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Quick Start

Get up and running with CForge in minutes.

Creating a New Project​

# Create a new project in the current directory
cforge init my_project
cd my_project

# Or create in current directory
mkdir my_project && cd my_project
cforge init

Project Templates​

# Executable (default)
cforge init --template exe

# Static or shared library
cforge init --template lib

# Header-only library
cforge init --template header-only

# With tests enabled
cforge init --with-tests

# Specific C++ standard
cforge init --cpp=20

Project Structure​

After cforge init, you'll have:

my_project/
├── cforge.toml         # Project configuration
├── src/
│   └── main.cpp        # Main source file
├── include/            # Header files
└── build/              # Build output (generated)

Configuration File​

cforge.toml:

[project]
name = "my_project"
version = "1.0.0"
binary_type = "executable"
cpp_standard = "17"

[build]
source_dirs = ["src"]
include_dirs = ["include"]

[build.config.debug]
optimize = "debug"
debug_info = true
warnings = "all"

[build.config.release]
optimize = "speed"
lto = true

Build & Run​

# Build in Debug mode (default)
cforge build

# Build in Release mode
cforge build --config Release

Output:

   Compiling my_project v1.0.0
   Compiling src/main.cpp
    Finished Debug target(s) in 0.84s
# Run the executable
cforge run

Output:

     Running my_project
Hello, cforge!

Adding Dependencies​

Edit cforge.toml to add dependencies:

[dependencies]
fmt = "11.1.4"
spdlog = "1.12.0"

Or use the CLI:

# Add from registry
cforge deps add fmt@11.1.4

# Search for packages
cforge deps search json

# Add from vcpkg
cforge deps add boost --vcpkg

# Check for outdated dependencies
cforge deps outdated

Then rebuild:

cforge build

CForge will automatically download and build dependencies.

Running Tests​

# Run all tests
cforge test

# Run with filter
cforge test --filter "Unit*"

Developer Workflow​

Watch Mode​

Auto-rebuild on file changes:

# Watch and rebuild
cforge watch

# Watch, rebuild, and run
cforge watch --run

Code Formatting​

# Format all source files
cforge fmt

# Check formatting without modifying
cforge fmt --check

Static Analysis​

# Run clang-tidy
cforge lint

# Auto-fix issues
cforge lint --fix

IDE Setup​

Generate IDE project files:

# VS Code
cforge ide vscode

# CLion
cforge ide clion

# Visual Studio
cforge ide vs

Next Steps​