Antelope¶

A small, nimble C/C++ compile-and-link tool. Describe build targets in one or more JSON configs and produce static libraries, shared libraries, or executables — without hand-maintaining build scripts.

Get Started Command Reference Download v1.4

Configuration as the build script

Each JSON config describes a build target. antel.json is the default filename; use multiple configs for libraries, tools, and tests, and commit them alongside the source for review.

Configuration
Dependency-based incremental builds

Every compile unit records its -MMD dependencies: touch a header and only the affected source files are rebuilt; missing object files or dependency files are rebuilt automatically.

Incremental Build
Aggregated diagnostics

Parallel build output is captured per compile unit: successes are reduced to a warning count, failures are replayed in full, grouped by file with counts — no more drowning in interleaved output.

Commands & Exit Codes
Visual analysis reports

Set report: true or run antel analyze to generate a self-contained report.html: artifacts, incremental status, compile arguments, symbol tables, header dependencies, size distribution, dynamic dependencies, and a log listing — open it directly in your browser.

Command Reference
Versioned shared libraries

version / soname / rpath: produces libX.so.<version> with symlinks; consumers link against the SONAME and load via the $ORIGIN rpath.

Configuration
Sanitizers and coverage

sanitize: ["address"] / coverage: true inject ASan and gcov instrumentation with a single flag; run your program and a coverage report is at hand.

Configuration

Four commands to get started¶

python3 antelope_install.py   # installs the antel command
antel init                    # interactively generates antel.json
antel rebuild                 # full build
antel run                     # runs the built executable

Artifacts¶

Target type	Artifact	Description
`static`	`lib<project-name>.a`	Static library, stripped automatically after the build
`shared`	`lib<project-name>.so`	Shared library, linked via the compiler driver
`exe`	`<project-name>`	Executable, run directly with `antel run`

Compilers supported are gxx (gcc/g++), llvm (clang), and msvc (cl); linking of shared libraries and executables is currently implemented only for the gxx and llvm paths, see Compiler Support.

Where to start¶

What you want to do	Read this page
Get a minimal project up and running	Quick Start
Understand every field of antel.json	Configuration
See complete projects configured and running	Examples
Browse verified upstream project builds	Success Cases
Look up command flags and exit codes	Commands
Understand when a rebuild happens	Incremental Build
Switch compilers or target types	Compiler Support
Run tests, package, and release	Development