System Libraries

Link C/C++ system libraries via the link field.

IMPORTANT

The link field in ProjectOptions handles all linking operations. For advanced cases not covered, use the full std.Build API on the returned *Step.Compile.

LinkConfig

pub const LinkConfig = struct {
    include_paths: []const []const u8 = &.{},  // -I paths
    lib_paths: []const []const u8 = &.{},      // -L paths
    system_libs: SystemLibSet = &.{},           // -l libraries
    frameworks: []const []const u8 = &.{},      // -framework (macOS)
    rpaths: []const []const u8 = &.{},          // runtime paths
    c_macros: []const CMacro = &.{},            // C preprocessor defines
    assembly_files: []const []const u8 = &.{},  // .S files
    object_files: []const []const u8 = &.{},    // .o files
    link_libc: bool = false,                    // link libc
    link_libcpp: bool = false,                  // link libcpp
};

SystemLibConfig

pub const SystemLibConfig = struct {
    name: []const u8,
    needs_libc: bool = false,
    needs_libcpp: bool = false,
};

Usage

_ = buildx.project(b, .{
    .name = "myapp",
    .root = "src/main.zig",
    .link = .{
        .include_paths = &.{"vendor/include"},
        .lib_paths = &.{"vendor/lib"},
        .system_libs = &.{
            .{ .name = "ssl", .needs_libc = true },
            .{ .name = "zlib" },
        },
        .frameworks = &.{"CoreFoundation"},
        .rpaths = &.{"lib"},
        .c_macros = &.{
            .{ .name = "HAVE_SSL" },
        },
        .link_libc = true,
    },
    .install = true,
});

What Each Field Does

Field	Effect	std.Build Equivalent
include_paths	Adds -I paths for header lookup	addIncludePath()
lib_paths	Adds -L paths for library lookup	addLibraryPath()
system_libs	Links libraries via -l flag	linkSystemLibrary()
frameworks	Links macOS frameworks via -framework	linkFramework()
rpaths	Adds runtime library paths	addRPath()
c_macros	Defines C preprocessor macros	addCMacro()
assembly_files	Adds assembly source files	addAssemblyFile()
object_files	Adds pre-compiled object files	addObjectFile()
link_libc	Links libc	link_libc = true
link_libcpp	Links libcpp	link_libcpp = true

NOTE

Frameworks are macOS system libraries like CoreFoundation, Security, IOKit. They only work when targeting macOS.