# Properties The [MSBuild properties](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/msbuild/msbuild-properties) described on this page are used by the Zig SDK. These properties can all be set in `PropertyGroup`s in your project file. Most of them should have sensible defaults for new projects; a few (such as `TreatWarningsAsErrors` and `SymbolVisibility`) have defaults that are not quite as sensible for unfortunate historical reasons. ## Project Setup * `AssemblyName`: Name of the project. By default, this is set to the file name of the project file. Used to compute the final binary name (e.g. `foo` becomes `libfoo.so`). * `OutputType` (`Exe`, `WinExe`, `Library`): Output binary type. When targeting Windows and building executables, `Exe` and `WinExe` will target the CUI and GUI subsystems, respectively. Defaults to `Library`. * `IsTestable` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable `dotnet test` for Zig projects. Defaults to `true`. * `IsPackable` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable `dotnet pack`. Defaults to `true`. * `IsPublishable` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable `dotnet publish`. Defaults to `true`. * `DefaultSources` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable default `Compile` item includes. Defaults to `true`. * `Deterministic` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable deterministic builds. Among other things, this will try to prevent the compiler from using absolute paths and will prevent usage of certain problematic language features like `__TIME__`. Defaults to `true`. * `EditorSupport` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable editor support. For C/C++ projects, this means generating a `compile_commands.json` compilation database in `IntermediateOutputPath`. Defaults to `true`. * `FormatOnBuild` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable formatting source code into canonical style on build in Zig projects. Defaults to `false`. ## Package Information * `Product`: Human-friendly product name for the package. Defaults to the value of `AssemblyName`. * `Authors`: A list of package authors. Defaults to the value of `AssemblyName`. * `Description`: Brief description of the package. Defaults to `Package Description`. * `Version`: Package version in [Semantic Versioning 2.0.0](https://semver.org) form. Defaults to `1.0.0`. * `Copyright`: Copyright notice for the package. Unset by default. * `PackageLicenseExpression`: [SPDX](https://spdx.org/licenses) license identifier for the package. Unset by default. * `PackageProjectUrl`: Website URL associated with the package. Unset by default. * `RepositoryUrl`: Source code repository URL for the package. Unset by default. ## Preprocessor * `PublicHeadersPath`: Can be set to a directory containing public C/C++ headers. These headers will be included in the NuGet package and will flow to dependent projects. This directory will also be treated as an `IncludeDirectory`. Unset by default. * `DefineConstants`: A comma-separated list of preprocessor macros to define. Each entry can be a simple name or an assignment of the form `NAME=VALUE`. These macros are passed to the compiler with the `-D` flag. Note that this applies to Zig as well, not just C/C++. * `CompilerDefines` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable adding some implicit `DefineConstants` macros that describe the Zig compiler version. Defaults to `true`. * `PlatformDefines` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable adding some implicit `DefineConstants` macros that describe the target platform characteristics. Defaults to `true`. * `ConfigurationDefines` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable adding some implicit `DefineConstants` macros that describe the build configuration (`Debug`, `ReleaseFast`, etc). Defaults to `true`. * `PackageDefines` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable adding some implicit `DefineConstants` macros that describe the project being built. Defaults to `true`. ## Language Features * `ZigVersion` (`major.minor.patch`): The version of the Zig compiler toolset to use. Defaults to the latest version known to the Zig SDK package that is in use. * `LanguageStandard`: The language standard used for C/C++ projects. Passed to Clang's `-std` flag. Defaults to the latest standards known to the compiler version that `ZigVersion` defaults to. * `AccessControl` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable access control in C++ projects. Defaults to `true`. * `BlockExtensions` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable Clang's block language extensions. Defaults to `false`. * `CxxExceptions` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable C++ exceptions. In C projects, this controls whether the C code will be unwindable by C++ exceptions. Defaults to `true`. * `AsyncExceptions` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable the ability to catch [SEH](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/cpp/structured-exception-handling-c-cpp) exceptions with standard `try`/`catch` statements. This only applies when targeting Windows. Defaults to `false`. * `CxxReflection` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable generating C++ run-time type information. This feature is required for some uses of `dynamic_cast`. Defaults to `true`. * `MicrosoftExtensions` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable a variety of Microsoft C/C++ extensions. Defaults to `false`, but note that the compiler itself always enables some parts of this when targeting Windows as Win32 headers require it. * `NoEntryPoint` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable the omission of an entry point function when building executables. Defaults to `false`. * `UnicodeEnvironment` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable compiling for a Unicode environment when targeting Windows in C/C++ projects. This causes the `UNICODE` and `_UNICODE` macros to be defined, and makes it so that [`wmain`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/c-language/using-wmain) and [`wWinMain`](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/learnwin32/winmain--the-application-entry-point) entry point functions must be used when building executables. Defaults to `false`. ## Static Analysis * `EnforceCodeStyleInBuild` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable checking that source code is in the canonical style during build in Zig projects. Defaults to `false`. * `BufferAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable static analysis with unsafe buffer annotations in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `false`. * `ConsumptionAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable static analysis with [consumption and type state annotations](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AttributeReference.html#consumed-annotation-checking) in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `true`. * `DocumentationAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable [Doxygen](https://doxygen.nl) documentation comment checking in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `false`. * `NullabilityAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable static analysis with [nullability annotations](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/analyzer/developer-docs/nullability.html) in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `true`. * `TagAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable static analysis with [type tag annotations](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AttributeReference.html#type-safety-checking) in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `true`. * `ThreadingAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable static analysis with [thread safety annotations](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThreadSafetyAnalysis.html) in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `true`. * `TrustAnalysis` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable static analysis with [trusted computing base annotations](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AttributeReference.html#enforce-tcb) in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `true`. * `WarningLevel` (`0`-`4`): How aggressively the compiler should analyze C/C++ projects for potentially problematic code. `0` disables warnings completely; `4` enables all warnings, including a few controversial ones. Defaults to `3`. * `DisableWarnings`: A comma-separated list of [warning names](https://clang.llvm.org/docs/DiagnosticsReference.html) (e.g. `cast-align`) to disable in C/C++ projects. Unset by default. * `TreatWarningsAsErrors` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable reporting warnings as errors in C/C++ projects. Defaults to `false`. ## Code Generation * `Configuration` (`Debug`, `Release`): Specifies the overarching configuration. When `Release` is specified, `ReleaseMode` comes into effect. Defaults to `Debug`. Usually specified by the user as e.g. `dotnet build -c Release`. * `DebugSymbols` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable emitting debug symbols. Defaults to `true` if `Configuration` is `Debug`; otherwise, `false`. * `ReleaseMode` (`Fast`, `Safe`, `Small`): The [build mode](https://ziglang.org/documentation/master/#Build-Mode) to use when `Configuration` is set to `Release`. Defaults to `Fast`. * `ExecutionModel` (`Command`, `Reactor`): Specifies the execution model to use when building WebAssembly executables. Defaults to `Command`. * `FastMath` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable certain lossy floating point optimizations that may not be standards-compliant. Defaults to `false`. * `LinkTimeOptimization` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable link-time optimization. Defaults to `false`. * `SymbolExports` (`Used`, `All`): Specifies whether to export all public symbols or only those that are needed to link successfully. This only applies when building executables. Defaults to `Used`. * `SymbolVisibility` (`Default`, `Hidden`): Specifies the symbol visibility in C/C++ projects when `__attribute__((visibility(...)))` is not specified. `Default` (the default 😉) means public, while `Hidden` means private. * `AllowUndefinedSymbols` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable permitting undefined symbols when linking. This usually only applies when building libraries. Defaults to `false`. * `EagerBinding` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable eager binding of symbols when performing dynamic linking at run time. Eager binding has security benefits, especially in combination with `RelocationHardening`. It is also more reliable if calling external functions from signal handlers. Defaults to `true`. * `RelocationHardening` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable marking relocations as read-only. This has security benefits, especially in combination with `EagerBinding`. Defaults to `true`. * `ImageBase`: The location in memory that the binary should be loaded at. Only takes effect at run time if `DynamicImageBase` is `false`. Unset by default. * `DynamicImageBase` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable [ASLR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_space_layout_randomization), i.e. randomization of the image base at run time. This only applies when targeting Windows. Defaults to `true`. * `StackSize`: Sets the stack size for the main thread. This only applies when building executables. Unset by default. * `Sanitizers`: A semicolon-separated list of [sanitizers](https://github.com/google/sanitizers) to instrument code with. Currently, only `thread` is supported. Unset by default. ## Cross-Compilation * `RuntimeIdentifier`: Specifies the runtime identifier (i.e. platform) to target. When unset, `Build` and `Clean` will run for all runtime identifiers specified in `RuntimeIdentifiers`. Usually specified by the user as e.g. `dotnet build -r linux-x64`. Unset by default. * `RuntimeIdentifiers`: A semicolon-separated list of runtime identifiers that the project supports. All targets in this list will be cross-compiled as necessary. Defaults to all targets that the Zig compiler has known-good support for. * `UseMicrosoftAbi` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable using the Microsoft ABI when targeting Windows. This may be necessary when linking to static libraries containing C++ code that was compiled for the Microsoft ABI. Note that it is currently not possible to cross-compile from non-Windows platforms when using the Microsoft ABI. Unset by default. * `UseEmulator` (`true`, `false`): Enable/disable usage of an appropriate binary emulator when cross-compiling. Defaults to `true`. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. 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