IncludeBuild

The header-only build system for C that just works.

IncludeBuild turns build systems inside out: your build system is now part of your code.

The Gist

1. Copy build.h to your project.
2. Create build.c:

#define INCLUDEBUILD_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "build.h"

int main(void) {
    ib_context* ctx = ib_context_create();
    ib_project* project = ib_project_create(ctx, ".");
    ib_target* target = ib_project_add_target(project, "app", IB_TARGET_EXECUTABLE);

    ib_target_set_entry(target, "main.c");
    ib_project_build(project, IB_MODE_DEBUG);

    ib_project_destroy(project);
    ib_context_destroy(ctx);
    return 0;
}

3. Compile and run:

cc -o build build.c
./build

If your platform prefers a specific compiler, gcc and clang work too. V2 plans an explicit build graph, writes depfiles/manifests, and builds your target incrementally.

Why IncludeBuild?

vs Make/CMake/Ninja

• No new language: It's just C. You already know it.
• Zero dependencies: No need to install Python, CMake, or Ninja. Just a C compiler.
• Debuggable: It's a standard C program. You can step through your build process in a debugger.

vs nob.h

IncludeBuild and nob.h share the philosophy of "C as a build language", but they target different layers of abstraction.

• nob.h is a library of tools (string builders, process execution, file operations) that lets you write a build system from scratch. You explicitly construct commands string-by-string.
• IncludeBuild is a build framework. It gives you project and target objects, per-target compile graphs, depfile-backed incremental rebuilds, and generated compile_commands.json output from the same planned actions used to build.

Documentation

• User Guide
• API Reference
• Examples
• FAQ

License

CC0 1.0 Universal. See LICENSE.