Ubuntu Manpage: cmake-presets - CMakePresets.json

NAME

       cmake-presets - CMakePresets.json

INTRODUCTION

       Added in version 3.19.

       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 main files, CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json, that allow users to
       specify common configure options and share them with others. CMake also supports files included with  the
       include field.

       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 specify project-wide build details, while CMakeUserPresets.json is meant
       for developers to specify their own local build details.

       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": 6,
"cmakeMinimumRequired": {
"major": 3,
"minor": 23,
"patch": 0
},
"include": [
"otherThings.json",
"moreThings.json"
],
"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}
}
],
"packagePresets": [
{
"name": "default",
"configurePreset": "default",
"generators": [
"TGZ"
]
}
],
"workflowPresets": [
{
"name": "default",
"steps": [
{
"type": "configure",
"name": "default"
},
{
"type": "build",
"name": "default"
},
{
"type": "test",
"name": "default"
},
{
"type": "package",
"name": "default"
}
]
}
],
"vendor": {
"example.com/ExampleIDE/1.0": {
"autoFormat": false
}
}
}

The root object recognizes the following fields:

$schema
An optional string that provides a URI to the JSON schema that describes the structure of this
JSON document. This field is used for validation and autocompletion in editors that support JSON
schema. It doesn't affect the behavior of the document itself. If this field is not specified, the
JSON document will still be valid, but tools that use JSON schema for validation and
autocompletion may not function correctly. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 8
or above.

version
A required integer representing the version of the JSON schema. The supported versions are:

1 Added in version 3.19.

2 Added in version 3.20.

3 Added in version 3.21.

4 Added in version 3.23.

5 Added in version 3.24.

6 Added in version 3.25.

7 Added in version 3.27.

8 Added in version 3.28.

9 Added in version 3.30.

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.

include
An optional array of strings representing files to include. If the filenames are not absolute,
they are considered relative to the current file. This is allowed in preset files specifying
version 4 or above. See Includes for discussion of the constraints on included files.

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.

packagePresets
An optional array of Package Preset objects. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 6
or above.

workflowPresets
An optional array of Workflow Preset objects. This is allowed in preset files specifying version
6 or above.

Includes
CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json can include other files with the include field in file
version 4 and later. Files included by these files can also include other files. If CMakePresets.json and
CMakeUserPresets.json are both present, CMakeUserPresets.json implicitly includes CMakePresets.json, even
with no include field, in all versions of the format.

If a preset file contains presets that inherit from presets in another file, the file must include the
other file either directly or indirectly. Include cycles are not allowed among files. If a.json includes
b.json, b.json cannot include a.json. However, a file may be included multiple times from the same file
or from different files.

Files directly or indirectly included from CMakePresets.json should be guaranteed to be provided by the
project. CMakeUserPresets.json may include files from anywhere.

Starting from version 7, the include field supports macro expansion, but only $penv{} macro expansion.
Starting from version 9, other macro expansions are also available, except for $env{} and preset-specific
macros, i.e., those derived from the fields inside a preset's definition like presetName.

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, test, package, or workflow 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. This field can
also be a string, which is equivalent to an array containing one string.

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
array will be preferred.

A preset can only inherit from another preset that is defined in the same file or in one of the
files it includes (directly or indirectly). Presets in CMakePresets.json may not inherit from
presets in CMakeUserPresets.json.

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.

See cmake -A option for possible values for architecture and cmake -T for toolset.

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.

If no strategy field is given, or if the field uses the string form rather than the object
form, the behavior is the same as "set".

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.

trace An optional object specifying trace options. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 7.
The object may contain the following fields:

mode An optional string that specifies the trace mode. Valid values are:

on Causes a trace of all calls made and from where to be printed. Equivalent to
passing --trace on the command line.

off A trace of all calls will not be printed.

expand Causes a trace with variables expanded of all calls made and from where to be
printed. Equivalent to passing --trace-expand on the command line.

format An optional string that specifies the format output of the trace. Valid values are:

human Prints each trace line in a human-readable format. This is the default format.
Equivalent to passing --trace-format=human on the command line.

json-v1
Prints each line as a separate JSON document. Equivalent to passing
--trace-format=json-v1 on the command line.

source An optional array of strings representing the paths of source files to be traced. This
field can also be a string, which is equivalent to an array containing one string.
Equivalent to passing --trace-source on the command line.

redirect
An optional string specifying a path to a trace output file. Equivalent to passing
--trace-redirect 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, test, package, or workflow 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. 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.

displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the preset.

description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of the 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.

resolvePackageReferences
An optional string that specifies the package resolve mode. This is allowed in preset files
specifying version 4 or above.

Package references are used to define dependencies to packages from external package managers.
Currently only NuGet in combination with the Visual Studio generator is supported. If there are no
targets that define package references, this option does nothing. Valid values are:

on Causes package references to be resolved before attempting a build.

off Package references will not be resolved. Note that this may cause errors in some build
environments, such as .NET SDK style projects.

only Only resolve package references, but do not perform a build.

NOTE:
The command line parameter --resolve-package-references will take priority over this setting.
If the command line parameter is not provided and this setting is not specified, an
environment-specific cache variable will be evaluated to decide, if package restoration should
be performed.

When using the Visual Studio generator, package references are defined using the
VS_PACKAGE_REFERENCES property. Package references are restored using NuGet. It can be disabled
by setting the CMAKE_VS_NUGET_PACKAGE_RESTORE variable to OFF. This can also be done from
within a configure preset.

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, build, package, or workflow preset.

inherits
An optional array of strings representing the names of presets to inherit from. 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.

displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the preset.

description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of the 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.

outputJUnitFile
An optional string specifying a path to a JUnit file. Equivalent to passing --output-junit
on the command line. This field supports macro expansion. This is allowed in preset files
specifying version 6 or above.

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.

testOutputTruncation
An optional string specifying the test output truncation mode. Equivalent to passing
--test-output-truncation on the command line. This is allowed in preset files specifying
version 5 or above.

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.

Package Preset
Package presets may be used in schema version 6 or above. Each entry of the packagePresets 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 cpack --preset option. There must not be two package presets in the union of
CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json in the same directory with the same name. However, a
package preset may have the same name as a configure, build, test, or workflow preset.

inherits
An optional array of strings representing the names of presets to inherit from. This field can
also be a string, which is equivalent to an array containing one string.

condition
An optional Condition object.

displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the preset.

description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of the preset.

configurePreset
An optional string specifying the name of a configure preset to associate with this package
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 packaging
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 package preset environments, but before
environment variables explicitly specified in this package preset.

generators
An optional array of strings representing generators for CPack to use.

configurations
An optional array of strings representing build configurations for CPack to package.

variables
An optional map of variables to pass to CPack, equivalent to -D arguments. Each key is the name of
a variable, and the value is the string to assign to that variable.

configFile
An optional string representing the config file for CPack to use.

output An optional object specifying output options. Valid keys are:

debug An optional boolean specifying whether or not to print debug information. A value of true
is equivalent to passing --debug on the command line.

verbose
An optional boolean specifying whether or not to print verbosely. A value of true is
equivalent to passing --verbose on the command line.

packageName
An optional string representing the package name.

packageVersion
An optional string representing the package version.

packageDirectory
An optional string representing the directory in which to place the package.

vendorName
An optional string representing the vendor name.

Workflow Preset
Workflow presets may be used in schema version 6 or above. Each entry of the workflowPresets 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 --workflow --preset option. There must not be two workflow presets in the union of
CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json in the same directory with the same name. However, a
workflow preset may have the same name as a configure, build, test, or package preset.

displayName
An optional string with a human-friendly name of the preset.

description
An optional string with a human-friendly description of the preset.

steps A required array of objects describing the steps of the workflow. The first step must be a
configure preset, and all subsequent steps must be non- configure presets whose configurePreset
field matches the starting configure preset. Each object may contain the following fields:

type A required string. The first step must be configure. Subsequent steps must be either build,
test, or package.

name A required string representing the name of the configure, build, test, or package preset to
run as this workflow step.

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 array 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 (i.e. the same as CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR).

${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.

This is a preset-specific macro.

${generator}
Generator specified in the preset's generator field. For build and test presets, this will
evaluate to the generator specified by configurePreset.

This is a preset-specific macro.

${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.

${fileDir}
Path to the directory containing the preset file which contains the macro. This is allowed in
preset files specifying version 4 or above.

${dollar}
A literal dollar sign ($).

${pathListSep}
Native character for separating lists of paths, such as : or ;.

For example, by setting PATH to /path/to/ninja/bin${pathListSep}$env{PATH}, ${pathListSep} will
expand to the underlying operating system's character used for concatenation in PATH.

This is allowed in preset files specifying version 5 or above.

$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