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vcpkg overview

vcpkg is a free and open-source C/C++ package manager maintained by Microsoft and the C++ community.

Initially launched in 2016 as a tool for assisting developers in migrating their projects to newer versions of Visual Studio, vcpkg has evolved into a cross-platform tool used by developers on Windows, macOS, and Linux. vcpkg has a large collection of open-source libraries and enterprise-ready features designed to facilitate your development process with support for any build and project systems. vcpkg is a C++ tool at heart and is written in C++ with scripts in CMake. It is designed from the ground up to address the unique pain points C/C++ developers experience.

This tool and ecosystem are constantly evolving, and we always appreciate contributions! Learn how to start contributing with our packaging tutorial and maintainer guide.

Get started

First, follow one of our quick start guides.

Whether you're using CMake, MSBuild, or any other build system, vcpkg has you covered:

• vcpkg with CMake
• vcpkg with MSBuild
• vcpkg with other build systems

You can also use any editor:

• vcpkg with Visual Studio
• vcpkg with Visual Studio Code
• vcpkg with CLion
• vcpkg with Qt Creator

If a library you need is not present in the vcpkg registry, open an issue on the GitHub repository or contribute the package yourself.

After you've gotten vcpkg installed and working, you may wish to add tab completion to your terminal.

Installation

To install vcpkg, run:

npm i -g vcpkg.sh   # On Linux / macOS
npm i -g vcpkg.cmd  # On Windows

This installs the vcpkg command globally using npm, with telemetry disabled by default.

Use vcpkg

Create a manifest for your project's dependencies:

vcpkg new --application
vcpkg add port fmt

Or install packages through the command line:

vcpkg install fmt

Then use one of our available integrations for CMake, MSBuild or other build systems.

For a short description of all available commands, run vcpkg help. Run vcpkg help [topic] for details on a specific topic.

Key features

vcpkg offers powerful features for your package management needs:

• easily integrate with your build system
• control the versions of your dependencies
• package and publish your own packages
• reuse your binary artifacts
• enable offline scenarios with asset caching

Contribute

vcpkg is an open source project, and is thus built with your contributions. Here are some ways you can contribute:

• Submit issues in vcpkg or existing packages
• Submit fixes and new packages

Please refer to our mantainer guide and packaging tutorial for more details.

This project has adopted the Microsoft Open Source Code of Conduct. For more information see the Code of Conduct FAQ or email [email protected] with any additional questions or comments.

Resources

• Ports: Microsoft/vcpkg
• Source code: Microsoft/vcpkg-tool
• Docs: Microsoft Learn | vcpkg
• Website: vcpkg.io
• Email: [email protected]
• Discord: #include <C++>'s Discord server, in the #🌏vcpkg channel
• Slack: C++ Alliance's Slack server, in the #vcpkg channel

License

The code in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. The libraries provided by ports are licensed under the terms of their original authors. Where available, vcpkg places the associated license(s) in the location installed/<triplet>/share/<port>/copyright.

Security

Most ports in vcpkg build the libraries in question using the original build system preferred by the original developers of those libraries, and download source code and build tools from their official distribution locations. For use behind a firewall, the specific access needed will depend on which ports are being installed. If you must install it in an "air gapped" environment, consider instaling once in a non-"air gapped" environment, populating an asset cache shared with the otherwise "air gapped" environment.

Telemetry

vcpkg collects usage data in order to help us improve your experience. The data collected by Microsoft is anonymous. You can opt-out of telemetry by:

• running the bootstrap-vcpkg script with -disableMetrics
• passing --disable-metrics to vcpkg on the command line
• setting the VCPKG_DISABLE_METRICS environment variable

Read more about vcpkg telemetry at https://learn.microsoft.com/vcpkg/about/privacy.