buildgen 0.1.8

Build system generator - Makefile, CMake, scikit-build-core and more.

buildgen - generate your build-system

A build system generator package supporting Makefile, CMake, and scikit-build-core project definitions.

Note: the buildgen test suite generates, build and tests every one of its recipes.

Installation

pip install buildgen

Quick Start

# Create a C++ project
buildgen new myapp

# Create a Python extension with pybind11
buildgen new myext -r py/pybind11

# List available recipes
buildgen list

Features

• Makefile Generation: Programmatic Makefile creation with variables, pattern rules, conditionals
• CMake Generation: Full CMakeLists.txt generation with find_package, FetchContent, install rules
• Cross-Generator: Define project recipes once in JSON/YAML, generate build systems
• CMake Frontend: Use CMake as build system with convenient Makefile frontend
• Project Templates: Quick-start templates for common project types
• scikit-build-core Templates: Python extension project scaffolding (pybind11, cython, nanobind, C)
• Template Customization: Override templates per-project, per-user, or via environment variable (Mako syntax)
• Configurable Project Recipes: 2-step JSON/YAML recipes which include options and which are rendered to generate the project infrastructure.

Usage

CLI

# Create projects from recipes
buildgen new myapp -r cpp/executable
buildgen new mylib -r c/static
buildgen new myext -r py/pybind11

# List available recipes
buildgen list

# Generate build files from a config file
buildgen generate --from project.json

# Test recipe generation and building
buildgen test --all

# Direct Makefile generation (advanced)
buildgen makefile generate -o Makefile --targets "all:main.o:"

# Direct CMake generation (advanced)
buildgen cmake generate -o CMakeLists.txt --project myapp --cxx-standard 17

Python API

from buildgen import ProjectConfig, TargetConfig, DependencyConfig

# Load from config file
config = ProjectConfig.load("project.json")
config.generate_all()  # Creates Makefile and CMakeLists.txt

# Or build programmatically
config = ProjectConfig(
    name="myproject",
    version="1.0.0",
    cxx_standard=17,
    compile_options=["-Wall", "-Wextra"],
    dependencies=[
        DependencyConfig(name="Threads"),
        DependencyConfig(
            name="fmt",
            git_repository="https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git",
            git_tag="10.1.1",
        ),
    ],
    targets=[
        TargetConfig(
            name="mylib",
            target_type="static",
            sources=["src/lib.cpp"],
            include_dirs=["include"],
        ),
        TargetConfig(
            name="myapp",
            target_type="executable",
            sources=["src/main.cpp"],
            link_libraries=["mylib", "fmt::fmt"],
            install=True,
        ),
    ],
)
config.generate_all()

CMake with Makefile Frontend

Generate CMake as the build system with a Makefile that wraps cmake commands:

config.generate_cmake_with_frontend(
    build_dir="build",
    build_type="Release",
)

This creates:

• CMakeLists.txt - The actual build logic
• Makefile - Convenience wrapper with targets:

make              # Configure and build
make build        # Same as above
make configure    # Run cmake configure only
make clean        # Remove build directory
make rebuild      # Clean and rebuild
make install      # Install the project
make test         # Run tests with ctest
make myapp        # Build specific target
make help         # Show available targets

# Override defaults
make BUILD_TYPE=Debug
make BUILD_DIR=cmake-build
make CMAKE_FLAGS="-DFOO=bar"

Project Configuration

JSON Format

{
    "name": "myproject",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "cxx_standard": 17,
    "compile_options": ["-Wall", "-Wextra"],
    "dependencies": [
        "Threads",
        {"name": "OpenSSL", "required": true},
        {
            "name": "fmt",
            "git_repository": "https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git",
            "git_tag": "10.1.1"
        }
    ],
    "targets": [
        {
            "name": "mylib",
            "type": "static",
            "sources": ["src/lib.cpp"],
            "include_dirs": ["include"],
            "install": true
        },
        {
            "name": "myapp",
            "type": "executable",
            "sources": ["src/main.cpp"],
            "link_libraries": ["mylib", "Threads::Threads"],
            "install": true
        }
    ]
}

YAML format

name: myproject
version: 1.0.0
cxx_standard: 17

compile_options:
  - -Wall
  - -Wextra

dependencies:
  - Threads
  - name: OpenSSL
    required: true
  - name: fmt
    git_repository: https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git
    git_tag: 10.1.1

targets:
  - name: mylib
    type: static
    sources:
      - src/lib.cpp
    include_dirs:
      - include
    install: true

  - name: myapp
    type: executable
    sources:
      - src/main.cpp
    link_libraries:
      - mylib
      - Threads::Threads
    install: true

Project Recipes

Recipes use a category/variant naming convention:

buildgen list

C++ Recipes (CMake + Makefile frontend):

Recipe	Description
cpp/executable	Single executable
cpp/static	Static library
cpp/shared	Shared library (-fPIC)
cpp/header-only	Header-only library
cpp/library-with-tests	Library + tests
cpp/app-with-lib	App with internal library
cpp/full	Library + app + tests

C Recipes (CMake + Makefile frontend):

Recipe	Description
c/executable	Single executable
c/static	Static library
c/shared	Shared library (-fPIC)
c/header-only	Header-only library
c/library-with-tests	Library + tests
c/app-with-lib	App with internal library
c/full	Library + app + tests

Python Extension Recipes (scikit-build-core):

Recipe	Description
py/pybind11	C++ extension using pybind11
py/pybind11-flex	Pybind11 extension with optional Catch2/GTest tests + CLI
py/nanobind	C++ extension using nanobind
py/cython	Extension using Cython
py/cext	C extension (Python.h)

Python Extension Projects

Generate complete Python extension projects with scikit-build-core:

# Create a pybind11 extension project
buildgen new myext -r py/pybind11

# Use traditional virtualenv instead of uv
buildgen new myext -r py/pybind11 --env venv

This creates a complete project structure:

myext/
  pyproject.toml      # scikit-build-core configuration
  CMakeLists.txt      # CMake build instructions
  Makefile            # Convenience wrapper
  src/myext/
    __init__.py       # Python package
    _core.cpp         # C++ extension source
  tests/
    test_myext.py     # pytest tests

The generated Makefile provides convenient commands (using uv by default):

make sync     # Initial setup (uv sync)
make build    # Rebuild extension after code changes
make test     # Run tests (uv run pytest)
make wheel    # Build wheel distribution
make clean    # Remove build artifacts

For traditional virtualenv workflows, use --env venv to generate pip/python commands instead.

The py/pybind11-flex recipe additionally drops a project.flex.json that documents how to toggle the native Catch2/GTest harness and the optional embedded CLI using cmake -D flags. Update its options block and rerun cmake to explore different combinations without re-running buildgen new.

Configurable Recipe Workflow

For recipes marked as configurable (like py/pybind11-flex), project creation is a two-step flow:

buildgen new myflex -r py/pybind11-flex      # emits myflex/project.flex.json
# edit myflex/project.flex.json (env, test framework, CLI toggle)
buildgen render myflex/project.flex.json     # renders full project based on options

buildgen render produces a standard config (project.json or .yaml, depending on the source filename) inside the generated project with all placeholders resolved, while the original project.flex.json stays wherever you edited it for future re-runs. You can run buildgen render from within the project directory as long as you point to the flex file. Use --env venv on buildgen render to override the config’s environment choice without editing the JSON/YAML.

Template Customization

Templates can be customized without modifying buildgen. Override files are resolved in this order (first match wins):

1. $BUILDGEN_TEMPLATES/{recipe}/ - Environment variable (for CI/CD)
2. .buildgen/templates/{recipe}/ - Project-local overrides
3. ~/.buildgen/templates/{recipe}/ - User-global defaults
4. Built-in templates

Template Commands

# List available templates and show which have overrides
buildgen templates list

# Copy templates for local customization
buildgen templates copy py/pybind11

# Copy to global location for user-wide defaults
buildgen templates copy py/pybind11 --global

# Show where each template file is resolved from
buildgen templates show py/pybind11

Customizing Templates

1. Copy the templates you want to customize:

   buildgen templates copy py/pybind11
   

2. Edit the .mako files in .buildgen/templates/py/pybind11/:

   # Customize pyproject.toml template
   edit .buildgen/templates/py/pybind11/pyproject.toml.mako
   

3. Generate projects - your customizations will be used:

   buildgen new myext -r py/pybind11
   

Templates use Mako syntax with ${variable} for substitution.

Per-File Overrides

You can override individual files while keeping others from built-in templates. For example, to customize only pyproject.toml:

mkdir -p .buildgen/templates/py/pybind11
cp $(buildgen templates show py/pybind11 | grep pyproject) .buildgen/templates/py/pybind11/
# Edit your local copy

Low-Level API

For fine-grained control, use the generators directly:

from buildgen import MakefileGenerator, CMakeListsGenerator

# Makefile
gen = MakefileGenerator("Makefile")
gen.add_cxxflags("-Wall", "-std=c++17")
gen.add_target("myapp", "$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -o $@ $^", deps=["main.o"])
gen.add_pattern_rule("%.o", "%.cpp", "$(CXX) $(CXXFLAGS) -c $< -o $@")
gen.add_phony("all", "clean")
gen.generate()

# CMake
gen = CMakeListsGenerator("CMakeLists.txt")
gen.set_project("myapp", version="1.0.0")
gen.set_cxx_standard(17)
gen.add_find_package("Threads", required=True)
gen.add_executable("myapp", ["src/main.cpp"], link_libraries=["Threads::Threads"])
gen.generate()

Development

make test        # Run tests
make lint        # Run ruff check
make coverage    # Coverage report

Credits

• Template rendering powered by an embedded version of Mako Templates (MIT License)
• Originally inspired by prior work in shedskin.makefile in the shedskin project

License

GPL-3.0-or-later