Build system integration
vcpkg integrates seamlessly with MSBuild and CMake to restore your project's dependencies at build time. vcpkg also makes it easy to integrate with other build systems by providing a standard installation layout.
MSBuild integration
vcpkg provides user-wide MSBuild integration via the
vcpkg integrate install
command and per-project integration via the vcpkg.props
and vcpkg.target
files.
When you enable this integration, all MSBuild and Visual Studio projects will automatically link their dependencies.
Read more about how this integration works in the MSBuild integration documentation.
Visual Studio MSBuild projects also support vcpkg. See Tutorial: Install and use packages with MSBuild in Visual Studio to get started.
CMake integration
vcpkg provides seamless find_package()
integration for your projects via a
custom toolchain file. You can enable this integration by adding the provided
toolchain file in <vcpkg root>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake
in your CMake
configure calls via CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE
or with a CMakePresets.json
file.
Once this integration is activated, functions like find_package()
, find_library()
, and find_path()
will automatically search through the vcpkg installation directories to find the required dependencies. Furthermore, vcpkg is also able to install your dependencies
declared in a manifest file automatically.
Read more about how this integration works in the CMake integration documentation.
Several IDEs/editors with CMake support also explicitly support vcpkg. See the corresponding documentation articles for more information:
- Tutorial: Install and use packages with CMake in Visual Studio
- Tutorial: Install and use packages with CMake in Visual Studio Code
- CLion vcpkg integration
Manual integration
You can also use vcpkg with other build systems generically using the standard installation layout vcpkg provides.
Read more about how to integrate vcpkg with your build system using manual integration.