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A lightweight build and workflow tool for C/C++

246 starsC

I built a Cargo-like build tool for C/C++

by randerson_112·Apr 9, 2026·177 points·168 comments
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AI Analysis

●●SolidSolve My ProblemNiche Gem

CMake generation from TOML beats writing boilerplate, but Conan and vcpkg already handle deps.

Strengths
  • •Automatic CMakeLists.txt generation from simple craft.toml config eliminates boilerplate
  • •Dependency commands handle git cloning and CMake wiring automatically
  • •Project templates let you save and reuse entire project structures instantly
Weaknesses
  • •Still requires CMake installed — adds abstraction layer rather than replacing it
  • •Build tool space is extremely crowded with Conan, vcpkg, Meson, and Bazel
Target Audience

C and C++ developers tired of writing CMake by hand

Similar To

Conan · vcpkg · CMake Presets

Post Description

I love C and C++, but setting up projects can sometimes be a pain.

Every time I wanted to start something new I'd spend the first hour writing CMakeLists.txt, figuring out find_package, copying boilerplate from my last project, and googling why my library isn't linking. By the time the project was actually set up I'd lost all momentum.

So, I built Craft - a lightweight build and workflow tool for C and C++. Instead of writing CMake, your project configuration goes in a simple craft.toml:

[project] name = "my_app" version = "0.1.0" language = "c" c_standard = 99

[build] type = "executable"

Run craft build and Craft generates the CMakeLists.txt automatically and builds your project. Want to add dependencies? That's just a simple command:

craft add --git https://github.com/raysan5/raylib --links raylib craft add --path ../my_library craft add sfml

Craft will clone the dependency, regenerate the CMake, and rebuild your project for you.

Other Craft features: craft init - adopt an existing C/C++ project into Craft or initialize an empty directory. craft template - save any project structure as a template to be initialized later. craft gen - generate header and source files with starter boilerplate code. craft upgrade - keeps itself up to date.

CMakeLists.extra.cmake for anything that Craft does not yet handle.

Cross platform - macOS, Linux, Windows.

It is still early (I just got it to v1.0.0) but I am excited to be able to share it and keep improving it.

Would love feedback. Please also feel free to make pull requests if you want to help with development!

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