Provided by: cmake-data_3.22.1-1ubuntu1.22.04.2_all 

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.
FORMAT
The files are a JSON document with an object as the root:
{
"version": 3,
"cmakeMinimumRequired": {
"major": 3,
"minor": 21,
"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:$penv{PATH}"
},
"vendor": {
"example.com/ExampleIDE/1.0": {
"autoFormat": true
}
}
},
{
"name": "ninja-multi",
"inherits": "default",
"displayName": "Ninja Multi-Config",
"description": "Default build using Ninja Multi-Config generator",
"generator": "Ninja Multi-Config"
},
{
"name": "windows-only",
"inherits": "default",
"displayName": "Windows-only configuration",
"description": "This build is only available on Windows",
"condition": {
"type": "equals",
"lhs": "${hostSystemName}",
"rhs": "Windows"
}
}
],
"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, 2, and
3.
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.
Configure Preset
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.
condition
An optional Condition object. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above.
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). In version 3 or above, this
field may be omitted to fall back to regular generator discovery procedure.
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.
toolchainFile
An optional string representing the path to the toolchain file. This field supports macro expansion.
If a relative path is specified, it is calculated relative to the build directory, and if not found,
relative to the source directory. This field takes precedence over any CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE value. It
is allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above.
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). In version 3 or above, this field may be omitted.
installDir
An optional string representing the path to the installation directory. This field supports macro
expansion. If a relative path is specified, it is calculated relative to the source directory. This is
allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above.
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.
condition
An optional Condition object. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above.
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.
NOTE:
For a CMake project using ExternalProject with a configuration preset having environment variables
needed in the ExternalProject, use a build preset that inherits that configuration preset or the
ExternalProject will not have the environment variables set in the configuration preset. Example:
suppose the host defaults to one compiler (say Clang) and the user wishes to use another compiler
(say GCC). Set configuration preset environment variables CC and CXX and use a build preset that
inherits that configuration preset. Otherwise the ExternalProject may use a different (system
default) compiler than the top-level CMake project.
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.
condition
An optional Condition object. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above.
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. CMake regex syntax is described under
string(REGEX).
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
A required integer.
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.
Condition
The condition field of a preset, allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above, is used to
determine whether or not the preset is enabled. For example, this can be used to disable a preset on
platforms other than Windows. condition may be either a boolean, null, or an object. If it is a boolean,
the boolean indicates whether the preset is enabled or disabled. If it is null, the preset is enabled,
but the null condition is not inherited by any presets that may inherit from the preset. Sub-conditions
(for example in a not, anyOf, or allOf condition) may not be null. If it is an object, it has the
following fields:
type
A required string with one of the following values:
"const"
Indicates that the condition is constant. This is equivalent to using a boolean in place of the
object. The condition object will have the following additional fields:
value
A required boolean which provides a constant value for the condition's evaluation.
"equals"
"notEquals"
Indicates that the condition compares two strings to see if they are equal (or not equal). The
condition object will have the following additional fields:
lhs
First string to compare. This field supports macro expansion.
rhs
Second string to compare. This field supports macro expansion.
"inList"
"notInList"
Indicates that the condition searches for a string in a list of strings. The condition object
will have the following additional fields:
string
A required string to search for. This field supports macro expansion.
list
A required list of strings to search. This field supports macro expansion, and uses
short-circuit evaluation.
"matches"
"notMatches"
Indicates that the condition searches for a regular expression in a string. The condition object
will have the following additional fields:
string
A required string to search. This field supports macro expansion.
regex
A required regular expression to search for. This field supports macro expansion.
"anyOf"
"allOf"
Indicates that the condition is an aggregation of zero or more nested conditions. The condition
object will have the following additional fields:
conditions
A required array of condition objects. These conditions use short-circuit evaluation.
"not"
Indicates that the condition is an inversion of another condition. The condition object will have
the following additional fields:
condition
A required condition object.
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.
${hostSystemName}
The name of the host operating system. Contains the same value as CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME. This is
allowed in preset files specifying version 3 or above.
${dollar}
A literal dollar sign ($).
$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
2000-2024 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors
3.22.1 February 03, 2024 CMAKE-PRESETS(7)