ct-build¶

One-command Make-specific wrapper around ct-findtargets + make¶

Author:: drgeoffathome@gmail.com
Date:: 2025-11-26
Version:: 10.0.6
Manual section:: 1
Manual group:: developers

SYNOPSIS¶

ct-build [CT-FINDTARGETS OPTIONS] [CT-CREATE-MAKEFILE OPTIONS]

DESCRIPTION¶

ct-build is a Make-specific convenience front-end that chains the usual steps needed to compile a project with compiletools:

ct-findtargets --style=args is run with all user-supplied arguments to discover buildable executables and tests.
ct-create-makefile is invoked with the discovered targets plus the same argument list to produce an up-to-date Makefile.
make -j$(ct-jobs) executes the generated Makefile using the job count calculated by ct-jobs (which honors ct.conf and CT_JOBS).

For other build backends (Ninja, CMake, Bazel, Shake), use ct-cake --backend=<name> instead.

Because every flag is passed through untouched, you can use the exact same options you would normally hand to ct-findtargets or ct-create-makefile (e.g., --variant, --magic, --append-CXXFLAGS, --cas-objdir, --bindir). The wrapper simply glues those tools together and ensures the parallel make step uses the recommended level of concurrency.

OPTIONS¶

ct-build does not define its own bespoke flags; it accepts the combined option set of ct-findtargets and ct-create-makefile. Frequently used examples include:

--variant VARIANT: Choose the build variant (debug, release, etc.). Defaults to blank.
--auto / --no-auto: Enable or disable automatic target discovery. Auto mode is on by default.
--magic {direct,cpp}: Select magic include processing strategy passed through to ct-cake logic.
--makefilename PATH: Override the location of the intermediate Makefile.
--cas-objdir PATH / --bindir PATH: Override where objects and binaries are written.

See the manuals for ct-findtargets and ct-create-makefile for the complete option reference.

ENVIRONMENT¶

CT_JOBS: If set, overrides the job count returned by ct-jobs for the final make invocation. Otherwise ct-jobs uses CPU count and config data.
ct.conf: Settings such as include paths, object CAS directives, and variant defaults influence every stage that ct-build orchestrates.

EXAMPLES¶

Build everything in the current tree using the release variant:

ct-build --variant=release

Compile with automatic magic flag detection disabled and custom output dirs:

ct-build --no-auto --cas-objdir=out/obj --bindir=out/bin