CMake model should remain the source of truth. A cmakeLib() label configures the project with Ninja and then discovers separately selectable libraries, executables, and CTest-backed tests.

Declare the project root

import { cmakeLib } from "//rules/c/cmake";
import { zigToolchain } from "//rules/c/zig";

const compiler = zigToolchain("0.16.0");

export const project = cmakeLib({
    compiler,
    cmakeArgs: ["-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release"],
});

src identifies the CMake source directory. srcs controls the files staged from that directory, while dirs adds complete auxiliary directories needed by configure or build steps. cmakeArgs and ctestArgs append project-specific options to their respective tools.

For a hand-written coarse target, list expected outputs relative to the source directory. stageOutputs can copy explicitly named files to other workspace paths, but such scattered outputs cannot currently be packaged as one dist/ artifact.

Lazy label discovery

CMake configuration is deferred until the selected graph reaches the project. The generated Ninja graph is inspected for named libraries and executables; each becomes an imp label in the same address scope. Executables referenced by add_test() receive test handlers that run the correlated CTest cases. The parent cmakeLib label can still run the whole CTest suite.

# Build the coarse declaration.
imp build //native/project:project

# Build or test a target discovered from CMake's generated graph.
imp build //native/project:my_library
imp test //native/project:my_test

Build execution replays reachable Ninja edges as imp tasks, allowing unchanged compile edges to remain cache hits instead of treating the entire CMake build as one opaque command. CTest itself is always run rather than replaying a previous successful result.

Consuming native outputs

A CMake target can be used as a dependency by raw C/C++ or Odin targets. Its link artifacts and output digest are passed through the build graph even when the intermediate build directory is not materialized in the source workspace. Use outputs to make hand-written target artifacts discoverable to these consumers.

Configuration

cmakeToolchain()

cmakeToolchain(version, opts = {})

Declare a CMake toolchain version and optionally set it as the default. matching lockfile entry (warns instead of failing).

Returns: object Target handle for this CMake toolchain.