Rhodium

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A C/C++ dependency manager for CMake projects.

Rhodium fetches, builds, and caches third-party dependencies, records resolved source revisions in a lockfile, and generates CMake integration targets.

Features

• Lua manifests: Declare Git, archive, local, or prebuilt dependencies in rhodium.lua.
• Dependency builds: CMake, Make, configure + Make, custom, header-only, and prebuilt modes.
• Reproducibility: Track resolved sources in rhodium.lock.toml and use restore --locked.
• Toolchain awareness: Discover compiler/SDK profiles and keep artifacts separated by build configuration.
• CMake integration: Export targets such as rhodium::fmt for normal target_link_libraries use.
• Developer tools: Local overrides, transitive dependency graphs, mirrors, package updates, and cache cleanup.

Build from source

Requirements: CMake 3.25+, a C++20 compiler, Git, and vcpkg. Ninja is recommended.

git clone https://github.com/AxlumLab/Rhodium.git
cd Rhodium
cmake -S . -B build -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DRHODIUM_VCPKG_ROOT=/path/to/vcpkg -DRHODIUM_BUILD_TESTS=OFF
cmake --build build --config Release

Replace /path/to/vcpkg with the actual vcpkg root. Alternatively configure CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE or VCPKG_ROOT. On Windows, use an MSVC-enabled developer shell for Ninja builds. The default configuration builds a static Rhodium::Core library and the rhodium CLI (rhodium.exe on Windows). Add the CLI output directory to your PATH.

See installation and embedding for further options.

Quick start

The repository includes a complete CMake example. Run these commands from the repository root after building Rhodium and placing the CLI on PATH.

1. Discover a toolchain

rhodium --root examples/basic-cmake sdk detect
rhodium --root examples/basic-cmake sdk list

2. Restore and generate

Replace YOUR_TOOLCHAIN_ID with an ID from sdk list.

rhodium --root examples/basic-cmake restore --config debug --toolchain YOUR_TOOLCHAIN_ID
rhodium --root examples/basic-cmake generate --config debug --toolchain YOUR_TOOLCHAIN_ID

3. Build the example

cmake -S examples/basic-cmake -B build/example -G Ninja -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build/example

Use compatible compiler, architecture, and Debug/Release settings for the restored packages and the consuming project. The example manifest targets x64 by default.

Declaring dependencies

Create rhodium.lua in your CMake project:

package("MyApp")
version("0.1.0")
default_config("debug")
default_platform("host")
default_arch("x64")

require("fmt", {
    source = "https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git",
    ref = "10.2.1",
    build = "cmake",
    cmake = {
        options = {
            FMT_DOC = false,
            FMT_TEST = false
        }
    },
    artifacts = {
        include_dirs = {"include"},
        libs = {"fmt"}
    }
})

After rhodium restore and rhodium generate, consume the generated CMake configuration:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.25)
project(MyApp LANGUAGES CXX)

set(RHODIUM_DEPS_FILE "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/.rhodium/generated/cmake/rhodiumConfig.cmake")
if(NOT EXISTS "${RHODIUM_DEPS_FILE}")
    message(FATAL_ERROR "Run rhodium restore and rhodium generate first")
endif()
include("${RHODIUM_DEPS_FILE}")

add_executable(myapp src/main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE rhodium::fmt)

CLI at a glance

Command	Purpose
rhodium sdk detect / rhodium sdk list	Discover toolchains
rhodium restore	Fetch, build, and export dependency artifacts
rhodium restore --locked	Restore using the current lockfile
rhodium generate	Generate imported CMake targets
rhodium deps / rhodium tree	Inspect dependencies
rhodium update [package]	Update resolved dependency state
rhodium packages / rhodium packages gc	Inspect and clean caches

See the full CLI reference for options. Some diagnostic commands, including doctor, are only registered in Debug builds.

Embed as a C++20 library

Rhodium can be installed as a static or shared library. The CLI is optional when embedding it.

find_package(Rhodium CONFIG REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE Rhodium::Core)

Rhodium::Core is the SDK library; generated third-party package targets use the separate rhodium:: namespace. See Embedding Rhodium.

Platform status and migration

Platform	Status
Windows Linux and macOS	Primary tested development workflow
Android	Toolchain-profile support exists;
iOS	Planned, not yet implemented

Documentation

• Documentation index, Getting started, Installation
• DSL overview, Toolchains, Command reference
• Architecture, Examples, Changelog

Contributing and license

Contributions and issues are welcome. Read CONTRIBUTING.md, or open a GitHub Issue.

Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE.