CMake 4.5 Release Notes

Changes made since CMake 4.4 include the following.

New Features

Diagnostics

• The CMD_NON_TARGET_DIRECTIVE diagnostic category was added to diagnose commands that affect the directory scope when comparable target-specific commands exist. The use of such directives is discouraged. This diagnostic may be controlled with the -Wnon-target-directive command-line option, the nonTargetDirective field in a CMake Presets warnings object, or the cmake_diagnostic() command.

• The CMD_STRICT diagnostic category was added to control diagnostics regarding allowed but discouraged usage as a group. This diagnostic may be controlled with the -Wstrict command-line option, the strict field in a CMake Presets warnings object, or the cmake_diagnostic() command.

Presets

• cmake-presets(7) files now support schema version 13.

• cmake-presets(7) gained the ${configurePresetName} macro to expand to the name of the configure preset associated with the preset being evaluated. It is available for configure, build, test, and package presets, but not for workflow presets.

File-Based API

• The cmake-file-api(7) "codemodel" version 2 version field has been updated to 2.12.

• The cmake-file-api(7) "codemodel" version 2 "target" object gained a new interfaceIncludes array field.

Instrumentation

• The cmake-instrumentation(7) data version has been updated to 1.2.

• cmake-instrumentation(7) now records an overall cmakeBuild snippet even when a cmake --build invocation is interrupted by the user (for example with Ctrl+C). The snippet includes a new interruptSignal field, recording the signal that interrupted the build, so that consumers can distinguish an interrupted build from one that ran to completion.

• cmake-instrumentation(7) now records an overall cmakeInstall snippet, marked with the same interruptSignal field, when a cmake --install invocation is interrupted by the user.

• cmake-instrumentation(7) now records an overall ctest snippet, marked with the same interruptSignal field, when a ctest(1) invocation is interrupted by the user. On interrupt CTest stops scheduling further tests and preserves its checkpoint file so that a later ctest -F can resume the interrupted test set.

Generators

• The Ninja Generators, Makefile Generators, and FASTBuild generator now provide install_prep/all and install_prep/<component> convenience build targets by default. The CMAKE_SKIP_INSTALL_PREP_TARGETS variable may be enabled to skip generating them. These targets build all known build dependencies for an installation that does not select a component, or for the named install component, respectively. This includes targets that produce installed C++ module BMIs, module export metadata, or generated files. See Install Preparation Targets.

• The FASTBuild generator and the Makefile Generators now provide test_prep/<test-name> and test_prep/all convenience build targets by default. The CMAKE_SKIP_TEST_PREP_TARGETS variable may be enabled to skip generating them. These targets build the dependencies of tests added by add_test(), including those listed with the BUILD_DEPENDS keyword. See Test Preparation Targets.

• The Ninja Generators now provide test_prep/<test-name> and test_prep/all convenience build targets build targets by default. The CMAKE_SKIP_TEST_PREP_TARGETS variable may be enabled to skip generating them. These targets were previously generated only if CMAKE_TEST_BUILD_DEPENDS was enabled. See Test Preparation Targets.

• Makefile Generators and Ninja Generators gained support for adding a linker launcher with CUDA and HIP. See the CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER variable and <LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER target property for details.

Languages

• import std is now available for all C++ 20 and later code with CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES enabled.

Compilers

• The open-source DPC++ compiler, version 7.0 and newer, is now supported with compiler id DPClang for languages C and CXX.

Command-Line

• The cmake -E capabilities output now includes an instrumentation object reporting the supported instrumentation API version and the latest supported data version.

• The cmake --list-presets option gained *-defined values that list all non-hidden presets of the corresponding type and explain why unavailable presets cannot be used. The defined value is an alias for configure-defined, while all-defined selects every type. Build, test, and package presets whose configure preset is unavailable are now considered unavailable too.

• The cmake --build --list-presets=defined, ctest --list-presets=defined, and cpack --list-presets=defined options were added to list all defined build, test, and package presets, respectively.

• The cmake --workflow --list-presets=defined option was added to provide the same availability information for all defined workflow presets and their steps.

Commands

• The add_custom_rule() command was added to allow the definition of pattern rules.

• The add_dependencies() command now accepts Alias Targets. Dependencies are added to the target the alias references.

• The discover_tests() command gained a BUILD_DEPENDS argument to support the --out-of-date behavior of ctest(1).

• The cmake_language(PRINT_PROPERTIES) command was added to print CMake entities' properties in human-readable form for debugging.

• The cmake_language(PRINT_TARGETS) command was added to print the targets that currently exist in human-readable form for debugging.

• The cmake_language(PRINT_VARIABLES) command was added to print variables and their values in human-readable form for debugging.

• The file(ARCHIVE_CREATE) command gained a PATTERNS_EXCLUDE option to omit files and directories matching the given patterns from the created archive.

• The file(ARCHIVE_EXTRACT) command gained a PATTERNS_EXCLUDE option to omit archive entries matching the given patterns from being extracted or listed.

• The file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES) command is now implemented on FreeBSD.

• The find_package() command now supports importing Common Package Specification executable components.

• The function() command now sets the ARGNC variable, which holds the number of arguments past the last expected argument.

• The if() command gained a PATH_IS_PREFIX operator to test whether one path is a prefix of another without accessing the filesystem. See policy CMP0222.

• The if() command gained a RULE operator to check if a rule exists.

• The install() and export() commands now accept Alias Targets. The commands operate on the underlying aliased target.

• The install(SBOM) and export(SBOM) commands were added to generate Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) files.

• The install(TARGETS) command no longer requires a LIBRARY DESTINATION for Module Libraries. When no destination is given, a module library is installed to the default RUNTIME destination on DLL platforms and to the default LIBRARY destination on other platforms.

• The install(TARGETS) command gained a RUNTIME_DEPENDENCY_TARGETS option to install runtime artifacts of non-imported shared libraries from the same build that the named targets link to. Unlike RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES, this uses CMake target graph information rather than file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES). The option cannot be used with EXPORT and may only install runtime artifacts.

• The install() command's FILES, PROGRAMS, DIRECTORY, SCRIPT, and CODE signatures gained a BUILD_DEPENDS option to specify targets or files needed to prepare files or run installation code. See Install Preparation Targets.

• The math() command gained new INCREMENT and DECREMENT modes.

• The project() and enable_language() commands, when called in subdirectories, now propagate support for enabled languages to all ancestor scopes up to the top-level directory, including through enclosing block() and function() scopes. See policy CMP0220.

• The set_property() and get_property() commands now support RULE properties.

• The set_property() and set_target_properties() commands now accept Alias Targets. Properties are set on the target which the alias references.

• The string(JSON) command gained an ARRAY_SPLIT mode that splits a JSON array into a list of its elements with a single parse, enabling linear-time array iteration instead of re-parsing the whole JSON string for each element.

• The target_compile_definitions(), target_compile_features(), target_compile_options(), target_include_directories(), target_link_directories(), target_link_libraries(), target_link_options(), target_precompile_headers(), and target_sources() commands now accept Alias Targets. The command operates on the target the alias references.

File Sets

• Common Package Specification import by find_package(), and export by install(PACKAGE_INFO) and export(PACKAGE_INFO), now support header file sets.

• The source_group() command gained support for file sets.

• The FILE_SET_TYPES, FILE_SETS_<TYPE>, and INTERFACE_FILE_SETS_<TYPE> target properties were added to get information about file sets attached to the target.

• The LANGUAGE file set property was added to select the compile language for members of a SOURCES file set without modifying their LANGUAGE source file property.

• The SOURCE_GROUP file set property and SOURCE_GROUP source file property were added to provide a fine grain control over the grouping of sources.

Variables

• The CMAKE_CXX_STDLIB_MODULES_JSON variable was added to set the path to the import std metadata file for the standard library rather than using the compiler to discover its location.

• The CMAKE_INSTALL_SBOM_FORMATS variable was added to enable Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) generation.

• The CMAKE_TEST_BUILD_DEPENDS variable is no longer honored. Test preparation targets are now enabled by default. The CMAKE_SKIP_TEST_PREP_TARGETS variable may be enabled to skip generating them.

Environment Variables

• The CMAKE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_ID environment variable was added to hint to cmake(1) when --fresh may be necessary, along with CMAKE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_ACTION to control what happens when CMAKE_SYSTEM_ENVIRONMENT_ID changes.

Properties

• The CMAKE_COMPILE_WRAPPER_<NAME> and CMAKE_LINK_WRAPPER_<NAME> global properties were added alongside the COMPILE_WRAPPERS, LINK_WRAPPERS, INTERFACE_COMPILE_WRAPPERS, and INTERFACE_LINK_WRAPPERS target properties. Together, for the Makefile Generators and Ninja Generators, they support wrapping compile and link commands for a given target or its consumers with arbitrary command lines.

• The CMAKE_TEST_BUILD_DEPENDS directory property was added to support directory-scoped build time dependencies for tests.

• The Fortran_BUILDING_INTRINSIC_MODULES target property is now honored by the Ninja Generators. Previously it was only honored by the Makefile Generators.

• The Swift_MODULE_NAME target property is now honored by the Xcode generator. See policy CMP0226.

• The TEST_INCLUDE_FILES and TEST_INCLUDE_FILE directory properties now support generator expressions in the include path. On multi-config generators a $<CONFIG>-parameterized path can select a different script per configuration.

• The XCODE_EMBED_<type> target property now supports generator expressions. Because Xcode shares one copy-files build phase across all configurations, an expression whose result depends on the configuration is rejected with an error.

Modules

• The ExternalProject module's ExternalProject_Add() command now sets CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX to the external project's INSTALL_DIR in its default configure command, so a CMake external project installs into the prefix the module reserves for it rather than the built-in default (e.g. /usr/local). A caller-supplied prefix still takes precedence. See policy CMP0225.

• The FindCUDAToolkit module now creates CUDAToolkit:: namespace targets and changes the existing CUDA:: namespace targets to be alias targets.

• The FindDoxygen module doxygen_add_docs() command gained a USES_TERMINAL option to give the Doxygen command direct access to the terminal during the build.

• The FindPython, FindPython2, and FindPython3 modules gained the possibility to override the CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR variable by respectively, the variables Python_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR, Python2_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR, and Python3_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR.

• The FindPython3 and FindPython modules gained, respectively, the variable Python3_SOSABI_PLATFORM and Python_SOSABI_PLATFORM which gives, on some platforms, for the Stable Application Binary Interface, the extension including the platform triplet.

Generator Expressions

• The $<ARGS> generator expression was added to convert a semicolon-separated list into a comma-separated list.

• The $<DIRECTORY_PROPERTY> generator expression was added to query directory properties.

• The $<GLOBAL_PROPERTY> generator expression was added to query global properties.

• The LIST generator expression's FILTER and TRANSFORM operations gained a PREDICATE keyword that selects items by evaluating an arbitrary generator expression once per item, with $<_0> referring to the current item. FILTER also gained an explicit REGEX keyword.

• The LIST generator expression's SORT operation gained a COMPARATOR option that orders items using an arbitrary generator expression evaluated once per comparison, with $<_0> and $<_1> referring to the two items being compared.

• The LIST generator expression's TRANSFORM operation gained an APPLY action that evaluates an arbitrary generator expression for each element, with $<_0> referring to the current element.

• The $<LINK_LIBRARY:NEEDED_LIBRARY,...> generator expression feature is now supported on Linux with GNU-compatible linkers (GNU ld, gold, LLD, MOLD).

• The RULE_PROPERTY generator expression was added to query properties of rules created by the add_custom_rule() command.

Autogen

• AUTOMOC now processes C++ module interface and partition units that are members of a FILE_SET of type CXX_MODULES. moc is run on such units and its generated output is compiled as a module implementation unit of the same module. This requires Qt 6.13 or newer, whose moc supports C++ module units.

• AUTOMOC now has its generated mocs_compilation.cpp scanned for C++ module dependencies under the same conditions as the target's own sources. A header that imports a module may now be processed by moc.

CTest

• ctest(1) gained a --out-of-date option to run only tests whose recorded build dependencies are newer than the last time the tests ran.

• ctest(1) now supports job server integration on Windows.

• The ctest(1) --show-only option gained a json-v1-raw format in which the value for each test property is the original unparsed string value specified in CMake.

• The ctest_test() and ctest_memcheck() commands gained the ability to accept more than one value for their INCLUDE_LABEL and EXCLUDE_LABEL options. When multiple regular expressions are given, a test is selected only if each expression matches at least one of the test's labels (i.e. the expressions form an AND relationship), matching the behavior of repeating the ctest --label-regex and ctest --label-exclude command-line options.

• The GENERATED_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE test property gained support for relative paths.

• The FIXTURE_REPEAT_MODE test property was added to select how a test fixture behaves when ctest(1) repeats tests with its --repeat option. See policy CMP0224.

• The RESOURCE_ERROR_ACTION test property and CTEST_RESOURCE_ERROR_ACTION variable were added to configure the test behavior in case of insufficient resources.

CPack

• The CPack APK Generator was added to package Android applications as APK files. It drives the Android SDK build tools directly and does not require Gradle. Maven dependencies, such as the AndroidX libraries, can be downloaded with CPACK_APK_MAVEN_DEPENDENCIES.

Deprecated and Removed Features

• The Visual Studio 14 2015 generator has been removed.

• The CMakePrintHelpers module's cmake_print_properties() command is now deprecated in favor of cmake_language(PRINT_PROPERTIES).

• The CMakePrintHelpers module's cmake_print_variables() command is now deprecated in favor of cmake_language(PRINT_VARIABLES).

• The install_files(), install_programs(), install_targets(), make_directory(), remove(), subdirs() and write_file() commands, which have been deprecated since CMake 3.0, now emit deprecation diagnostics when used.

Other Changes

• The cmake --build command now groups the output of each recipe in a parallel build so that concurrent jobs do not interleave, when CMake is the one passing the parallel flag to the build tool (via --parallel or CMAKE_BUILD_PARALLEL_LEVEL) and that tool is GNU Make 4.0 or newer. Request parallelism natively, e.g. cmake --build . -- -j, to opt out and stream output as it is produced.

• The cmake --install command now reports a non-zero exit code when an install script fails. Previously, a parallel install (enabled by the INSTALL_PARALLEL global property) always reported success, and a serial install could lose the failure of an earlier component that exited via cmake_language(EXIT) when a later component succeeded.

• The cmake_host_system_information() command's DISTRIB_* queries now read the host os-release by default. See policy CMP0221. A new FROM_SYSROOT <bool> option explicitly enables or disables reading the target os-release from CMAKE_SYSROOT.

• The cmake_path(IS_PREFIX) command and the $<PATH:IS_PREFIX> generator expression no longer treat an empty path as a prefix of every path. The if() command's PATH_IS_PREFIX operator follows the same rule. See policy CMP0223.

• When CTest build launchers are enabled (see the CTestUseLaunchers module), a build rule that is terminated by a signal is now reported as a build failure. Previously such a rule was reported as success, so a crashed compiler, linker, or custom command could be recorded as a passing build on the dashboard.

• The ALIASED_TARGET target property is now read-only.

• The Qt Help (.qch) rendition of the documentation now carries its own color scheme. Previously it was rendered with layout rules only, because the qthelp builder does not generate the color scheme that the HTML documentation uses. A dark variant is shipped alongside it, which help viewers such as Qt Creator use when their own theme is dark.

• The precompiled macOS binary provided on cmake.org now requires macOS 11 or newer for command-line tools. The cmake-gui(1) application still requires macOS 12.