Conan Vcpkg

mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills/skills/build-systems/conan-vcpkg

by mohitmishra786bdc58472fa9fNo license253 starsListed Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026Repository updated 3 months ago

C/C++ package manager skill covering Conan and vcpkg. Use when adding third-party library dependencies to C/C++ projects, managing binary compatibility, integrating with CMake, or choosing between Conan and vcpkg. Activates on queries about Conan, vcpkg, C++ dependency management, conanfile.txt, vcpkg.json, CMake package integration, or C++ package managers.

Instructions onlySoftware Development

AI-generated overview

Guides C/C++ dependency management with Conan and vcpkg, including CMake integration and binary compatibility.

What it does: This skill provides instructions for declaring third-party C/C++ library dependencies with Conan and vcpkg, integrating them into CMake builds, and managing binary compatibility. It covers vcpkg classic and manifest modes, Conan 2.x conanfile.txt and conanfile.py workflows, and Conan profiles for cross-compilation. It also includes a decision guide for choosing between the two package managers and a lookup table of common library names.
When to use it: Use it when adding third-party library dependencies to a C/C++ project, when configuring vcpkg.json or conanfile files, or when integrating Conan or vcpkg with CMake. It is also relevant when choosing between Conan and vcpkg or debugging a failing Conan package build.
Requirements: No scripts are shipped; it is instructions only. Following the guidance requires a C/C++ toolchain, CMake, and either vcpkg or Conan (installed via pip) with network access to fetch packages and the vcpkg repository.

Conan and vcpkg

Purpose

Guide agents through C/C++ dependency management with Conan and vcpkg: declaring dependencies, integrating with CMake, managing binary compatibility, and choosing the right tool for a given project.

Triggers

"How do I add a C++ library dependency with Conan?"
"How do I use vcpkg with CMake?"
"What's the difference between Conan and vcpkg?"
"How do I add zlib/openssl/fmt with a package manager?"
"How do I create a vcpkg.json manifest?"
"My Conan package build is failing — how do I debug it?"

Workflow

1. Conan vs vcpkg decision

text

Which package manager?├── Team uses MSVC on Windows primarily → vcpkg (better MSVC integration)├── Need binary packages (no source builds in CI) → Conan (binary cache)├── Need cross-compilation support → Conan (profiles) or Zig-based builds├── Need a specific version of a package → Conan (flexible versioning)├── Quick project setup, just need it to work → vcpkg (simpler)└── Open-source project, broad audience → vcpkg (GitHub-integrated)

Which package manager?├── Team uses MSVC on Windows primarily → vcpkg (better MSVC integration)├── Need binary packages (no source builds in CI) → Conan (binary cache)├── Need cross-compilation support → Conan (profiles) or Zig-based builds├── Need a specific version of a package → Conan (flexible versioning)├── Quick project setup, just need it to work → vcpkg (simpler)└── Open-source project, broad audience → vcpkg (GitHub-integrated)

2. vcpkg setup

bash

# Clone vcpkggit clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh    # Linux/macOS./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.bat   # Windows
# Install packages (classic mode)./vcpkg/vcpkg install zlib curl openssl
# Integrate with CMakecmake -S . -B build \    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

# Clone vcpkggit clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg.git./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh    # Linux/macOS./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.bat   # Windows
# Install packages (classic mode)./vcpkg/vcpkg install zlib curl openssl
# Integrate with CMakecmake -S . -B build \    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

3. vcpkg manifest mode (recommended)

json

// vcpkg.json — place at project root{    "name": "myapp",    "version": "1.0.0",    "dependencies": [        "zlib",        "curl",        { "name": "openssl", "version>=": "3.0.0" },        { "name": "boost-filesystem", "platform": "!windows" },        {            "name": "fmt",            "features": ["core"]        }    ],    "builtin-baseline": "abc123..."}

// vcpkg.json — place at project root{    "name": "myapp",    "version": "1.0.0",    "dependencies": [        "zlib",        "curl",        { "name": "openssl", "version>=": "3.0.0" },        { "name": "boost-filesystem", "platform": "!windows" },        {            "name": "fmt",            "features": ["core"]        }    ],    "builtin-baseline": "abc123..."}

cmake

# CMakeLists.txtcmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)project(myapp)
find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)find_package(CURL REQUIRED)find_package(fmt REQUIRED)
add_executable(myapp src/main.cpp)target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE ZLIB::ZLIB CURL::libcurl fmt::fmt)

# CMakeLists.txtcmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20)project(myapp)
find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)find_package(CURL REQUIRED)find_package(fmt REQUIRED)
add_executable(myapp src/main.cpp)target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE ZLIB::ZLIB CURL::libcurl fmt::fmt)

bash

# Build — vcpkg automatically installs dependenciescmake -S . -B build \    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmakecmake --build build

# Build — vcpkg automatically installs dependenciescmake -S . -B build \    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/vcpkg/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmakecmake --build build

4. Conan setup

bash

# Install Conanpip install conan
# Set up default profile (detects compiler, OS)conan profile detect
# Check your profileconan profile show

# Install Conanpip install conan
# Set up default profile (detects compiler, OS)conan profile detect
# Check your profileconan profile show

5. Conan with CMake (Conan 2.x)

ini

# conanfile.txt[requires]zlib/1.3fmt/10.2.1openssl/3.2.0
[generators]CMakeDepsCMakeToolchain
[options]openssl/*:shared=False

# conanfile.txt[requires]zlib/1.3fmt/10.2.1openssl/3.2.0
[generators]CMakeDepsCMakeToolchain
[options]openssl/*:shared=False

bash

# Install dependenciesconan install . --output-folder=build --build=missing
# Configure and buildcmake -S . -B build \    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=build/conan_toolchain.cmake \    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Releasecmake --build build

# Install dependenciesconan install . --output-folder=build --build=missing
# Configure and buildcmake -S . -B build \    -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=build/conan_toolchain.cmake \    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Releasecmake --build build

cmake

# CMakeLists.txtfind_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)find_package(fmt REQUIRED)find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
add_executable(myapp src/main.cpp)target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE    ZLIB::ZLIB    fmt::fmt    OpenSSL::SSL OpenSSL::Crypto)

# CMakeLists.txtfind_package(ZLIB REQUIRED)find_package(fmt REQUIRED)find_package(OpenSSL REQUIRED)
add_executable(myapp src/main.cpp)target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE    ZLIB::ZLIB    fmt::fmt    OpenSSL::SSL OpenSSL::Crypto)

6. Conan profiles for cross-compilation

ini

# ~/.conan2/profiles/linux-arm64[settings]os=Linuxarch=armv8compiler=gcccompiler.version=12compiler.libcxx=libstdc++11build_type=Release
[buildenv]CC=aarch64-linux-gnu-gccCXX=aarch64-linux-gnu-g++
[tool_requires]# Tools that run on build machine (x86)

# ~/.conan2/profiles/linux-arm64[settings]os=Linuxarch=armv8compiler=gcccompiler.version=12compiler.libcxx=libstdc++11build_type=Release
[buildenv]CC=aarch64-linux-gnu-gccCXX=aarch64-linux-gnu-g++
[tool_requires]# Tools that run on build machine (x86)

bash

# Cross-compileconan install . \    --profile:build=default \    --profile:host=linux-arm64 \    --output-folder=build-arm \    --build=missing

# Cross-compileconan install . \    --profile:build=default \    --profile:host=linux-arm64 \    --output-folder=build-arm \    --build=missing

7. conanfile.py (advanced)

python

# conanfile.pyfrom conan import ConanFilefrom conan.tools.cmake import CMakeToolchain, CMakeDeps, CMake
class MyAppConan(ConanFile):    name = "myapp"    version = "1.0"    settings = "os", "compiler", "build_type", "arch"
    def requirements(self):        self.requires("zlib/1.3")        self.requires("fmt/10.2.1")        if self.settings.os == "Linux":            self.requires("openssl/3.2.0")
    def generate(self):        tc = CMakeToolchain(self)        tc.generate()        deps = CMakeDeps(self)        deps.generate()
    def build(self):        cmake = CMake(self)        cmake.configure()        cmake.build()

# conanfile.pyfrom conan import ConanFilefrom conan.tools.cmake import CMakeToolchain, CMakeDeps, CMake
class MyAppConan(ConanFile):    name = "myapp"    version = "1.0"    settings = "os", "compiler", "build_type", "arch"
    def requirements(self):        self.requires("zlib/1.3")        self.requires("fmt/10.2.1")        if self.settings.os == "Linux":            self.requires("openssl/3.2.0")
    def generate(self):        tc = CMakeToolchain(self)        tc.generate()        deps = CMakeDeps(self)        deps.generate()
    def build(self):        cmake = CMake(self)        cmake.configure()        cmake.build()

8. Common dependency lookup

Library	vcpkg name	Conan name
zlib	`zlib`	`zlib/1.3`
OpenSSL	`openssl`	`openssl/3.2.0`
libcurl	`curl`	`libcurl/8.4.0`
{fmt}	`fmt`	`fmt/10.2.1`
spdlog	`spdlog`	`spdlog/1.12.0`
Boost	`boost`	`boost/1.83.0`
nlohmann-json	`nlohmann-json`	`nlohmann_json/3.11.3`
googletest	`gtest`	`gtest/1.14.0`
Google Benchmark	`benchmark`	`benchmark/1.8.3`
SQLite	`sqlite3`	`sqlite3/3.44.0`
protobuf	`protobuf`	`protobuf/4.25.1`

For vcpkg baseline pinning and Conan binary cache setup, see references/package-manager-patterns.md [blocked].

Related skills

Use skills/build-systems/cmake for CMake integration with both Conan and vcpkg
Use skills/compilers/cross-gcc for cross-compilation with Conan profiles
Use skills/build-systems/ninja as the backend for package-managed projects

Source and attribution

Source:mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skillsinskills/build-systems/conan-vcpkgat commitbdc5847

License: No license

Content belongs to its original authors. SourceWeft indexes it from a public repository.

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Conan Vcpkg

Conan and vcpkg

Purpose

Triggers

Workflow

1. Conan vs vcpkg decision

2. vcpkg setup

3. vcpkg manifest mode (recommended)

4. Conan setup

5. Conan with CMake (Conan 2.x)

6. Conan profiles for cross-compilation

7. conanfile.py (advanced)

8. Common dependency lookup

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Source and attribution

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