CMAKE-PRESETS(7) CMake CMAKE-PRESETS(7)
NAME
cmake-presets - CMakePresets.json
INTRODUCTION
New 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 sup-
port 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 op-
tional (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 lo-
cal 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 CMakeUserP-
resets.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:
version
A required integer representing the version of the JSON schema.
The supported versions are:
1 New in version 3.19.
2 New in version 3.20.
3 New in version 3.21.
4 New in version 3.23.
5 New in version 3.24.
6 New in version 3.25.
cmakeMinimumRequired
An optional object representing the minimum version of CMake
needed to build this project. This object consists of the fol-
lowing 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 con-
straints 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/Exam-
pleIDE/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 implic-
itly 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 indi-
rectly. 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 in-
clude files from anywhere.
Configure Preset
Each entry of the configurePresets array is a JSON object that may con-
tain 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 CMakeP-
resets.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 --pre-
set= argument, will not show up in the CMake GUI, and does not
have to have a valid generator or binaryDir, even from inheri-
tance. 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 pre-
sets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and
displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple in-
herits 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 inheri-
tance 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 pre-
set.
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 gen-
erator 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, respec-
tively, 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 archi-
tecture or toolset field. Valid values are:
"set" Set the respective value. This will result in an
error for generators that do not support the re-
spective field.
"external"
Do not set the value, even if the generator sup-
ports 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 archi-
tecture 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 spec-
ified, 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 di-
rectory. If binaryDir is not specified, it must be inherited
from the inherits preset (unless this preset is hidden). In ver-
sion 3 or above, this field may be omitted.
installDir
An optional string representing the path to the installation di-
rectory. This field supports macro expansion. If a relative
path is specified, it is calculated relative to the source di-
rectory. 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 cacheVari-
ables 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 vari-
able 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 ref-
erence 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 envi-
ronment 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 com-
mand line. This may not be set to true if warnings.dep-
recated is set to false.
debug An optional object specifying debug options. The object may con-
tain 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 direc-
tory 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 configureP-
reset, 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 pre-
sets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and
displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple in-
herits 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 inheri-
tance 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 pre-
set.
environment
An optional map of environment variables. The key is the vari-
able 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 ref-
erence 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 envi-
ronment 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 configura-
tion preset having environment variables needed in the Exter-
nalProject, use a build preset that inherits that configura-
tion preset or the ExternalProject will not have the environ-
ment 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 configura-
tion 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 bina-
ryDir that the configuration did.
inheritConfigureEnvironment
An optional boolean that defaults to true. If true, the environ-
ment variables from the associated configure preset are inher-
ited 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 tar-
gets property or hide build presets that explicitly specify tar-
gets. This field supports macro expansion.
configuration
An optional string. Equivalent to passing --config on the com-
mand 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 combina-
tion 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 attempt-
ing 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 parame-
ter is not provided and this setting is not specified, an en-
vironment-specific cache variable will be evaluated to de-
cide, 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 af-
ter -- on the command line. The array values support macro ex-
pansion.
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 CMakePre-
sets.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.
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 configureP-
reset, 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 pre-
sets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and
displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple in-
herits 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 inheri-
tance 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 pre-
set.
environment
An optional map of environment variables. The key is the vari-
able 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 ref-
erence 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 envi-
ronment 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 spec-
ified, 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 environ-
ment variables from the associated configure preset are inher-
ited 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 sup-
port 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 com-
mand 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 speci-
fying 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 la-
bels. 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 incre-
ment.
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 expan-
sion.
label An optional string specifying a regex for test la-
bels. 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 sup-
ports 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. Equiv-
alent to passing --repeat on the command line. The ob-
ject 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 com-
mand 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 follow-
ing 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 CMakePre-
sets.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.
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 configureP-
reset, 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 pre-
sets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and
displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple in-
herits 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.
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 inheri-
tance 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 pre-
set.
environment
An optional map of environment variables. The key is the vari-
able 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 ref-
erence 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 envi-
ronment 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 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 environ-
ment variables from the associated configure preset are inher-
ited after all inherited package preset environments, but before
environment variables explicitly specified in this package pre-
set.
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 fol-
lowing fields:
name A required string representing the machine-friendly name of the
preset. This identifier is used in the cmake --workflow --pre-
set option. There must not be two workflow presets in the union
of CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json in the same di-
rectory 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 pre-
set.
steps A required array of objects describing the steps of the work-
flow. The first step must be a configure preset, and all subse-
quent 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. Sub-
sequent 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 ob-
ject. 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 condi-
tion) 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 equiva-
lent to using a boolean in place of the object. The con-
dition 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 fol-
lowing additional fields:
string A required string to search for. This field sup-
ports 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 ex-
pression 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 condi-
tions 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 any-
thing 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.
${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 spec-
ifying 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.
${dollar}
A literal dollar sign ($).
${pathListSep}
Native character for separating lists of paths, such as : or ;.
For example, by setting PATH to /path/to/ninja/bin${pathList-
Sep}$env{PATH}, ${pathListSep} will expand to the underlying op-
erating 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-in-
sensitive, variable names within a preset are still case-sensi-
tive. This may lead to unexpected results when using inconsis-
tent casing. For best results, keep the casing of environment
variable names consistent.
$penv{<variable-name>}
Similar to $env{<variable-name>}, except that the value only
comes from the parent environment, and never from the environ-
ment field. This allows you to prepend or append values to ex-
isting environment variables. For example, setting PATH to
/path/to/ninja/bin:$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 $ven-
dor{<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 $ven-
dor{<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 ., fol-
lowed 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 CMakePre-
sets.json format.
COPYRIGHT
2000-2022 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors
3.25.1 November 30, 2022 CMAKE-PRESETS(7)
Generated by dwww version 1.15 on Tue Jun 25 20:39:04 CEST 2024.