NAME¶
cmake-presets - CMakePresets.json
INTRODUCTION¶
One problem that CMake users often face is sharing settings with
other people for common ways to configure a project. This may be done to
support CI builds, or for users who frequently use the same build. CMake
supports two files, CMakePresets.json and
CMakeUserPresets.json, that allow users to specify common configure
options and share them with others.
CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json live in
the project's root directory. They both have exactly the same format, and
both are optional (though at least one must be present if --preset is
specified.) CMakePresets.json is meant to save project-wide builds,
while CMakeUserPresets.json is meant for developers to save their own
local builds. CMakePresets.json may be checked into a version control
system, and CMakeUserPresets.json should NOT be checked in. For
example, if a project is using Git, CMakePresets.json may be tracked,
and CMakeUserPresets.json should be added to the
.gitignore.
The files are a JSON document with an object as the root:
{
"version": 2,
"cmakeMinimumRequired": {
"major": 3,
"minor": 20,
"patch": 0
},
"configurePresets": [
{
"name": "default",
"displayName": "Default Config",
"description": "Default build using Ninja generator",
"generator": "Ninja",
"binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/default",
"cacheVariables": {
"FIRST_CACHE_VARIABLE": {
"type": "BOOL",
"value": "OFF"
},
"SECOND_CACHE_VARIABLE": "ON"
},
"environment": {
"MY_ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLE": "Test",
"PATH": "$env{HOME}/ninja/bin:$penv{PATH}"
},
"vendor": {
"example.com/ExampleIDE/1.0": {
"autoFormat": true
}
}
},
{
"name": "ninja-multi",
"inherits": "default",
"displayName": "Ninja Multi-Config",
"description": "Default build using Ninja Multi-Config generator",
"generator": "Ninja Multi-Config"
}
],
"buildPresets": [
{
"name": "default",
"configurePreset": "default"
}
],
"testPresets": [
{
"name": "default",
"configurePreset": "default",
"output": {"outputOnFailure": true},
"execution": {"noTestsAction": "error", "stopOnFailure": true}
}
],
"vendor": {
"example.com/ExampleIDE/1.0": {
"autoFormat": false
}
}
}
The root object recognizes the following fields:
version
A required integer representing the version of the JSON
schema. The supported versions are 1 and 2.
cmakeMinimumRequired
An optional object representing the minimum version of
CMake needed to build this project. This object consists of the following
fields:
major
An optional integer representing the major version.
minor
An optional integer representing the minor version.
patch
An optional integer representing the patch version.
vendor
An optional map containing vendor-specific information.
CMake does not interpret the contents of this field except to verify that it
is a map if it does exist. However, the keys should be a vendor-specific
domain name followed by a /-separated path. For example, the Example
IDE 1.0 could use example.com/ExampleIDE/1.0. The value of each field
can be anything desired by the vendor, though will typically be a map.
configurePresets
An optional array of Configure Preset objects.
This is allowed in preset files specifying version 1 or above.
buildPresets
An optional array of Build Preset objects. This is
allowed in preset files specifying version 2 or above.
testPresets
An optional array of Test Preset objects. This is
allowed in preset files specifying version 2 or above.
Each entry of the configurePresets array is a JSON object
that may contain the following fields:
name
A required string representing the machine-friendly name
of the preset. This identifier is used in the cmake --preset option. There
must not be two configure presets in the union of CMakePresets.json and
CMakeUserPresets.json in the same directory with the same name.
However, a configure preset may have the same name as a build or test
preset.
hidden
An optional boolean specifying whether or not a preset
should be hidden. If a preset is hidden, it cannot be used in the
--preset= argument, will not show up in the CMake GUI, and does
not have to have a valid generator or binaryDir, even from
inheritance. hidden presets are intended to be used as a base for other
presets to inherit via the inherits field.
inherits
An optional array of strings representing the names of
presets to inherit from. The preset will inherit all of the fields from the
inherits presets by default (except
name,
hidden,
inherits,
description, and
displayName), but can override
them as desired. If multiple
inherits presets provide conflicting
values for the same field, the earlier preset in the
inherits list will
be preferred. Presets in
CMakePresets.json may not inherit from presets
in
CMakeUserPresets.json.
This field can also be a string, which is equivalent to an array
containing one string.
vendor
An optional map containing vendor-specific information.
CMake does not interpret the contents of this field except to verify that it
is a map if it does exist. However, it should follow the same conventions as
the root-level vendor field. If vendors use their own per-preset
vendor field, they should implement inheritance in a sensible manner
when appropriate.
displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the
preset.
description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of
the preset.
generator
An optional string representing the generator to use for
the preset. If
generator is not specified, it must be inherited from
the
inherits preset (unless this preset is
hidden).
Note that for Visual Studio generators, unlike in the command line
-G argument, you cannot include the platform name in the generator
name. Use the architecture field instead.
architecture, toolset
Optional fields representing the platform and toolset,
respectively, for generators that support them. Each may be either a string or
an object with the following fields:
value
An optional string representing the value.
strategy
An optional string telling CMake how to handle the
architecture or
toolset field. Valid values are:
"set"
Set the respective value. This will result in an error
for generators that do not support the respective field.
"external"
Do not set the value, even if the generator supports it.
This is useful if, for example, a preset uses the Ninja generator, and an IDE
knows how to set up the Visual C++ environment from the architecture
and toolset fields. In that case, CMake will ignore the field, but the
IDE can use them to set up the environment before invoking CMake.
binaryDir
An optional string representing the path to the output
binary directory. This field supports macro expansion. If a relative
path is specified, it is calculated relative to the source directory. If
binaryDir is not specified, it must be inherited from the
inherits preset (unless this preset is hidden).
cmakeExecutable
An optional string representing the path to the CMake
executable to use for this preset. This is reserved for use by IDEs, and is
not used by CMake itself. IDEs that use this field should expand any macros in
it.
cacheVariables
An optional map of cache variables. The key is the
variable name (which may not be an empty string), and the value is either
null, a boolean (which is equivalent to a value of
"TRUE" or
"FALSE" and a type of
BOOL), a string representing the value of the variable (which supports
macro expansion), or an object with the following fields:
type
An optional string representing the type of the
variable.
value
A required string or boolean representing the value of
the variable. A boolean is equivalent to "TRUE" or
"FALSE". This field supports macro expansion.
Cache variables are inherited through the inherits field,
and the preset's variables will be the union of its own
cacheVariables and the cacheVariables from all its parents. If
multiple presets in this union define the same variable, the standard rules
of inherits are applied. Setting a variable to null causes it
to not be set, even if a value was inherited from another preset.
environment
An optional map of environment variables. The key is the
variable name (which may not be an empty string), and the value is either
null or a string representing the value of the variable. Each variable
is set regardless of whether or not a value was given to it by the process's
environment. This field supports
macro expansion, and environment
variables in this map may reference each other, and may be listed in any
order, as long as such references do not cause a cycle (for example, if
ENV_1 is
$env{ENV_2},
ENV_2 may not be
$env{ENV_1}.)
Environment variables are inherited through the inherits
field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own
environment and the environment from all its parents. If
multiple presets in this union define the same variable, the standard rules
of inherits are applied. Setting a variable to null causes it
to not be set, even if a value was inherited from another preset.
warnings
An optional object specifying the warnings to enable. The
object may contain the following fields:
dev
An optional boolean. Equivalent to passing -Wdev
or -Wno-dev on the command line. This may not be set to false if
errors.dev is set to true.
deprecated
An optional boolean. Equivalent to passing
-Wdeprecated or -Wno-deprecated on the command line. This may
not be set to false if errors.deprecated is set to
true.
uninitialized
An optional boolean. Setting this to true is
equivalent to passing --warn-uninitialized on the command line.
unusedCli
An optional boolean. Setting this to false is
equivalent to passing --no-warn-unused-cli on the command line.
systemVars
An optional boolean. Setting this to true is
equivalent to passing --check-system-vars on the command line.
errors
An optional object specifying the errors to enable. The
object may contain the following fields:
dev
An optional boolean. Equivalent to passing
-Werror=dev or -Wno-error=dev on the command line. This may not
be set to true if warnings.dev is set to false.
deprecated
An optional boolean. Equivalent to passing
-Werror=deprecated or -Wno-error=deprecated on the command line.
This may not be set to true if warnings.deprecated is set to
false.
debug
An optional object specifying debug options. The object
may contain the following fields:
output
An optional boolean. Setting this to true is
equivalent to passing --debug-output on the command line.
tryCompile
An optional boolean. Setting this to true is
equivalent to passing --debug-trycompile on the command line.
find
An optional boolean. Setting this to true is
equivalent to passing --debug-find on the command line.
Build Preset¶
Each entry of the buildPresets array is a JSON object that
may contain the following fields:
name
A required string representing the machine-friendly name
of the preset. This identifier is used in the cmake --build --preset option.
There must not be two build presets in the union of CMakePresets.json
and CMakeUserPresets.json in the same directory with the same name.
However, a build preset may have the same name as a configure or test
preset.
hidden
An optional boolean specifying whether or not a preset
should be hidden. If a preset is hidden, it cannot be used in the
--preset argument and does not have to have a valid
configurePreset, even from inheritance. hidden presets are
intended to be used as a base for other presets to inherit via the
inherits field.
inherits
An optional array of strings representing the names of
presets to inherit from. The preset will inherit all of the fields from the
inherits presets by default (except
name,
hidden,
inherits,
description, and
displayName), but can override
them as desired. If multiple
inherits presets provide conflicting
values for the same field, the earlier preset in the
inherits list will
be preferred. Presets in
CMakePresets.json may not inherit from presets
in
CMakeUserPresets.json.
This field can also be a string, which is equivalent to an array
containing one string.
vendor
An optional map containing vendor-specific information.
CMake does not interpret the contents of this field except to verify that it
is a map if it does exist. However, it should follow the same conventions as
the root-level vendor field. If vendors use their own per-preset
vendor field, they should implement inheritance in a sensible manner
when appropriate.
displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the
preset.
description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of
the preset.
environment
An optional map of environment variables. The key is the
variable name (which may not be an empty string), and the value is either
null or a string representing the value of the variable. Each variable
is set regardless of whether or not a value was given to it by the process's
environment. This field supports macro expansion, and environment variables in
this map may reference each other, and may be listed in any order, as long as
such references do not cause a cycle (for example, if
ENV_1 is
$env{ENV_2},
ENV_2 may not be
$env{ENV_1}.)
Environment variables are inherited through the inherits
field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own
environment and the environment from all its parents. If
multiple presets in this union define the same variable, the standard rules
of inherits are applied. Setting a variable to null causes it
to not be set, even if a value was inherited from another preset.
configurePreset
An optional string specifying the name of a configure
preset to associate with this build preset. If configurePreset is not
specified, it must be inherited from the inherits preset (unless this preset
is hidden). The build directory is inferred from the configure preset, so the
build will take place in the same binaryDir that the configuration
did.
inheritConfigureEnvironment
An optional boolean that defaults to true. If true, the
environment variables from the associated configure preset are inherited after
all inherited build preset environments, but before environment variables
explicitly specified in this build preset.
jobs
An optional integer. Equivalent to passing
--parallel or -j on the command line.
targets
An optional string or array of strings. Equivalent to
passing --target or -t on the command line. Vendors may ignore
the targets property or hide build presets that explicitly specify targets.
This field supports macro expansion.
configuration
An optional string. Equivalent to passing --config
on the command line.
cleanFirst
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--clean-first on the command line.
verbose
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--verbose on the command line.
nativeToolOptions
An optional array of strings. Equivalent to passing
options after -- on the command line. The array values support macro
expansion.
Test Preset¶
Each entry of the testPresets array is a JSON object that
may contain the following fields:
name
A required string representing the machine-friendly name
of the preset. This identifier is used in the ctest --preset option. There
must not be two test presets in the union of CMakePresets.json and
CMakeUserPresets.json in the same directory with the same name.
However, a test preset may have the same name as a configure or build
preset.
hidden
An optional boolean specifying whether or not a preset
should be hidden. If a preset is hidden, it cannot be used in the
--preset argument and does not have to have a valid
configurePreset, even from inheritance. hidden presets are
intended to be used as a base for other presets to inherit via the
inherits field.
inherits
An optional array of strings representing the names of
presets to inherit from. The preset will inherit all of the fields from the
inherits presets by default (except
name,
hidden,
inherits,
description, and
displayName), but can override
them as desired. If multiple
inherits presets provide conflicting
values for the same field, the earlier preset in the
inherits list will
be preferred. Presets in
CMakePresets.json may not inherit from presets
in
CMakeUserPresets.json.
This field can also be a string, which is equivalent to an array
containing one string.
vendor
An optional map containing vendor-specific information.
CMake does not interpret the contents of this field except to verify that it
is a map if it does exist. However, it should follow the same conventions as
the root-level vendor field. If vendors use their own per-preset
vendor field, they should implement inheritance in a sensible manner
when appropriate.
displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the
preset.
description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of
the preset.
environment
An optional map of environment variables. The key is the
variable name (which may not be an empty string), and the value is either
null or a string representing the value of the variable. Each variable
is set regardless of whether or not a value was given to it by the process's
environment. This field supports macro expansion, and environment variables in
this map may reference each other, and may be listed in any order, as long as
such references do not cause a cycle (for example, if
ENV_1 is
$env{ENV_2},
ENV_2 may not be
$env{ENV_1}.)
Environment variables are inherited through the inherits
field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own
environment and the environment from all its parents. If
multiple presets in this union define the same variable, the standard rules
of inherits are applied. Setting a variable to null causes it
to not be set, even if a value was inherited from another preset.
configurePreset
An optional string specifying the name of a configure
preset to associate with this test preset. If configurePreset is not
specified, it must be inherited from the inherits preset (unless this preset
is hidden). The build directory is inferred from the configure preset, so
tests will run in the same binaryDir that the configuration did and
build did.
inheritConfigureEnvironment
An optional boolean that defaults to true. If true, the
environment variables from the associated configure preset are inherited after
all inherited test preset environments, but before environment variables
explicitly specified in this test preset.
configuration
An optional string. Equivalent to passing
--build-config on the command line.
overwriteConfigurationFile
An optional array of configuration options to overwrite
options specified in the CTest configuration file. Equivalent to passing
--overwrite for each value in the array. The array values support macro
expansion.
output
An optional object specifying output options. The object
may contain the following fields.
shortProgress
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--progress on the command line.
verbosity
An optional string specifying verbosity level. Must be
one of the following:
default
Equivalent to passing no verbosity flags on the command
line.
verbose
Equivalent to passing --verbose on the command
line.
extra
Equivalent to passing --extra-verbose on the
command line.
debug
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--debug on the command line.
outputOnFailure
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--output-on-failure on the command line.
quiet
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--quiet on the command line.
outputLogFile
An optional string specifying a path to a log file.
Equivalent to passing --output-log on the command line. This field
supports macro expansion.
labelSummary
An optional bool. If false, equivalent to passing
--no-label-summary on the command line.
subprojectSummary
An optional bool. If false, equivalent to passing
--no-subproject-summary on the command line.
maxPassedTestOutputSize
An optional integer specifying the maximum output for
passed tests in bytes. Equivalent to passing --test-output-size-passed
on the command line.
maxFailedTestOutputSize
An optional integer specifying the maximum output for
failed tests in bytes. Equivalent to passing --test-output-size-failed
on the command line.
maxTestNameWidth
An optional integer specifying the maximum width of a
test name to output. Equivalent to passing --max-width on the command
line.
filter
An optional object specifying how to filter the tests to
run. The object may contain the following fields.
include
An optional object specifying which tests to include. The
object may contain the following fields.
name
An optional string specifying a regex for test names.
Equivalent to passing --tests-regex on the command line. This field
supports macro expansion.
label
An optional string specifying a regex for test labels.
Equivalent to passing --label-regex on the command line. This field
supports macro expansion.
useUnion
An optional bool. Equivalent to passing --union on
the command line.
index
An optional object specifying tests to include by test
index. The object may contain the following fields. Can also be an optional
string specifying a file with the command line syntax for
--tests-information. If specified as a string, this field supports
macro expansion.
start
An optional integer specifying a test index to start
testing at.
end
An optional integer specifying a test index to stop
testing at.
stride
An optional integer specifying the increment.
specificTests
An optional array of integers specifying specific test
indices to run.
exclude
An optional object specifying which tests to exclude. The
object may contain the following fields.
name
An optional string specifying a regex for test names.
Equivalent to passing --exclude-regex on the command line. This field
supports macro expansion.
label
An optional string specifying a regex for test labels.
Equivalent to passing --label-exclude on the command line. This field
supports macro expansion.
fixtures
An optional object specifying which fixtures to exclude
from adding tests. The object may contain the following fields.
any
An optional string specifying a regex for text fixtures
to exclude from adding any tests. Equivalent to --fixture-exclude-any
on the command line. This field supports macro expansion.
setup
An optional string specifying a regex for text fixtures
to exclude from adding setup tests. Equivalent to
--fixture-exclude-setup on the command line. This field supports macro
expansion.
cleanup
An optional string specifying a regex for text fixtures
to exclude from adding cleanup tests. Equivalent to
--fixture-exclude-cleanup on the command line. This field supports
macro expansion.
execution
An optional object specifying options for test execution.
The object may contain the following fields.
stopOnFailure
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--stop-on-failure on the command line.
enableFailover
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
-F on the command line.
jobs
An optional integer. Equivalent to passing
--parallel on the command line.
resourceSpecFile
An optional string. Equivalent to passing
--resource-spec-file on the command line. This field supports macro
expansion.
testLoad
An optional integer. Equivalent to passing
--test-load on the command line.
showOnly
An optional string. Equivalent to passing
--show-only on the command line. The string must be one of the
following values:
human
json-v1
repeat
An optional object specifying how to repeat tests.
Equivalent to passing
--repeat on the command line. The object must
have the following fields.
mode
A required string. Must be one of the following values:
until-fail
until-pass
after-timeout
count
interactiveDebugging
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--interactive-debug-mode 1 on the command line. If false, equivalent to
passing --interactive-debug-mode 0 on the command line.
scheduleRandom
An optional bool. If true, equivalent to passing
--schedule-random on the command line.
timeout
An optional integer. Equivalent to passing
--timeout on the command line.
noTestsAction
An optional string specifying the behavior if no tests
are found. Must be one of the following values:
default
Equivalent to not passing any value on the command
line.
error
Equivalent to passing --no-tests=error on the
command line.
ignore
Equivalent to passing --no-tests=ignore on the
command line.
Macro Expansion¶
As mentioned above, some fields support macro expansion. Macros
are recognized in the form
$<macro-namespace>{<macro-name>}. All macros are
evaluated in the context of the preset being used, even if the macro is in a
field that was inherited from another preset. For example, if the
Base preset sets variable PRESET_NAME to ${presetName},
and the Derived preset inherits from Base, PRESET_NAME
will be set to Derived.
It is an error to not put a closing brace at the end of a macro
name. For example, ${sourceDir is invalid. A dollar sign ($)
followed by anything other than a left curly brace ({) with a
possible namespace is interpreted as a literal dollar sign.
Recognized macros include:
${sourceDir}
Path to the project source directory.
${sourceParentDir}
Path to the project source directory's parent
directory.
${sourceDirName}
The last filename component of ${sourceDir}. For
example, if ${sourceDir} is /path/to/source, this would be
source.
${presetName}
Name specified in the preset's name field.
${generator}
Generator specified in the preset's generator
field. For build and test presets, this will evaluate to the generator
specified by configurePreset.
${dollar}
A literal dollar sign ($).
$env{<variable-name>}
Environment variable with name
<variable-name>. The variable name may not be an empty string. If
the variable is defined in the
environment field, that value is used
instead of the value from the parent environment. If the environment variable
is not defined, this evaluates as an empty string.
Note that while Windows environment variable names are
case-insensitive, variable names within a preset are still case-sensitive.
This may lead to unexpected results when using inconsistent casing. For best
results, keep the casing of environment variable names consistent.
$penv{<variable-name>}
Similar to $env{<variable-name>}, except
that the value only comes from the parent environment, and never from the
environment field. This allows you to prepend or append values to
existing environment variables. For example, setting PATH to
/path/to/ninja/bin:$penv{PATH} will prepend /path/to/ninja/bin
to the PATH environment variable. This is needed because
$env{<variable-name>} does not allow circular references.
$vendor{<macro-name>}
An extension point for vendors to insert their own
macros. CMake will not be able to use presets which have a
$vendor{<macro-name>} macro, and effectively ignores such
presets. However, it will still be able to use other presets from the same
file.
CMake does not make any attempt to interpret
$vendor{<macro-name>} macros. However, to avoid name
collisions, IDE vendors should prefix <macro-name> with a very
short (preferably <= 4 characters) vendor identifier prefix, followed by
a ., followed by the macro name. For example, the Example IDE could
have $vendor{xide.ideInstallDir}.
SCHEMA¶
This file provides a machine-readable JSON schema for the
CMakePresets.json format.
COPYRIGHT¶
2000-2021 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors