cmakex

A lightweight CMake build eXtension for the command line.

Wraps common CMake workflows and provides project introspection by parsing CMakeLists.txt.

Features

• info — Parse CMakeLists.txt and display include directories, shared/static library output paths, and executables.
• configure — Create the build directory and run cmake -S . -B build.
• build / compile — Run cmake --build.
• clean — Run the clean target, or --purge to delete the entire build directory.

Installation

pip install cmakex

Or install from source:

git clone https://github.com/winterYANGWT/cmakex.git
cd cmakex
pip install -e .

Quick Start

# Inspect the current project
cmakex info

# Configure (creates ./build, runs cmake)
cmakex configure -B build -G Ninja -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# Build
cmakex build -B build -j8

# Or use the alias
cmakex compile -j$(nproc)

# Clean (runs make clean / ninja clean)
cmakex clean

# Remove the build directory entirely
cmakex clean --purge

Commands

cmakex info

cmakex info [-S SOURCE_DIR] [-B BUILD_DIR]

Parses CMakeLists.txt (and recursively any add_subdirectory() files) and prints:

• Include directories from include_directories() / target_include_directories()
• Shared libraries (.so) with output paths
• Static libraries (.a) with output paths
• Executables with output paths

Output paths are resolved from CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, and set_target_properties(… PROPERTIES …_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY …).

cmakex configure

cmakex configure [-S SOURCE_DIR] [-B BUILD_DIR] [-G GENERATOR] [-D KEY=VALUE ...] [-- EXTRA_CMAKE_ARGS]

Creates the build directory and runs:

cmake -S <source_dir> -B <build_dir> [-G <generator>] [-D <key=value>...] [extra...]

cmakex build / cmakex compile

cmakex build [-B BUILD_DIR] [-j N] [-t TARGET] [--config CONFIG] [-- EXTRA_ARGS]

Runs cmake --build <build_dir>. compile is an alias for build.

cmakex clean

cmakex clean [-B BUILD_DIR] [--purge]

• Default: runs cmake --build <build_dir> --target clean
• --purge: removes <build_dir> entirely (shutil.rmtree)

Global options

Flag	Description
-h, --help	Show help
--version	Show version
-v, --verbose	Print the cmake command before running

Requirements

• Python ≥ 3.8
• CMake ≥ 3.13 (for -S/-B flag support)
• click ≥ 8.0

License

MIT