Library API

cmakefmt is primarily a CLI tool, but the crate already exposes a capable embedded API for Rust code that wants to parse or format CMake sources in-process — no subprocess, no shell escape, no overhead.

When To Use The Library

The crate is a strong fit when you want to:

• format generated CMake from Rust code
• build editor or IDE tooling around CMake formatting
• run cmakefmt in-process instead of spawning a subprocess
• experiment with custom command registries
• parse CMake and inspect the AST directly

Crate Status

The library API is usable today. This repository is stable, but the crate is still pre-1.0, so expect some surface evolution before long-term compatibility guarantees settle.

Public Entry Points

The most important items today:

• format_source
• format_source_with_debug
• format_source_with_registry
• format_source_with_registry_debug
• Config
• CaseStyle
• DangleAlign
• PerCommandConfig
• Error
• Result

Lower-level access is available through:

• cmakefmt::parser
• cmakefmt::spec::registry::CommandRegistry

Minimal Formatting Example

use cmakefmt::{Config, format_source};

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let src = "target_link_libraries(foo PUBLIC bar)";
    let out = format_source(src, &Config::default())?;
    println!("{out}");
    Ok(())
}

The simplest entry point when you already have source text in memory.

Formatting With A Tweaked Config

use cmakefmt::{CaseStyle, Config, format_source};

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let mut config = Config::default();
    config.line_width = 100;
    config.command_case = CaseStyle::Lower;
    config.keyword_case = CaseStyle::Upper;
    config.dangle_parens = true;

    let src = r#"
add_library(foo STATIC a.cc b.cc)
target_link_libraries(foo PUBLIC bar baz)
"#;

    let out = format_source(src, &config)?;
    println!("{out}");
    Ok(())
}

The right pattern when your application needs to supply formatter policy at runtime rather than discovering it from disk.

Loading Config From Disk

To use the same config-loading behavior the CLI uses:

use std::path::Path;

use cmakefmt::Config;

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let config = Config::from_file(Path::new(".cmakefmt.yaml"))?;
    println!("line width: {}", config.line_width);
    Ok(())
}

Merge multiple explicit config files in precedence order:

use std::path::PathBuf;

use cmakefmt::Config;

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let config = Config::from_files(&[
        PathBuf::from("base.yaml"),
        PathBuf::from("team.yaml"),
    ])?;
    println!("{:#?}", config);
    Ok(())
}

Ask which config files would be discovered for a given target:

use std::path::Path;

use cmakefmt::Config;

fn main() {
    let sources = Config::config_sources_for(Path::new("src/CMakeLists.txt"));
    for path in sources {
        println!("{}", path.display());
    }
}

Formatting With Debug Decisions

Building tooling and want insight into what the formatter decided? Use the debug variant:

use cmakefmt::{Config, format_source_with_debug};

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let src = "install(TARGETS mylib DESTINATION lib)";
    let (formatted, debug_lines) = format_source_with_debug(src, &Config::default())?;

    println!("{formatted}");
    for line in debug_lines {
        eprintln!("{line}");
    }

    Ok(())
}

The returned debug lines are the same formatter-decision detail that the CLI emits under --debug.

Using A Custom Command Registry

For syntax that is not part of the built-in registry, use CommandRegistry directly:

use cmakefmt::{Config, format_source_with_registry};
use cmakefmt::spec::registry::CommandRegistry;

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let mut registry = CommandRegistry::load()?;
    registry.merge_override_str(
        r#"
[commands.my_custom_command]
pargs = 1
flags = ["QUIET"]

[commands.my_custom_command.kwargs.SOURCES]
nargs = "+"
"#,
        "inline-override.toml",
    )?;

    let src = "my_custom_command(foo QUIET SOURCES a.cc b.cc)";
    let out = format_source_with_registry(src, &Config::default(), &registry)?;
    println!("{out}");
    Ok(())
}

This is the primary embedded path for generated or custom CMake DSLs.

Parsing Without Formatting

When you only need the AST:

use cmakefmt::parser::parse;

fn main() -> Result<(), cmakefmt::Error> {
    let file = parse("project(example LANGUAGES CXX)")?;
    println!("{:#?}", file);
    Ok(())
}

Useful for analysis tools, migration tooling, or experiments that want the CMake parse tree but not the formatter.

Error Model

The library uses a shared cmakefmt::Error type across parsing, config loading, registry loading, and formatting:

For parse, config, and spec errors, the library retains file-path and location context so callers can surface useful diagnostics to users.

Current Limits

• the public API is useful today, but still smaller than the CLI feature surface
• library stability is not promised yet — the crate is still pre-1.0
• workflow features like Git-aware selection and ignore-file handling live in the CLI layer, not the formatting API itself

For deeper implementation details, continue with Architecture.