Build Instructions

yaze uses a modern CMake build system with presets for easy configuration. This guide explains the environment checks, dependencies, and platform-specific considerations. For concise per-platform commands, always start with the Build & Test Quick Reference.

1. Environment Verification

Before your first build, run the verification script to ensure your environment is configured correctly.

Windows (PowerShell)

.\scripts\verify-build-environment.ps1
 
# With automatic fixes
.\scripts\verify-build-environment.ps1 -FixIssues

‍Tip: After verification, run .\scripts\setup-vcpkg-windows.ps1 to bootstrap vcpkg, ensure clang-cl/Ninja are installed, and cache the x64-windows triplet.

macOS & Linux (Bash)

./scripts/verify-build-environment.sh
 
# With automatic fixes
./scripts\verify-build-environment.sh --fix

The script checks for required tools like CMake, a C++23 compiler, and platform-specific dependencies.

2. Using Presets

• Pick the preset that matches your platform/workflow (debug: mac-dbg / lin-dbg / win-dbg, AI-enabled: mac-ai / win-ai, release: *-rel, etc.).
• Configure with cmake --preset <name> and build with cmake --build --preset <name> [--target …].
• Add -v to a preset name (e.g., mac-dbg-v) to surface compiler warnings.
• Need a full matrix? See the CMake Presets Guide for every preset and the quick reference for ready-to-run command snippets.

Feature Toggles & Windows Profiles

Windows Presets

Preset	Purpose
win-dbg, win-rel, ci-windows	Core builds without agent UI, gRPC, or AI runtimes. Fastest option for MSVC/clang-cl.
win-ai, win-vs-ai	Full agent stack for local development (UI panels + remote automation + AI runtime).
ci-windows-ai	Nightly/weekly CI preset that exercises the entire automation stack on Windows.

Agent Feature Flags

Option	Default	Effect
YAZE_BUILD_AGENT_UI	ON when YAZE_BUILD_GUI=ON	Builds the ImGui widgets used by the chat/agent panels.
YAZE_ENABLE_REMOTE_AUTOMATION	ON for *-ai presets	Adds gRPC/protobuf services plus GUI automation clients.
YAZE_ENABLE_AI_RUNTIME	ON for *-ai presets	Enables Gemini/Ollama transports, proposal planning, and advanced routing logic.
YAZE_ENABLE_AGENT_CLI	ON when YAZE_BUILD_CLI=ON	Compiles the conversational agent stack consumed by z3ed.

Combine these switches to match your workflow: keep everything OFF for lightweight GUI hacking or turn them ON for automation-heavy work with sketchybar/yabai/skhd, tmux, or remote runners.

3. Dependencies

• Required: CMake 3.16+, C++23 Compiler (GCC 13+, Clang 16+, MSVC 2019+), Git.
• Bundled: All other dependencies (SDL2, ImGui, Asar, nlohmann/json, cpp-httplib, GoogleTest, etc.) live under the ext/ directory or are managed by CMake's FetchContent. No external package manager is required for a basic build.
• Optional:
  • gRPC: For GUI test automation. Can be enabled with -DYAZE_WITH_GRPC=ON.
  • vcpkg (Windows): Can be used for faster gRPC builds on Windows (optional).

4. Platform Setup

macOS

# Install Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install
 
# Recommended: Install build tools via Homebrew
brew install cmake pkg-config
 
# For sandboxed/offline builds: Install dependencies to avoid network fetch
brew install yaml-cpp googletest

Note: When building in sandboxed/offline environments (e.g., via Claude Code or restricted networks), install yaml-cpp and googletest via Homebrew to avoid GitHub fetch failures. The build system automatically detects Homebrew installations and uses them as fallback:

• yaml-cpp: /opt/homebrew/opt/yaml-cpp, /usr/local/opt/yaml-cpp
• googletest: /opt/homebrew/opt/googletest, /usr/local/opt/googletest

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential cmake ninja-build pkg-config \
  libgtk-3-dev libdbus-1-dev

Windows

1. Install Visual Studio 2022 with the “Desktop development with C++” workload (requires MSVC + MSBuild).
   
2. Install Ninja (recommended): choco install ninja or enable the “CMake tools for Windows” optional component.
   
3. Run the verifier: .\scripts\verify-build-environment.ps1 -FixIssues – this checks Visual Studio workloads, Ninja, clang-cl, Git settings, and vcpkg cache.
   
4. Bootstrap vcpkg once: .\scripts\setup-vcpkg-windows.ps1 (prefetches SDL2, yaml-cpp, etc.).
   
5. Use the win-* presets (Ninja) or win-vs-* presets (Visual Studio generator) as needed. For AI/gRPC features, prefer win-ai / win-vs-ai.
   
6. For quick validation, run the PowerShell helper:
   

   pwsh -File scripts/agents/windows-smoke-build.ps1 -Preset win-ai -Target z3ed

5. Testing

The project uses CTest and GoogleTest. Tests are organized into categories using labels. See the Testing Guide for details.

Running Tests with Presets

The easiest way to run tests is with ctest presets.

# Configure a development build (enables ROM-dependent tests)
cmake --preset mac-dev -DYAZE_TEST_ROM_PATH=/path/to/your/zelda3.sfc
 
# Build the tests
cmake --build --preset mac-dev --target yaze_test
 
# Run stable tests (fast, run in CI)
ctest --preset dev
 
# Run all tests, including ROM-dependent and experimental
ctest --preset all

Running Tests Manually

You can also run tests by invoking the test executable directly or using CTest with labels.

# Run all tests via the executable
./build/bin/yaze_test
 
# Run only stable tests using CTest labels
ctest --test-dir build --label-regex "STABLE"
 
# Run tests matching a name
ctest --test-dir build -R "AsarWrapperTest"
 
# Exclude ROM-dependent tests
ctest --test-dir build --label-exclude "ROM_DEPENDENT"

6. IDE Integration

VS Code (Recommended)

1. Install the CMake Tools extension.
2. Open the project folder.
3. Select a preset from the status bar (e.g., mac-ai). On Windows, choose the desired kit (e.g., “Visual Studio Build Tools 2022”) so the generator matches your preset (win-* uses Ninja, win-vs-* uses Visual Studio).
4. Press F5 to build and debug.
5. After changing presets, run cp build/compile_commands.json . to update IntelliSense.

Visual Studio (Windows)

1. Select File → Open → Folder and choose the yaze directory.
2. Visual Studio will automatically detect CMakePresets.json.
3. Select the desired preset (e.g., win-dbg or win-ai) from the configuration dropdown.
4. Press F5 to build and run.

Xcode (macOS)

# Generate an Xcode project from a preset
cmake --preset mac-dbg -G Xcode
 
# Open the project
open build/yaze.xcodeproj

7. Windows Build Optimization

GitHub Actions / CI Builds

Current Configuration (Optimized):

• Compilers: Both clang-cl and MSVC supported (matrix)
• vcpkg: Only fast packages (SDL2, yaml-cpp) - 2 minutes
• gRPC: Built via FetchContent (v1.75.1) - cached after first build
• Caching: Aggressive multi-tier caching (vcpkg + FetchContent + sccache)
• Agent matrix: A dedicated ci-windows-ai job runs outside pull requests to exercise the full gRPC + AI runtime stack.
• Expected time:
  • First build: ~10-15 minutes
  • Cached build: ~3-5 minutes

Why FetchContent for gRPC in CI?

• vcpkg's latest gRPC (v1.71.0) has no pre-built binaries
• Building from source via vcpkg: 45-90 minutes
• FetchContent with caching: 10-15 minutes first time, <1 min cached
• Better control over gRPC version (v1.75.1 - latest stable)
• BoringSSL ASM disabled on Windows for clang-cl compatibility
• zlib conflict: gRPC's FetchContent builds its own zlib, conflicts with vcpkg's

Desktop Development: Faster builds with vcpkg (optional)

For desktop development, you can use vcpkg for faster gRPC builds:

# Bootstrap vcpkg and prefetch packages
.\scripts\setup-vcpkg-windows.ps1
 
# Configure with vcpkg
cmake -B build -DYAZE_USE_VCPKG_GRPC=ON -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

**Benefits:**

• Pre-compiled gRPC packages: ~5 minutes vs ~10-15 minutes
• No need to build gRPC from source
• Faster iteration during development

**Note:** CI/CD workflows use FetchContent by default for reliability.

Local Development

Fast Build (Recommended)

Use FetchContent for all dependencies (matches CI):

# Configure (first time: ~15 min, subsequent: ~2 min)
cmake -B build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64
 
# Build
cmake --build build --config RelWithDebInfo --parallel

Using vcpkg (Optional)

If you prefer vcpkg for local development:

# Install ONLY the fast packages
vcpkg install sdl2:x64-windows yaml-cpp:x64-windows
 
# Let CMake use FetchContent for gRPC
cmake -B build -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

**DO NOT** install grpc or zlib via vcpkg:

• gRPC v1.71.0 has no pre-built binaries (45-90 min build)
• zlib conflicts with gRPC's bundled zlib

Compiler Support

**clang-cl (Recommended):**

• Used in both CI and release workflows
• Better diagnostics than MSVC
• Fully compatible with MSVC libraries

**MSVC:**

• Also tested in CI matrix
• Fallback option if clang-cl issues occur

**Compiler Flags (Applied Automatically):**

• `/bigobj` - Large object files (required for gRPC)
• `/permissive-` - Standards conformance
• `/wd4267 /wd4244` - Suppress harmless conversion warnings
• `/constexpr:depth2048` - Template instantiation depth

8. Troubleshooting

Build issues, especially on Windows, often stem from environment misconfiguration. Before anything else, run the verification script.

# Run the verification script in PowerShell
.\scripts\verify-build-environment.ps1

This script is your primary diagnostic tool and can detect most common problems.

Automatic Fixes

If the script finds issues, you can often fix them automatically by running it with the `-FixIssues` flag. This can:

• Synchronize Git submodules.
• Correct Git `core.autocrlf` and `core.longpaths` settings, which are critical for cross-platform compatibility on Windows.
• Prompt to clean stale CMake caches.

# Attempt to fix detected issues automatically
.\scripts\verify-build-environment.ps1 -FixIssues

Cleaning Stale Builds

After pulling major changes or switching branches, your build directory can become "stale," leading to strange compiler or linker errors. The verification script will warn you about old build files. You can clean them manually or use the `-CleanCache` flag.

**This will delete all `build*` and `out` directories.**

# Clean all build artifacts to start fresh
.\scripts\verify-build-environment.ps1 -CleanCache

Common Issues

"nlohmann/json.hpp: No such file or directory"

**Cause**: You are building code that requires AI features without using an AI-enabled preset, or your Git submodules are not initialized. **Solution**:

1. Use an AI preset like `win-ai` or `mac-ai`.
2. Ensure submodules are present by running `git submodule update --init --recursive`.

"Cannot open file 'yaze.exe': Permission denied"

**Cause**: A previous instance of `yaze.exe` is still running in the background. **Solution**: Close it using Task Manager or run:

taskkill /F /IM yaze.exe

"C++ standard 'cxx_std_23' not supported"

**Cause**: Your compiler is too old. **Solution**: Update your tools. You need Visual Studio 2022 17.4+, GCC 13+, or Clang 16+. The verification script checks this.

Visual Studio Can't Find Presets

**Cause**: VS failed to parse `CMakePresets.json` or its cache is corrupt. **Solution**:

1. Close and reopen the folder (`File -> Close Folder).
2. Check the "CMake" pane in the Output window for specific JSON parsing errors.
3. Delete the hidden.vs` directory in the project root to force Visual Studio to re-index the project.

Git Line Ending (CRLF) Issues

Cause: Git may be automatically converting line endings, which can break shell scripts and other assets. Solution: The verification script checks for this. Use the -FixIssues flag or run git config --global core.autocrlf false to prevent this behavior.

File Path Length Limit on Windows

Cause: By default, Windows has a 260-character path limit, which can be exceeded by nested dependencies. Solution: The verification script checks for this. Use the -FixIssues flag or run git config --global core.longpaths true to enable long path support.