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Installation

Install CForge on your system.

Quick Install​

Windows (PowerShell)​

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChaseSunstrom/cforge/master/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

macOS / Linux​

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChaseSunstrom/cforge/master/scripts/install.sh | bash

Manual Installation​

From Source​

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ChaseSunstrom/cforge.git
cd cforge

# Build with CMake
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

# Install (may require sudo on Linux/macOS)
cmake --install build

From Releases​

  1. Download the latest release from GitHub Releases
  2. Extract the archive
  3. Add the bin directory to your PATH

Prerequisites​

Required​

  • CMake 3.16 or later
  • C++ Compiler with C++17 support:
    • Windows: MSVC (Visual Studio 2019+) or MinGW-w64
    • macOS: Clang (Xcode Command Line Tools)
    • Linux: GCC 8+ or Clang 7+

Optional​

  • vcpkg - For package management (CForge can bootstrap this automatically)
  • Ninja - Faster builds than Make
  • clang-format - For cforge fmt command
  • clang-tidy - For cforge lint command
  • Doxygen - For cforge doc command

Verify Installation​

cforge version

Expected output:

cforge 3.1.0

Shell Completions​

Enable tab completion for your shell:

Bash​

cforge completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/cforge

Zsh​

cforge completions zsh > ~/.zfunc/_cforge
# Add to .zshrc: fpath+=~/.zfunc

PowerShell​

cforge completions powershell >> $PROFILE

Fish​

cforge completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/cforge.fish

Upgrading CForge​

Using the Upgrade Command​

The easiest way to update cforge to the latest version:

cforge upgrade

This will automatically download, build, and install the latest version.

Using Install Script​

Alternatively, run the install script again:

# Linux/macOS
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChaseSunstrom/cforge/master/scripts/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChaseSunstrom/cforge/master/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

From Source​

cd cforge
git pull
cmake --build build --config Release
cmake --install build

Uninstalling​

Linux/macOS​

# Remove binary and data
rm -rf ~/.local/share/cforge
rm -rf ~/.config/cforge

# If installed to /usr/local
rm -f /usr/local/bin/cforge

Windows​

# Remove cforge directory (includes binary and cache)
Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\cforge" -Recurse -Force

Data Locations​

CForge stores all data in a single location per platform:

Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\cforge\

  • installed\cforge\bin\cforge.exe - Binary
  • cache\ - Binary cache for dependencies
  • registry\ - Package registry index

Linux/macOS: ~/.local/share/cforge/

  • installed/cforge/bin/cforge - Binary
  • cache/ - Binary cache
  • registry/ - Package registry

Config: ~/.config/cforge/config.toml (Linux/macOS)

Troubleshooting​

If installation fails:

  1. Ensure CMake is installed: cmake --version
  2. Ensure a C++ compiler is available: g++ --version or cl
  3. Check Troubleshooting for common issues
  4. File an issue on GitHub