Protocol8

Building

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.20+ (tested up to 4.0)
• Python 3
• C++20 compatible compiler (MSVC, GCC, Clang)

Build

All builds go through the helper script scripts/cmake_build.py:

# Configure only
python scripts/cmake_build.py

# Configure + build
python scripts/cmake_build.py --build

# Clean build (wipe build directory, then configure + build)
python scripts/cmake_build.py --clean --build

The script uses CMakePresets.json to select the right preset for each platform automatically.

Build output is placed in a platform-specific directory at the project root:

Platform	Directory	Preset
Windows	_Build_wnd/	windows
macOS	_Build_mac/	macos
Linux	_Build_lnx/	linux

You can also invoke CMake directly with a preset: cmake --preset macos.

Testing

# Run regression tests (macOS example; substitute _Build_wnd or _Build_lnx on other platforms)
cd _Build_mac && ctest

# Run performance tests (disabled by default, must be requested explicitly)
cd _Build_mac && ./tests/regression/P8_RegressionTests --gtest_filter="c_log_perf_test.*" --gtest_also_run_disabled_tests

Custom presets

To override settings without changing tracked files, create CMakeUserPresets.json (git-ignored) in the project root. A preset defined there can inherit from any base preset in CMakePresets.json.

Example — use a local kit checkout instead of fetching from GitHub:

{
  "version": 6,
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "macos-local-kit",
      "inherits": "macos",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "FETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_KIT": "${sourceDir}/../kit"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Then build with:

python scripts/cmake_build.py --preset macos-local-kit --build