.TH MESON "1" "January 2026" "meson 1.10.1" "User Commands"
.SH NAME
meson - a high productivity build system
.SH DESCRIPTION

Meson is a build system designed to optimize programmer
productivity. It aims to do this by providing simple, out-of-the-box
support for modern software development tools and practices, such as
unit tests, coverage reports, Valgrind, Ccache and the like.

The main Meson executable provides many subcommands to access all
the functionality.

.SH The setup command

Using Meson is simple and follows the common two-phase
process of most build systems. First you run Meson to
configure your build:

.B meson setup [
.I options
.B ] [
.I build directory
.B ] [
.I source directory
.B ]

Note that the build directory must be different from the source
directory. Meson does not support building inside the source directory
and attempting to do that leads to an error.

After a successful configuration step you can build the source by
running the actual build command in the build directory. The default
backend of Meson is Ninja, which can be invoked like this.

\fBninja [\fR \fItarget\fR \fB]\fR

You only need to run the Meson command once: when you first configure
your build dir. After that you just run the build command. Meson will
autodetect changes in your source tree and regenerate all files
needed to build the project.

Meson includes many built-in options that can be used to tweak the
configuration of a build directory; projects can also add their
own options.  To set values for the options, use the \-D command
line argument like this:

.B meson setup \-Dopt1=value1 \-Dopt2=value2
.I rest of the command line...

.SS "options:"
.TP
\fB\-\-version\fR
print version number
.TP
\fB\-\-help\fR
print command line help

.SH The configure command

.B meson configure
provides a way to configure a Meson project from the command line.
Its usage is simple:

.B meson configure [
.I build directory
.B ] [
.I options to set
.B ]

If build directory is omitted, the current directory is used instead.

If no parameters are set,
.B meson configure
will print the value of all build options to the console.

To set values, use the \-D command line argument like this.

.B meson configure \-Dopt1=value1 \-Dopt2=value2

.SH The dist command

.B meson dist
generates a release archive.

.B meson dist [
.I options
.B ]

.SS "options:"
.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-C WD\fR
directory to cd into before running

.TP
\fB\-\-allow-dirty\fR
Allow even when repository contains uncommitted changes.

.TP
\fB\-\-formats FORMATS\fR
Comma separated list of archive types to create.  Supports xztar
(default), gztar, and zip.

.TP
\fB\-\-include\-subprojects\fR
Include source code of subprojects that have been used for the build.

.TP
\fB\-\-no\-tests\fR
Do not build and test generated packages.

.SH The install command

.B meson install
installs the project.

.B meson install [
.I options
.B ]

.SS "options:"

.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-C WD\fR
directory to cd into before running

.TP
\fB\-\-no-rebuild\fR
Do not rebuild before installing.

.TP
\fB\-\-only\-changed\fR
Only overwrite files that are older than the copied file.

.TP
\fB\-\-quiet\fR
Do not print every file that was installed.

.TP
\fB\-\-destdir DESTDIR\fR
Sets or overrides DESTDIR environment.  (Since 0.57.0)

.TP
\fB\-\-dry\-run, \-n\fR
Doesn't actually install, but print logs. (Since 0.57.0)

.TP
\fB\-\-skip\-subprojects [SKIP_SUBPROJECTS]\fR
Do not install files from given subprojects. (Since 0.58.0)

.TP
\fB\-\-tags TAGS\fR
Install only targets having one of the given tags. (Since 0.60.0)

.TP
\fB\-\-strip\fR
Strip targets even if strip option was not set during
configure. (Since 0.62.0)

.SH The introspect command

Meson introspect is a command designed to make it simple to  integrate with
other tools, such as IDEs. The output of this command is in JSON.

.B meson introspect [
.I build directory
.B ] [
.I option
.B ]

If build directory is omitted, the current directory is used instead.

.SS "options:"
.TP
\fB\-\-targets\fR
print all top level targets (executables, libraries, etc)
.TP
\fB\-\-target\-files\fR
print the source files of the given target
.TP
\fB\-\-buildsystem\-files\fR
print all files that make up the build system (meson.build, meson.options, meson_options.txt etc)
.TP
\fB\-\-tests\fR
print all unit tests
.TP
\fB\-\-help\fR
print command line help

.SH The init command

.B meson init
creates a new project

.B meson init [
.I options
.B ] [
.I sourcefile...
.B ]

.SS "positional arguments:"
.TP
sourcefile...
source files. default: all recognized files in current directory

.SS "options:"
.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-C WD\fR
directory to cd into before running

.TP
\fB\-n NAME, \-\-name NAME\fR
project name. default: name of current directory

.TP
\fB\-e EXECUTABLE, \-\-executable EXECUTABLE\fR
executable name. default: project name

.TP
\fB\-d DEPS, \-\-deps DEPS\fR
dependencies, comma-separated

.TP
\fB\-l {c,cpp,cs,cuda,d,fortran,java,objc,objcpp,rust,vala}, \
\-\-language {c,cpp,cs,cuda,d,fortran,java,objc,objcpp,rust,vala}\fR
project language. default: autodetected based on source files

.TP
\fB\-b, \-\-build
build after generation

.TP
\fB\-\-builddir BUILDDIR\fR
directory for build

.TP
\fB\-f, \-\-force\fR
force overwrite of existing files and directories.

.TP
\fB\-\-type {executable,library}\fR
project type. default: executable based project

.TP
\fB\-\-version VERSION\fR
project version. default: 0.1

.SH The test command

.B meson test
is a helper tool for running test suites of projects using Meson.
The default way of running tests is to invoke the default build command:

\fBninja [\fR \fItest\fR \fB]\fR

.B meson test
provides a richer set of tools for invoking tests.

.B meson test
automatically rebuilds the necessary targets to run tests when used with the Ninja backend.
Upon build failure,
.B meson test
will return an exit code of 125.
This return code tells
.B git bisect run
to skip the current commit.
Thus bisecting using git can be done conveniently like this.

.B git bisect run meson test -C build_dir

.SS "options:"
.TP
\fB\-\-repeat\fR
run tests as many times as specified
.TP
\fB\-\-gdb\fR
run tests under gdb
.TP
\fB\-\-list\fR
list all available tests
.TP
\fB\-\-wrapper\fR
invoke all tests via the given wrapper (e.g. valgrind)
.TP
\fB\-C\fR
Change into the given directory before running tests (must be root of build directory).
.TP
\fB\-\-suite\fR
run tests in this suite
.TP
\fB\-\-no\-suite\fR
do not run tests in this suite
.TP
\fB\-\-no\-stdsplit\fR
do not split stderr and stdout in test logs
.TP
\fB\-\-benchmark\fR
run benchmarks instead of tests
.TP
\fB\-\-logbase\fR
base of file name to use for writing test logs
.TP
\fB\-\-num-processes\fR
how many parallel processes to use to run tests
.TP
\fB\-\-verbose\fR
do not redirect stdout and stderr
.TP
\fB\-t\fR
a multiplier to use for test timeout values (usually something like 100 for Valgrind)
.TP
\fB\-\-setup\fR
use the specified test setup
.Tp
\fB\-\-slice SLICE/NUM_SLICES\fR
Split tests into NUM_SLICES slices and execute slice number SLICE.  (Since 1.8.0)

.SH The wrap command

Wraptool is a helper utility to manage source dependencies
using the online wrapdb service.

.B meson wrap <
.I command
.B > [
.I options
.B ]

You should run this command in the top level source directory
of your project.

.SS "Commands:"
.TP
\fBlist\fR
list all available projects
.TP
\fBsearch\fR
search projects by name
.TP
\fBinstall\fR
install a project with the given name
.TP
\fBupdate\fR
update the specified project to latest available version
.TP
\fBinfo\fR
show available versions of the specified project
.TP
\fBstatus\fR
show installed and available versions of currently used subprojects

.SH The subprojects command

.B meson subprojects
is used to manage subprojects.

.B meson subprojects [
.I options
.B ] [
.I command
.B ]

.SS "options:"
.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.SS "commands:"
.TP
\fBupdate\fR
Update all subprojects from wrap files

.TP
\fBcheckout\fR
Checkout a branch (git only)

.TP
\fBdownload\fR
Ensure subprojects are fetched, even if not in use. Already downloaded
subprojects are not modified. This can be used to pre-fetch all
subprojects and avoid downloads during configure.

.TP
\fBforeach\fR
Execute a command in each subproject directory.

.TP
\fBpurge\fR
Remove all wrap-based subproject artifacts

.TP
\fBpackagefiles\fR
Manage the packagefiles overlay

.SH The rewrite command

.B meson rewrite
modifies the project definition.

.B meson rewrite [
.I options
.B ] [
.I command
.B ]

.SS "options:"

.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-s SRCDIR, \-\-sourcedir SRCDIR\fR
Path to source directory.

.TP
\fB\-V, \-\-verbose\fR
Enable verbose output

.TP
\fB\-S, \-\-skip\-errors\fR
Skip errors instead of aborting

.SS "commands:"

.TP
\fBtarget (tgt)\fR
Modify a target

.TP
\fBkwargs\fR
Modify keyword arguments

.TP
\fBdefault-options (def)\fR
Modify the project default options

.TP
\fBcommand (cmd)\fR
Execute a JSON array of commands

.SH The compile command

.B meson compile
builds the project.

.B meson compile [
.I options
.B ] [
.I TARGET...
.B ]

.SS "positional arguments:"
.TP
\fBTARGET\fR
Targets to build. Target has the following format:
[PATH_TO_TARGET/]TARGET_NAME.TARGET_SUFFIX[:TARGET_TYPE].

.SS "options:"

.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-\-clean\fR
Clean the build directory.

.TP
\fB\-C WD\fR
directory to cd into before running

.TP
\fB\-j JOBS, \-\-jobs JOBS\fR
The number of worker jobs to run (if supported). If the value is less
than 1 the build program will guess.

.TP
\fB\-l LOAD_AVERAGE, \-\-load-average LOAD_AVERAGE\fR
The system load average to try to maintain (if supported).

.TP
\fB\-v, \-\-verbose\fR
Show more verbose output.

.TP
\fB\-\-ninja\-args NINJA_ARGS\fR
Arguments to pass to `ninja` (applied only on `ninja` backend).

.TP
\fB\-\-vs\-args VS_ARGS\fR
Arguments to pass to `msbuild` (applied only on `vs` backend).

.TP
\fB\-\-xcode\-args XCODE_ARGS\fR
Arguments to pass to `xcodebuild` (applied only on `xcode` backend).

.SH The devenv command

.B meson devenv
runs commands in the developer environment.

.B meson devenv [
.I options
.B ] [
.I command
.B ]

.SS "positional arguments:"

.TP
\fBcommand\fR
Command to run in developer environment (default: interactive shell)

.SS "options:"

.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-C BUILDDIR\fR
Path to build directory

.TP
\fB\-\-workdir WORKDIR, \-w WORKDIR\fR
Directory to cd into before running (default: builddir, Since 1.0.0)

.TP
\fB\-\-dump [DUMP]\fR
Only print required environment (Since 0.62.0) Takes an optional file
path (Since 1.1.0)

.TP
\fB\-\-dump-format {sh,export,vscode}\fR
Format used with --dump (Since 1.1.0)

.SH The env2mfile command

.B meson env2mfile
converts the current environment to a cross or native file.

.B meson env2mfile [
.I options
.B ]

.SS "options:"

.TP
\fB\-h, \-\-help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB\-\-debarch DEBARCH\fR
The dpkg architecture to generate.

.TP
\fB\-\-gccsuffix GCCSUFFIX\fR
A particular gcc version suffix if necessary.

.TP
\fB\-o OUTFILE\fR
The output file.

.TP
\fB\-\-cross\fR
Generate a cross compilation file.

.TP
\fB\-\-native\fR
Generate a native compilation file.

.TP
\fB\-\-system SYSTEM\fR
Define system for cross compilation.

.TP
\fB\-\-subsystem SUBSYSTEM\fR
Define subsystem for cross compilation.

.TP
\fB\-\-kernel KERNEL\fR
Define kernel for cross compilation.

.TP
\fB\-\-cpu CPU\fR
Define cpu for cross compilation.

.TP
\fB\-\-cpu-family CPU_FAMILY\fR
Define cpu family for cross compilation.

.TP
\fB\-\-endian {big,little}\fR
Define endianness for cross compilation.

.SH The format command

.B meson format
formats a meson source file.

.B meson format [
.I options
.B ] [
.I sources...
.B ]

.SS "positional arguments:"

.TP
\fBsources...\fR
meson source files

.SS "options:"

.TP
\fB-h, --help\fR
show this help message and exit

.TP
\fB-q, --check-only\fR
exit with 1 if files would be modified by meson format

.TP
\fB-i, --inplace\fR
format files in-place

.TP
\fB-r, --recursive\fR
recurse subdirs (requires --check-only or --inplace option)

.TP
\fB-c meson.format, --configuration meson.format\fR
read configuration from meson.format

.TP
\fB-e, --editor-config\fR
try to read configuration from .editorconfig

.TP
\fB-o OUTPUT, --output OUTPUT\fR
output file (implies having exactly one input)

.SH When no command is specified

If you run Meson without a subcommand, it will assume you meant
\fBmeson setup\fR. However, this syntax is deprecated, and Meson
will print a warning message if it is used. You should always use
\fBmeson setup\fR explicitly, instead of relying on the default.

.SH EXIT STATUS

.TP
.B 0
Successful.
.TP
.B 1
Usage error, or an error parsing or executing meson.build.
.TP
.B 2
Internal error.
.TP
.B 125
.B meson test
could not rebuild the required targets.
.TP

.SH SEE ALSO

https://mesonbuild.com/

https://wrapdb.mesonbuild.com/

.MR meson-reference 3
