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 support 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 optional (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 local 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 CMakeUserPresets.json should be added to the .gitignore.

FORMAT

The files are a JSON document with an object as the root:

    {
      "version": 10,
      "cmakeMinimumRequired": {
        "major": 3,
        "minor": 23,
        "patch": 0
      },
      "$comment": "An example CMakePresets.json file",
      "include": [
        "otherThings.json",
        "moreThings.json"
      ],
      "configurePresets": [
        {
          "$comment": [
            "This is a comment row.",
            "This is another comment,",
            "just because we can do it"
          ],
          "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
        }
      }
    }

Preset files specifying version 10 or above may include comments using the key $comment at any level within the JSON object to provide documentation.

The root object recognizes the following fields:

$schema
    An optional string that provides a URI to the JSON schema that describes the structure of this JSON document. This field is used for validation and autocompletion in editors that support JSON schema. It doesn't affect the behavior of the document itself. If this field is not specified, the JSON document will still be valid, but tools that use JSON schema for validation and autocompletion may not function correctly.

version
    A required integer representing the version of the JSON schema. See Versions for discussion of the supported versions and the corresponding version of CMake in which they were added.

cmakeMinimumRequired
    An optional object representing the minimum version of CMake needed to build this project. This object consists of the following 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 constraints 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/ExampleIDE/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 implicitly 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 indirectly. 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 include files from anywhere.

Starting from version 7, the include field supports macro expansion, but only $penv{} macro expansion. Starting from version 9, other macro expansions are also available, except for $env{} and preset-specific macros, i.e., those derived from the fields inside a preset's definition like presetName.

  Configure Preset

Each entry of the configurePresets 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 --preset option. There must not be two configure presets in the union of CMakePresets.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 --preset argument, will not show up in the CMake GUI, and does not have to have a valid generator or binaryDir, 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 presets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple inherits 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 inheritance 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 preset.

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 generator 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, respectively, 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 architecture or toolset field. Valid values are:

"set"
    Set the respective value. This will result in an error for generators that do not support the respective field.

"external"
    Do not set the value, even if the generator supports 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 architecture 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 specified, 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.

graphviz
    An optional string representing the path to the graphviz input file, that will contain all the library and executable dependencies in the project. See the documentation for cmake --graphviz for more details.

    This field supports macro expansion. If a relative path is specified, it is calculated relative to the current working directory. It is allowed in preset files specifying version 10 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 directory. If binaryDir 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.

installDir
    An optional string representing the path to the installation directory, which will be used as the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable. This field supports macro expansion. If a relative path is specified, it is calculated relative to the source directory. 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 cacheVariables 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 variable 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 reference 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}). $penv{NAME} allows one to prepend or append values to existing environment variables by accessing only values from the parent environment.

    Environment variables are inherited through the inherits field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own environment 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 command line. This may not be set to true if warnings.deprecated is set to false.

debug
    An optional object specifying debug options. The object may contain 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.

trace
    An optional object specifying trace options. This is allowed in preset files specifying version 7. The object may contain the following fields:

mode
    An optional string that specifies the trace mode. Valid values are:

on  Causes a trace of all calls made and from where to be printed. Equivalent to passing --trace on the command line.

off A trace of all calls will not be printed.

expand
    Causes a trace with variables expanded of all calls made and from where to be printed. Equivalent to passing --trace-expand on the command line.

format
    An optional string that specifies the format output of the trace. Valid values are:

human
    Prints each trace line in a human-readable format. This is the default format. Equivalent to passing --trace-format=human on the command line.

json-v1
    Prints each line as a separate JSON document. Equivalent to passing --trace-format=json-v1 on the command line.

source
    An optional array of strings representing the paths of source files to be traced. This field can also be a string, which is equivalent to an array containing one string. Equivalent to passing --trace-source on the command line.

redirect
    An optional string specifying a path to a trace output file. Equivalent to passing --trace-redirect 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 directory 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 configurePreset, 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 presets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple inherits 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 inheritance 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 preset.

environment
    An optional map of environment variables. The key is the variable 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 reference 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}). $penv{NAME} allows one to prepend or append values to existing environment variables by accessing only values from the parent environment.

    Environment variables are inherited through the inherits field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own environment 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 configuration preset having environment variables needed in the ExternalProject, use a build preset that inherits that configuration preset or the ExternalProject will not have the environment 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 configuration 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 binaryDir that the configuration did.

inheritConfigureEnvironment
    An optional boolean that defaults to true. If true, the environment variables from the associated configure preset are inherited 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. If the value is 0, it is equivalent to passing --parallel with <jobs> omitted; alternatively, one can define the environment variable CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL as an empty string using the environment field.

    Changed in version 4.3: This field does not accept negative integer values, regardless of the version in the preset file.

targets
    An optional string or array of strings. Equivalent to passing --target or -t on the command line. Vendors may ignore the targets property or hide build presets that explicitly specify targets. This field supports macro expansion.

configuration
    An optional string. Equivalent to passing --config on the command 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 combination with the Visual Studio Generators 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 attempting 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 parameter is not provided and this setting is not specified, an environment-specific cache variable will be evaluated to decide, if package restoration should be performed.

    When using the Visual Studio Generators, 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 after -- on the command line. The array values support macro expansion.

  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 CMakePresets.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 configurePreset, 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 presets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple inherits 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 inheritance 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 preset.

environment
    An optional map of environment variables. The key is the variable 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 reference 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}). $penv{NAME} allows one to prepend or append values to existing environment variables by accessing only values from the parent environment.

    Environment variables are inherited through the inherits field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own environment 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 specified, 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 environment variables from the associated configure preset are inherited 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 support 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 command 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 specifying 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 labels. 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 increment.

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 expansion.

label
    An optional string specifying a regex for test labels. 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. If the value is 0, it is equivalent to unbounded parallelism.

    In preset files specifying version 11 or above, this field can also be a string, in which case it must be empty, and is equivalent to passing --parallel with <jobs> omitted.

    Changed in version 4.3: This field does not accept negative integer values, regardless of the version in the preset file.

resourceSpecFile
    An optional string. Equivalent to passing --resource-spec-file on the command line. This field supports 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. Equivalent to passing --repeat on the command line. The object 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 command 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 following 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 CMakePresets.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 configurePreset, 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 presets by default (except name, hidden, inherits, description, and displayName), but can override them as desired. If multiple inherits 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 inheritance 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 preset.

environment
    An optional map of environment variables. The key is the variable 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 reference 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}). $penv{NAME} allows one to prepend or append values to existing environment variables by accessing only values from the parent environment.

    Environment variables are inherited through the inherits field, and the preset's environment will be the union of its own environment 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 environment variables from the associated configure preset are inherited after all inherited package preset environments, but before environment variables explicitly specified in this package preset.

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.

    NOTE: Due to problems with the implementation, this field does not affect the name of the final package file produced. Other aspects of the package may use the value though, leading to inconsistencies. A future CMake release may address this problem, but until then, it is recommended that this field not be used.

packageVersion
    An optional string representing the package version.

    NOTE: Due to problems with the implementation, this field does not affect the name of the final package file produced. Other aspects of the package may use the value though, leading to inconsistencies. A future CMake release may address this problem, but until then, it is recommended that this field not be used.

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 following fields:

name
    A required string representing the machine-friendly name of the preset. This identifier is used in the cmake --workflow --preset option. There must not be two workflow presets in the union of CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json in the same directory with the same name. However, a workflow preset may have the same name as a configure, build, test, or package preset.

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.

displayName
    An optional string with a human-friendly name of the preset.

description
    An optional string with a human-friendly description of the preset.

steps
    A required array of objects describing the steps of the workflow. The first step must be a configure preset, and all subsequent 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. Subsequent 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 object. 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 condition) 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 equivalent to using a boolean in place of the object. The condition 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 following additional fields:

string
    A required string to search for. This field supports 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 expression 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 conditions 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 anything 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.

    This is a preset-specific macro.

${generator}
    Generator specified in the preset's generator field. For build and test presets, this will evaluate to the generator specified by configurePreset.

    This is a preset-specific macro.

${hostSystemName}
    The name of the host operating system. Contains the same value as CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME. This is allowed in preset files specifying 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${pathListSep}$env{PATH}, ${pathListSep} will expand to the underlying operating 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-insensitive, variable names within a preset are still case-sensitive. This may lead to unexpected results when using inconsistent casing. For best results, keep the casing of environment variable names consistent.

$penv{<variable-name>}
    Similar to $env{<variable-name>}, except that the value only comes from the parent environment, and never from the environment field. This allows one to prepend or append values to existing environment variables. For example, setting PATH to /path/to/ninja/bin:$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 $vendor{<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 $vendor{<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 ., followed by the macro name. For example, the Example IDE could have $vendor{xide.ideInstallDir}.

VERSIONS

The JSON schema of CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json follows a version scheme where new versions are added and allowed in newer versions of CMake.

A list of the supported versions along with the version of CMake in which they were added and a summary of the new features and changes is given below.

1   New in version 3.19.

    The initial version supports Configure Presets and Macro Expansion.

2   New in version 3.20.

•   Build Presets were added.

•   Test Presets were added.

3   New in version 3.21.

•   The Condition object was added for Configure, Build, and Test Presets.

•   Changes to Configure Presets

•   The installDir field was added.

•   The toolchainFile field was added.

•   The binaryDir field is now optional.

•   The generator field is now optional.

•   Changes to Macro Expansion

•   The ${hostSystemName} macro was added.

4   New in version 3.23.

•   Includes were added to support including other JSON files in CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json.

•   Changes to Build Presets

•   The resolvePackageReferences field was added.

•   Changes to Macro Expansion

•   The ${fileDir} macro was added.

5   New in version 3.24.

•   Changes to Test Presets

•   The testOutputTruncation field was added to the output object.

•   Changes to Macro Expansion

•   The ${pathListSep} macro was added.

6   New in version 3.25.

•   Package Presets were added.

•   Workflow Presets were added.

•   Changes to Test Presets

•   The outputJUnitFile field was added to the output object.

7   New in version 3.27.

•   Changes to Configure Presets

•   The trace field was added.

•   Changes to Includes

•   The include field now supports $penv{} macro expansion.

8   New in version 3.28.

•   The $schema field was added to the root object.

9   New in version 3.30.

•   Changes to Includes

•   The include field now supports other types of macro expansion.

10  New in version 3.31.

•   The optional $comment field was added to support documentation throughout CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json.

•   Changes to Configure Presets:

•   The graphviz field was added.

11  New in version 4.3.

•   Changes to Test Presets

•   The jobs field now accepts an empty string representing --parallel with <jobs> omitted.

SCHEMA

This file provides a machine-readable JSON schema for the CMakePresets.json format.

COPYRIGHT
2000-2026 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors