Conan Basic Usage

Overview

This skill provides guidance on using Conan, the C/C++ package manager. It covers project initialization, dependency management, and package creation.

Quick Start

1. Initialize a Project

To create a standard project structure for a C++ library using CMake:

mkdir myproject && cd myproject
conan new cmake_lib -d name=myproject -d version=0.1

This generates:

• conanfile.py

  : The package recipe.

• CMakeLists.txt

  : The build script.

• src/

  &

  include/

  : Source and header files.

• test_package/

  : A consumer project to verify the package.

2. Install Dependencies

To install dependencies defined in

conanfile.py

and build missing binaries:

conan install . --build=missing

3. Create/Build Package

To build the package and export it to your local Conan cache:

conan create .

This runs the

build()

method in

conanfile.py

, creates the binary package, and runs the tests in

test_package/

.

Common Tasks

Managing Dependencies

• Install: Use

  conan install .

  to resolve and install dependencies. Add

  --build=missing

  to compile from source if binaries aren't available for your configuration.
• Inspect: Use

  conan graph info .

  to see the dependency tree.

Remote Management

• List Remotes:

  conan remote list

• Add Remote:

  conan remote add <remote_name> <url>

• Upload:

  conan upload <package_name> -r <remote_name>

Reference

• Project Structure: Best practices for directory layout. See project-structure.md.

• Configuration: Core settings, cache location, and profiles. See configuration.md.

• Runtime & Build Layout: Build directory structure and how to find shared libraries. See runtime-layout.md.

• Internal Files: Understanding

  conanmanifest.txt

  ,

  conaninfo.txt

  , etc. See internal-files.md.

• Commands: Comprehensive list of common commands. See commands.md.