cman

cman (C++ Manager) - An ultralightweight C++ build tool written in pure C++23.

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 nam-ann

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

Usage

1. Build

Nah bro it's only one cpp file, don't tell me you don't even know how to compile.

Example for Windows:

g++ -std=c++23 -fmodules-ts main.cpp -static -o cman.exe

Example for Linux-based OS:

g++ -std=c++23 -fmodules-ts main.cpp -static -o cman

Or using MSVC(cl) or Clang (clang++) idc

2. Basic Commands

cman provides a straightforward CLI for cleaning and building your targets.

# Display help and available build modes
cman help

# Show cman version
cman version

# Clean build artifacts (removes the out/ directory)
cman clean

# Build a project
cman build [compile_type] [dependencies] [compiler]

3. Compile Types

When running cman build, specify one of the following compilation modes:

Mode	Target Output	Description
exec	Executable	Builds standalone executable binary (.exe / ELF)
dynlnk	Dynamic Library	Builds dynamic shared library (.dll / .so)
statlnk	Static Library	Builds static library archive (.lib / .a)

4. Configuration Files

cman uses simple plain-text configuration files to drive the build pipeline.

A. Target Dependencies (project.cdeps)

Defines the directory layout and source files using indented tree paths and wildcards.

src/
    *.cpp
module/
    main.cppm
lib/
    some/
        include/
            .inc
        bin/
            some.lib
            some.a
./
    other.cdeps

B. Compiler Template (compiler.txt)

Defines command-line templates for your specific C++ toolchain using indexed placeholders:

• {0}: Input source file / object inputs
• {1}: Output object file / target binary

And lines

• line 1: Build Source
• line 2: Build Module
• line 3: Export dynamic link
• line 4: Export static link
• line 5: Add include directory
• line 6: Export executable

Example for GCC:

g++ -std=c++23 -fmodules-ts -c "{0}" -o "{1}" -MMD -MF "{1}.d"
g++ -std=c++23 -fmodules-ts -c "{0}" -o "{1}" -MMD -MF "{1}.d"
g++ -shared {0} -o OUT.so -lstdc++exp -Wl,--allow-multiple-definition
ar rcs OUT.a {0}
-I "{0}"
g++ {0} -o OUT -lstdc++exp -Wl,--allow-multiple-definition

Example for MSVC:

cl /std:c++latest /nologo /EHsc /MT /c "{0}" /Fo"{1}" /sourceDependencies "{1}.d"
cl /std:c++latest /nologo /EHsc /MT /c /TP /interface "{0}" /Fo"{1}" /sourceDependencies "{1}.d"
cl /std:c++latest /nologo /EHsc /MT /LD {0} /Fe OUT.dll
lib /nologo /OUT:OUT.lib {0}
/I "{0}"
link /nologo /OUT:OUT.exe {0}

5. Build Examples

cman build exec project.cdeps compiler.txt

Support

If you find this project useful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub. Thank you! :)