CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS

.. versionadded:: 3.5

Enable/Disable output of compile commands during generation.

If enabled, generates a compile_commands.json file containing the exact compiler calls for all translation units of the project in machine-readable form. The format of the JSON file looks like:

.. code-block:: javascript

[ { "directory": "/home/user/development/project", "command": "/usr/bin/c++ ... -c ../foo/foo.cc", "file": "../foo/foo.cc", "output": "../foo.dir/foo.cc.o" },

...

{
  "directory": "/home/user/development/project",
  "command": "/usr/bin/c++ ... -c ../foo/bar.cc",
  "file": "../foo/bar.cc",
  "output": "../foo.dir/bar.cc.o"
}

]

This is initialized by the :envvar:CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS environment variable, and initializes the :prop_tgt:EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS target property for all targets.

.. note:: This option is implemented only by :ref:Makefile Generators and :ref:Ninja Generators. It is ignored on other generators.

This option currently does not work well in combination with the :prop_tgt:UNITY_BUILD target property or the :variable:CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD variable.