hatch-cpp

Hatch plugin for C++ builds

Overview

A simple, extensible C++ build plugin for hatch.

[tool.hatch.build.hooks.hatch-cpp]
libraries = [
    {name = "project/extension", sources = ["cpp/project/basic.cpp"], include-dirs = ["cpp"]}
]

For more complete systems, see:

• scikit-build-core
• setuptools

Configuration

Configuration is driven from the [tool.hatch.build.hooks.hatch-cpp] hatch hook configuration field in a pyproject.toml. It is designed to closely match existing Python/C/C++ packaging tools.

verbose = true
libraries = { Library Args }
cmake = { CMake Args }
platform = { Platform, either "linux", "darwin", or "win32" }

See the test cases for more concrete examples.

hatch-cpp is driven by pydantic models for configuration and execution of the build. These models can themselves be overridden by setting build-config-class / build-plan-class.

Library Arguments

name = "mylib"
sources = [
    "path/to/file.cpp",
]
language = "c++"

binding = "cpython" # or "pybind11", "nanobind", "generic"
std = "" # Passed to -std= or /std:

include_dirs = ["paths/to/add/to/-I"]
library_dirs = ["paths/to/add/to/-L"]
libraries = ["-llibraries_to_link"]

extra_compile_args = ["--extra-compile-args"]
extra_link_args = ["--extra-link-args"]
extra_objects = ["extra_objects"]

define_macros = ["-Ddefines_to_use"]
undef_macros = ["-Uundefines_to_use"]

py_limited_api = "cp39"  # limited API to use

CMake Arguments

hatch-cpp has some convenience integration with CMake. Though this is not designed to be as full-featured as e.g. scikit-build, it should be satisfactory for many small projects.

root = "path/to/cmake/root"
build = "path/to/cmake/build/folder"
install = "path/to/cmake/install/folder"

cmake_arg_prefix = "MYPROJECT_"
cmake_args = {}  # any other cmake args to pass
cmake_env_args = {} # env-specific cmake args to pass

include_flags = {} # include flags to pass -D

CLI

hatch-cpp is integrated with hatch-build to allow easy configuration of options via command line:

hatch-build \
    -- \
    --verbose \
    --platform linux \
    --vcpkg.vcpkg a/path/to/vcpkg.json \
    --libraries.0.binding pybind11 \
    --libraries.0.include-dirs cpp,another-dir

This CLI is aware of your pyproject.toml-configured setup. To display help for this, run (note the passthrough --):

hatch-build -- --help

For example, for the test_project_basic in this project's tests folder:

hatch-build --hooks-only -- --help
[sdist]

[wheel]
[2025-11-11T17:31:06-0500][p2a][WARNING]: Only dicts with str, int, float, bool, or enum values are supported - field `cmake_env_args` got value type typing.Dict[str, str]
usage: hatch-build-extras-model [-h] [--verbose] [--name NAME] [--libraries.0.name LIBRARIES.0.NAME]
                                [--libraries.0.sources.0 LIBRARIES.0.SOURCES.0] [--libraries.0.sources LIBRARIES.0.SOURCES]
                                [--libraries.0.language LIBRARIES.0.LANGUAGE] [--libraries.0.binding LIBRARIES.0.BINDING]
                                [--libraries.0.std LIBRARIES.0.STD] [--libraries.0.include-dirs.0 LIBRARIES.0.INCLUDE_DIRS.0]
                                [--libraries.0.include-dirs LIBRARIES.0.INCLUDE_DIRS]
                                [--libraries.0.library-dirs LIBRARIES.0.LIBRARY_DIRS]
                                [--libraries.0.libraries LIBRARIES.0.LIBRARIES]
                                [--libraries.0.extra-compile-args LIBRARIES.0.EXTRA_COMPILE_ARGS]
                                [--libraries.0.extra-link-args LIBRARIES.0.EXTRA_LINK_ARGS]
                                [--libraries.0.extra-objects LIBRARIES.0.EXTRA_OBJECTS]
                                [--libraries.0.define-macros LIBRARIES.0.DEFINE_MACROS]
                                [--libraries.0.undef-macros LIBRARIES.0.UNDEF_MACROS]
                                [--libraries.0.export-symbols LIBRARIES.0.EXPORT_SYMBOLS]
                                [--libraries.0.depends LIBRARIES.0.DEPENDS]
                                [--libraries.0.py-limited-api LIBRARIES.0.PY_LIMITED_API] [--cmake.root CMAKE.ROOT]
                                [--cmake.build CMAKE.BUILD] [--cmake.install CMAKE.INSTALL]
                                [--cmake.cmake-arg-prefix CMAKE.CMAKE_ARG_PREFIX] [--cmake.cmake-args CMAKE.CMAKE_ARGS]
                                [--cmake.include-flags CMAKE.INCLUDE_FLAGS] [--platform.cc PLATFORM.CC]
                                [--platform.cxx PLATFORM.CXX] [--platform.ld PLATFORM.LD] [--platform.platform PLATFORM.PLATFORM]
                                [--platform.toolchain PLATFORM.TOOLCHAIN] [--platform.disable-ccache] [--vcpkg.vcpkg VCPKG.VCPKG]
                                [--vcpkg.vcpkg-root VCPKG.VCPKG_ROOT] [--vcpkg.vcpkg-repo VCPKG.VCPKG_REPO]
                                [--vcpkg.vcpkg-triplet VCPKG.VCPKG_TRIPLET] [--build-type BUILD_TYPE] [--commands COMMANDS]

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --verbose
  --name NAME
  --libraries.0.name LIBRARIES.0.NAME
  --libraries.0.sources.0 LIBRARIES.0.SOURCES.0
  --libraries.0.sources LIBRARIES.0.SOURCES
  --libraries.0.language LIBRARIES.0.LANGUAGE
  --libraries.0.binding LIBRARIES.0.BINDING
  --libraries.0.std LIBRARIES.0.STD
  --libraries.0.include-dirs.0 LIBRARIES.0.INCLUDE_DIRS.0
  --libraries.0.include-dirs LIBRARIES.0.INCLUDE_DIRS
  --libraries.0.library-dirs LIBRARIES.0.LIBRARY_DIRS
  --libraries.0.libraries LIBRARIES.0.LIBRARIES
  --libraries.0.extra-compile-args LIBRARIES.0.EXTRA_COMPILE_ARGS
  --libraries.0.extra-link-args LIBRARIES.0.EXTRA_LINK_ARGS
  --libraries.0.extra-objects LIBRARIES.0.EXTRA_OBJECTS
  --libraries.0.define-macros LIBRARIES.0.DEFINE_MACROS
  --libraries.0.undef-macros LIBRARIES.0.UNDEF_MACROS
  --libraries.0.export-symbols LIBRARIES.0.EXPORT_SYMBOLS
  --libraries.0.depends LIBRARIES.0.DEPENDS
  --libraries.0.py-limited-api LIBRARIES.0.PY_LIMITED_API
  --cmake.root CMAKE.ROOT
  --cmake.build CMAKE.BUILD
  --cmake.install CMAKE.INSTALL
  --cmake.cmake-arg-prefix CMAKE.CMAKE_ARG_PREFIX
  --cmake.cmake-args CMAKE.CMAKE_ARGS
  --cmake.include-flags CMAKE.INCLUDE_FLAGS
  --platform.cc PLATFORM.CC
  --platform.cxx PLATFORM.CXX
  --platform.ld PLATFORM.LD
  --platform.platform PLATFORM.PLATFORM
  --platform.toolchain PLATFORM.TOOLCHAIN
  --platform.disable-ccache
  --vcpkg.vcpkg VCPKG.VCPKG
  --vcpkg.vcpkg-root VCPKG.VCPKG_ROOT
  --vcpkg.vcpkg-repo VCPKG.VCPKG_REPO
  --vcpkg.vcpkg-triplet VCPKG.VCPKG_TRIPLET
  --build-type BUILD_TYPE
  --commands COMMANDS

Environment Variables

hatch-cpp will respect standard environment variables for compiler control, e.g. CC, CXX, LD, CMAKE_GENERATOR, OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET, etc.

Pyodide

Pyodide builds are detected from PYODIDE_ABI_VERSION. The hook preserves Pyodide's Emscripten compiler wrappers, gives extension modules CPython's Emscripten suffix, and emits the corresponding pyemscripten wheel platform tag. No project-specific build hook is required.

[tool.hatch.build.hooks.hatch-cpp]
libraries = [
    {name = "project/extension", sources = ["cpp/extension.cpp"], binding = "pybind11"},
]

[tool.cibuildwheel.pyodide]
test-command = "python -c 'from project.extension import answer; assert answer() == 42'"

When a vcpkg.json manifest is active, Emscripten builds use vcpkg's wasm32-emscripten community triplet. Package support varies by port.