Building Brisk and Dependencies from Source

If you’ve already set up the prebuilt binaries, you can skip this article entirely.

Installing build prerequisites

See Installing Prerequisites first to install packages needed to use Brisk.

macOSLinux

To install additional system dependencies needed to build Brisk from source, use the following command:

brew install cmake git ninja autoconf automake autoconf-archive

To install additional system dependencies needed to build Brisk from source on Ubuntu-derived distro, use this command:

sudo apt-get install ninja-build mesa-vulkan-drivers vulkan-tools wget xorg-dev libgl-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libvulkan-dev autoconf autoconf-archive libxrandr-dev libxinerama-dev libxcursor-dev mesa-common-dev libx11-xcb-dev libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev

Fetching the Brisk Source Code

Latest Version

The main branch contains the latest features and stable code. New code is merged into main only after passing all tests, ensuring this branch represents the most up-to-date, stable version of the Brisk library.

To clone the main branch into a brisk subdirectory:

git clone https://github.com/brisklib/brisk.git brisk

I you’ve already cloned the Brisk repository and want to update it to the latest version:

cd path/to/brisk/repo
git pull

Alternatively, but not recommended, you can download the sources as a .zip archive directly from GitHub: https://github.com/brisklib/brisk/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

In this case, updating requires downloading a new archive and replacing the directory contents.

Building Brisk (Prebuilt Dependencies)

Prebuilt Binaries

Building Brisk and its dependencies may take a significant amount of time on your system. Alternatively, you can download prebuilt binaries from our build server (see Prebuilt Binaries).

To acquire the prebuilt dependencies, execute the following command in the Brisk repository directory:

macOSLinuxWindows

cmake -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=uni-osx -P acquire-deps.cmake

cmake -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux -P acquire-deps.cmake

cmake -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-windows-static-md -P acquire-deps.cmake

The recommended way to build the Brisk library is with Ninja:

macOSLinuxWindows

cd path/to/brisk/repo
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-release -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=uni-osx -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg_exported/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-release --target install
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-debug -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=uni-osx -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg_exported/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build-debug --target install

cd path/to/brisk/repo
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-release -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg_exported/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-release --target install
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-debug -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg_exported/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build-debug --target install

cd path\to\brisk\repo
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-release -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-windows-static-md -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg_exported/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-release --target install
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-debug -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=OFF -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-windows-static-md -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=vcpkg_exported/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build-debug --target install

You can replace <TRIPLET> with one of valid triplets.

CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX specifies the directory where the static libraries and header files will be placed after building.

On Windows, these commands should be executed in the Visual Studio Developer Command Prompt.

After executing the above commands, you’ll get the following new directories in the Brisk root directory:

1. dist — stores Brisk’s static libraries and headers.
2. vcpkg_exported — contains minimal vcpkg installation required for Brisk.
3. vcpkg_installed — contains all dependencies needed for building and linking applications with Brisk.

These directories are relocatable, so you can move them to another directory or computer if needed.

Building Brisk And Dependencies

Prebuilt Binaries

Building Brisk and its dependencies may take a significant amount of time on your system. Alternatively, you can download prebuilt binaries from our build server (see Prebuilt Binaries).

To build Brisk dependencies the latest version of Vcpkg is required.

macOSLinuxWindows

cd path/to/brisk/repo
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-release -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=uni-osx -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<vcpkg-root-directory>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-release --target install
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-debug -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=uni-osx -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<vcpkg-root-directory>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build-debug --target install

cd path/to/brisk/repo
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-release -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<vcpkg-root-directory>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-release --target install
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-debug -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-linux -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<vcpkg-root-directory>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build-debug --target install

cd path\to\brisk\repo
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-release -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-windows-static-md -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<vcpkg-root-directory>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build-release --target install
cmake -GNinja -S . -B build-debug -DVCPKG_MANIFEST_INSTALL=ON -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=dist -DVCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET=x64-windows-static-md -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=<vcpkg-root-directory>/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake -DVCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR=vcpkg_installed -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
cmake --build build-debug --target install

Replace <vcpkg-root-directory> with the path to the Vcpkg root directory.

After executing the above commands, you’ll get the following new directories in the Brisk root directory:

1. dist — stores Brisk’s static libraries and headers.
2. vcpkg_installed — contains all dependencies needed for building and linking applications with Brisk.

CMake Options

You can enable/disable options when configuring Brisk in CMake by adding -DOPTION=ON or -DOPTION=OFF to the command line.

• BRISK_WEBGPU enables building WebGPU graphics backend. Default value is ON on macOS/Linux and OFF on Windows.
• BRISK_D3D11 enables building D3D11 graphics backend on Windows. Default value is ON on Windows.
• BRISK_TESTS and BRISK_EXAMPLES control whether the Brisk tests and examples will be compiled or not. Default is ON in standalone mode and OFF when used with add_subdirectory.

Building Brisk with Your Project (add_subdirectory)

Another method for including Brisk in your CMake-based project is by using add_subdirectory. This allows for tighter integration and enables automatic rebuilds whenever Brisk sources change. This approach is particularly suitable if you are developing the Brisk library alongside your application.

The BRISK_DIR CMake variable must be set to the Brisk source directory.

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.22)

# Initialize Brisk CMake modules. This must be done before the first project directive.
include(${BRISK_DIR}/cmake/brisk.cmake)

project(brisk-example)

# Include Brisk source. This must be done after the first project directive.
add_subdirectory(${BRISK_DIR} brisk-bin)

add_executable(main ...)

# Link the Brisk libraries to the 'main' target.
target_link_libraries(main PRIVATE Brisk::Widgets Brisk::Executable ...)

# Perform additional setup tasks specific to the executable target 'main'.
brisk_setup_executable(main)