Build

Build is how a build manifest, build.maxon, describes what maxon build compiles. A manifest is a program whose entry point is build; these calls print the description as JSON, and the compiler reads it back. The manifest’s contract with the command line is documented under maxon build in CLI_REFERENCE.md.

export function build() returns ExitCode
  var targets = BuildConfigArray.create()
  targets.push(Build.target("app", source: "src", output: ".maxon/app"))
  targets.push(Build.target("tool", source: "tools/gen.maxon", output: ".maxon/gen", debugInfo: false))
  Build.buildTargets(targets)
  return 0
end 'build'

Build

Function	Returns	Description
Build.build(source String, output String, debugInfo bool = true, version String = "", defines StringArray = empty)	—	Describe one source file or directory compiled to one output. The target’s name is the source path.
Build.target(name String, source String, output String, debugInfo bool = true, version String = "", defines StringArray = empty)	BuildConfig	One named target, for a manifest with several. Prints nothing.
Build.buildTargets(targets BuildConfigArray)	—	Describe several named targets.
Build.buildWithConfig(config BuildConfig)	—	Describe one full BuildConfig, which may list several sources.
Build.emitBuildConfig(config BuildConfig)	—	Print one configuration as a JSON object, every string JSON-escaped; build, buildWithConfig and buildTargets use it.

output omits the extension; the compiler adds .exe on Windows and .wasm for wasm32-wasi. debugInfo controls the <output>.mxdbg sidecar that maxon debug and maxon profile read, and maxon build --no-debug-info turns it off regardless.

BuildConfig

Field	Type	Description
name	String	What maxon build <name> selects. It is not the binary’s product name, which is its file name.
output	String	Where the executable goes, without an extension.
sources	StringArray	Files and directories compiled as one program, in order. An empty list is refused.
debug_info	bool	Write the .mxdbg sidecar.
version	String	A dotted product version stamped into the binary (a VS_VERSIONINFO resource on Windows, LC_SOURCE_VERSION on macOS); empty means unversioned. A component that is not a number, or that the target’s version field cannot hold, refuses the build.
defines	StringArray	name=value pairs, each replacing a top-level String constant’s default, as maxon build --define does.

BuildConfig.create(name String, output String, sources StringArray, debug_info bool, version String = "", defines StringArray = empty) builds one. BuildConfigArray is Array with BuildConfig.

defines is how a manifest puts something it computed into the binary, such as a version derived from git. A define whose name matches no constant, or more than one, is refused (E3149, E3150), as is a constant whose initializer is not a plain string literal (E3151). A --define on the command line wins over the manifest’s.