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

A lightweight build tool for C and C++ projects — think Cargo, but for C/C++.

C and C++ development has always required wrestling with CMake, configuring build systems, and manually managing dependencies. Craft eliminates that friction. You describe your project in a simple craft.toml file and Craft handles the rest by generating CMake configuration, managing dependencies, and providing a clean command-line interface that feels modern and smooth.

1. Define your project in craft.toml
2. Craft generates CMakeLists.txt
3. Dependencies are fetched automatically
4. CMake builds your project behind the scenes

# Create a new project
craft project my_app
cd my_app

# Add a dependency
craft add --git https://github.com/raysan5/raylib.git --links raylib

# Build it
craft build

# Run it
craft run

Describe your project in a simple, readable config:

[project]
name = "my_app"
version = "0.1.0"
language = "cpp"
cpp_standard = 17

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

Craft turns this into a working CMakeLists.txt automatically.

Add dependecies to your project with a single command.

craft add --path ../PhysicsEngine          # local Craft project
craft add --git https://github.com/raysan5/raylib --tag 5.5   # git dependency
craft remove raylib                        # remove it just as easily
craft update                               # update all dependencies

• Git repos are cloned automatically
• CMake wiring is handled for you

Save any project as a reusable template and spin up new projects from it instantly.

craft template save my_game_template
craft project new_game --template my_game_template

Craft also comes with a few built-in templates for executables and libraries.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/randerson112/craft/main/install.sh | sh

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/randerson112/craft/main/install.ps1 | iex

Requirements: git, cmake

craft --version
craft help

craft project my_app
cd my_app
craft build
craft run

Creates a new project directory at the given path with a full project structure including craft.toml, src/, include/, and a starter main file.

craft project my_app
craft project --no-git
craft project my_app --lang c
craft project my_lib --template static-library

Initializes a Craft project in the current or specified directory. Behavior depends on what is already there:

Empty directory — generates craft.toml, CMakeLists.txt, src/, include/, and a starter main file using the specified or default template.

Existing project — scans the directory to detect language, source dirs, include dirs, and libraries. Generates craft.toml and CMakeLists.txt from what was found. Existing source files are never modified. If a CMakeLists.txt already exists it will be backed up to CMakeLists.backup.cmake before being replaced.

craft init
craft init my_app
craft init my_app --no-git
craft init --lang c
craft init --template static-library

If you are adopting an existing project, Craft will back up your CMakeLists.txt to CMakeLists.backup.cmake.

To migrate your dependencies to Craft:

find_package(SFML ...)     -> craft add --git https://github.com/SFML/SFML --links SFML::Graphics,...
add_subdirectory(../MyLib) -> craft add --path ../MyLib
FetchContent_Declare(...)  -> craft add --git <url>

For anything else use CMakeLists.extra.cmake as an escape hatch.

Reads craft.toml, regenerates CMakeLists.txt if needed, fetches any missing git dependencies, and builds the project using CMake. Can be run from any subdirectory — Craft walks up the directory tree to find the project root.

Runs the project executable. Defaults to the project name from craft.toml. Optionally accepts an executable name to run any binary.

craft run
craft run my_other_binary

Generates a file with boilerplate code. Places headers in the first include_dir and sources in the first source_dir from craft.toml. Falls back to the current directory if not in a project.

craft gen utils.hpp
craft gen utils.cpp
craft gen math.h
craft gen math.c

Removes the build/ directory and all compiled artifacts. Reports how many files and bytes were removed.

Adds a dependency to the project. Git dependencies are cloned to .craft/deps/ automatically. Regenerates CMakeLists.txt immediately so the project is always in a consistent state.

# Local Craft dependency
craft add --path ../my_lib 

# Git dependency in registry
craft add raylib

# Git dependencies not in registry
craft add --git https://github.com/nlohmann/json --links nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json
craft add --git https://github.com/SFML/SFML --tag 3.0.0 --links SFML::Graphics,SFML::Window,SFML::System

Removes a dependency from craft.toml and regenerates CMakeLists.txt. For git dependencies, the cloned directory in .craft/deps/ is also deleted.

craft remove raylib
craft remove my_lib

Updates git dependencies to their latest version by re-cloning. Dependencies pinned to a tag are skipped. Optionally update a single dependency by name.

craft update
craft update raylib

Manages reusable project templates. Craft ships with built-in templates for common project types. Custom templates are saved to ~/.craft/templates/custom/.

craft template save my_template
craft template delete my_template
craft template update my_template
craft template list
craft template list --lang c
craft template where my_template

Reads and writes global defaults stored in ~/.craft/config.toml. These defaults are used when creating new projects and can be overridden per-project in craft.toml.

craft config set defaults.lang cpp
craft config set defaults.cpp_standard 17
craft config get defaults.lang
craft config list

Shows help for commands, subcommands, and craft.toml.

craft help
craft help build
craft help add
craft help template save
craft help config set
craft help craft.toml

Updates Craft itself to the latest version. Craft will check if the version on GitHub is newer than your local version and update it if so.

Craft ships with built-in templates for both C and C++:

craft project my_lib --template static-library --lang c

craft.toml is the single source of truth for how your project is built. Craft reads it to generate CMakeLists.txt automatically — you never need to write or edit CMake directly.

Dependencies are added and removed via craft add and craft remove. The [dependencies] section is managed by Craft — you rarely need to edit it manually.

[dependencies]
my_lib = { path = "../my_lib" }
raylib = { git = "https://github.com/raysan5/raylib", tag = "5.5" }
json = { git = "https://github.com/nlohmann/json", tag = "v3.11.2" }
SFML = { git = "https://github.com/SFML/SFML", tag = "3.0.0", links = ["SFML::Graphics", "SFML::Window", "SFML::System"] }

Note: CMakeLists.txt is generated automatically by Craft and should not be edited directly. Add a CMakeLists.extra.cmake file to your project root for any custom CMake — it will be included at the end of the generated file.

Global defaults live in ~/.craft/config.toml:

[defaults]
language = "cpp"
c_standard = 99
cpp_standard = 17
template = "executable"

These are used when creating new projects. Project-level settings in craft.toml always take priority.

A typical Craft project looks like:

my_app/
├── craft.toml
├── CMakeLists.txt           # generated by Craft, do not edit
├── CMakeLists.extra.cmake   # optional, your custom CMake additions
├── build/
├── include/
├── src/
│   └── main.cpp
└── .craft/
    └── deps/                # cloned git dependencies

Craft is open source and community driven. Contributions are welcome — feel free to open issues or pull requests.