Files
ghostty/dist/cmake
Mitchell Hashimoto 3fc04fd4ae build: replace lib-vt step with -Demit-lib-vt option
Remove the dedicated `zig build lib-vt` step and replace it with a
`-Demit-lib-vt` build option. This fixes two problems:

1. We can default XCFramework, app, etc. steps to false if emit-lib-vt
   is true, so that the lib-vt build doesn't pull in unrelated
   artifacts. **Most importantly, lib-vt alone can be build without
   full Xcode installations.**

2. We can build lib-vt as part of a bundle with other artifacts if we
   really want.
2026-03-21 07:03:06 -07:00
..

CMake Support for libghostty-vt

The top-level CMakeLists.txt wraps the Zig build system so that CMake projects can consume libghostty-vt without invoking zig build manually. Running cmake --build triggers zig build -Demit-lib-vt automatically.

This means downstream projects do require a working Zig compiler on PATH to build, but don't need to know any Zig-specific details.

Add the following to your project's CMakeLists.txt:

include(FetchContent)
FetchContent_Declare(ghostty
    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/ghostty-org/ghostty.git
    GIT_TAG main
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(ghostty)

add_executable(myapp main.c)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE ghostty-vt)

This fetches the Ghostty source, builds libghostty-vt via Zig during your CMake build, and links it into your target. Headers are added to the include path automatically.

Using a local checkout

If you already have the Ghostty source checked out, skip the download by pointing CMake at it:

cmake -B build -DFETCHCONTENT_SOURCE_DIR_GHOSTTY=/path/to/ghostty
cmake --build build

Using find_package (install-based)

Build and install libghostty-vt first:

cd /path/to/ghostty
cmake -B build
cmake --build build
cmake --install build --prefix /usr/local

Then in your project:

find_package(ghostty-vt REQUIRED)

add_executable(myapp main.c)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE ghostty-vt::ghostty-vt)

Files

  • ghostty-vt-config.cmake.in — template for the CMake package config file installed alongside the library, enabling find_package() support.

Example

See example/c-vt-cmake/ for a complete working example.