c3c(1)

📦
version 0.8.5_1 · 2 versions
, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 NAME 💖

c3c — the compiler for the C3 programming language, manual section 1 of the User Commands pages. yes bestie, this is the whole thing, buckle up 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

c3c [options ...] command [args ...]

that's it. that's the whole shape of it. options first, then the command, then whatever args that command wants 🦋

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

c3c is the compiler for the C3 language, and she does a lot — compilation, project management, testing, and distribution all live in here. like, the commands available let you compile files, initialize projects, build targets, run benchmarks, clean build files, and more. she's the whole toolbox, not just the hammer 💅

👑 COMMANDS 👑

okay so this is the menu of things you can actually ask her to do. pick one, she'll handle it ✨

  • c3c compile file1 [file2 ...] — compile files without a project, straight into an executable. no project scaffolding needed, we're free-spiriting it 🦋
  • c3c init project name — initialize a brand new project structure. main character energy from day one 💖
  • c3c init-lib library name — same idea but for a library structure instead of an app 🎀
  • c3c build [target] — build the target inside the current project 🔥
  • c3c benchmark [target] — run the benchmarks for the target in the current project. numbers go brrr 📊
  • c3c test [target] — run the unit tests for the target in the current project. manifesting all green for you 🧚
  • c3c clean — clean all the build files. the great purge 😌
  • c3c run [target] [-- [arg1 ...]] — run the target in the current project, and build it first if needed. anything after -- gets passed as args 🫶
  • c3c dist [target] — clean and build a target for distribution. this is the going-out outfit version 📦
  • c3c clean-run [target] [-- [arg1 ...]] — clean, then run the target. fresh slate, then go 💅
  • c3c compile-run file1 [file2 ...] [-- [arg1 ...]] — compile the files then immediately run the result, no waiting around ⚡
  • c3c compile-only file1 [file2 ...] — compile the files but do not perform linking. all the parse, none of the join 🙈
  • c3c compile-benchmark file1 [file2 ...] — compile files into a test-executable and run benchmarks. (yes, that's what the page says — test-executable, benchmarks. I'm not making it up, I'm just reading it 💀)
  • c3c compile-test file1 [file2 ...] — compile files into a benchmark-executable and run unit tests. (again: benchmark-executable, unit tests. the page said it, not me 😭)
  • c3c static-lib file1 [file2 ...] — compile files without a project into a static library 🧱
  • c3c dynamic-lib file1 [file2 ...] — compile files without a project into a dynamic library 🌊
  • c3c vendor-fetch library ... — fetches one or more libraries from the vendor collection. shopping spree, but make it deps 🛍️
  • c3c project subcommand ... — manipulate or view project files 📁
  • c3c fetch-sdk windows|macos|android ... — fetches the SDK you need for cross-compiling. pick your windows, macos, or android era 🌈
  • c3c docgen [path1 path2 ...] — generate documentation for the project, or for specific files and directories. future you says thank you 💖

💅 OPTIONS 💅

this section is long, bestie. we're going through every single one, no skipping, no summarising. hydrate first 🍓

🎀 Help & version vibes

  • -h, -hh, --help — print the help. -h gives you the normal options, -hh gives you the full help. go -hh if you're feeling brave 👑
  • -V, --version — print version information. know your era ✨

🔇 Volume control

  • -q, --quiet — silence unnecessary output. she's in her quiet luxury bag 🤫
  • -v, -vv, -vvv — verbose output. -v for default verbose, and -vv / -vvv give you more information. escalating yapping, but useful 📢

🧪 Pipeline-stopper flags (stop early, peek inside)

  • -E — lex only. just the tokens, ma'am 🍬
  • -P — only parse and output the AST as JSON 🌳
  • -C — only lex, parse and check. no further, we're just validating vibes ✅

🍴 I/O bits

  • - code... — read code from standard in. yes, a lone dash then your code, piped right in 🫶
  • -o file — write output to file 📝

🔥 Optimization levels (read these carefully, bestie)

  • -O0 — safe, no optimizations, emit debug info 🐣
  • -O1 — safe, high optimization, emit debug info 🚀
  • -O2 — unsafe, high optimization, emit debug info ⚠️
  • -O3 — unsafe, high optimization, single module, emit debug info 🧨
  • -O4 — unsafe, highest optimization, relaxed maths, single module, emit debug info, no panic messages 💀
  • -O5 — unsafe, highest optimization, fast maths, single module, emit debug info, no panic messages, no backtrace 🌋
  • -Os — unsafe, high optimization, small code, single module, no debug info, no panic messages 🍃
  • -Oz — unsafe, high optimization, tiny code, single module, no debug info, no panic messages, no backtrace 🐜
fr fr, notice how -O2 and up are unsafe. that's not decorative, that's the actual deal. safety is a setting here, not a default you can assume 🌸

🏷️ Feature flags

  • -D name — add feature flag name ➕
  • -U name — remove feature flag name ➖

🌈 Info about the thing itself

  • --about — prints a short description of C3 💖
  • --build-env — prints build environment information. this one's only valid in combination with a command such as 'compile' 👀

📂 Where stuff goes & where stuff's found

  • --run-dir dir — set the directory from where to run the binary. only for run and compile-run 🏃‍♀️
  • --libdir dir — add this directory to the c3l library search paths 🔍
  • --lib name — add this c3l library to the compilation 🧩
  • --sources file1 [file2 ...] — add these additional sources to the compilation 📚
  • --validation= option — how strict the code validation is: lenient (default), strict, obnoxious (very strict). yes, obnoxious is the real name 😭
  • --stdlib dir — use this directory as the C3 standard library path 🏛️
  • --no-entry — do not generate (or require) a main function. no entry point, no problem 🚪
  • --path dir — use this as the base directory for the current command 🧭
  • --template template — select the template for 'init': "exe", "static-lib", "dynamic-lib" or a path 🎨

🧠 Resource-ish knobs

  • --symtab value — sets the preferred symtab size 📏
  • --max-mem value — set the maximum memory size (in MB) 🧮

🏃 Run behaviour

  • --run-once — after running the output file, delete it immediately. one and done, iconic and terrifying 💅
  • --suppress-run — build but do not run on test/benchmark options 🙅‍♀️
  • --trust= option — trust level: none (default), include ($include allowed), full ($exec / exec allowed) 🔐

📁 Directory overrides (the whole drawer)

  • --output-dir dir — override the general output directory 📦
  • --build-dir dir — override the build output directory 🏗️
  • --obj-out dir — override the object file output directory 🧱
  • --script-dir dir — override the base directory where scripts are searched 📜
  • --exec-dir dir — override the base directory for $exec and exec ⚡
  • --llvm-out dir — override the llvm output directory for '--emit-llvm' 🌙
  • --asm-out dir — override the asm output directory for '--emit-asm' 🔧
  • --header-output dir — override the header file output directory when building libraries 📄

🧾 Emit this, emit that

  • --emit-llvm — emit LLVM IR as a .ll file per module 💜
  • --emit-asm — emit asm as a .s file per module 🛠️
  • --obj — emit object files (enabled by default) ✅
  • --no-obj — do not output object files; this is only valid for compile-only 🚫
  • --no-headers — do not generate C headers when building a library 🙈

🎯 Targets & threads

  • --target target — compile for a particular architecture + OS target 🌍
  • --threads number — set the number of threads to use for compilation 🧵

🛡️ Safety & panics

  • --safe= yes|no — turn safety (contracts, runtime bounds checking, null pointer checks etc) on or off 🦺
  • --panic-msg= yes|no — turn panic message output on or off 😱

⚙️ Optimization fine-tuning

  • --optlevel= option — code optimization level: none, less, more, max 📈
  • --optsize= option — code size optimization: none, small, tiny 🤏
  • --unroll-loops= yes|no — enable loop unrolling 🔁
  • --loop-vectorize= yes|no — enable loop auto-vectorization 🎯
  • --slp-vectorize= yes|no — enable SLP (superword-level parallelism) auto-vectorization 🧬
  • --merge-functions= yes|no — enable function merging 🫂
  • --function-sections= yes|no — place each function in its own section, so the linker can discard unused ones (no effect on Mach-O) 🗂️
  • --data-sections= yes|no — place each global variable in its own section, so the linker can discard unused ones (no effect on Mach-O) 🗃️
  • --single-module= yes|no — compile all modules together, enables more inlining 🧩
  • --show-backtrace= yes|no — show detailed backtrace on segfaults 💀

🩺 Diagnostics & warnings

  • --lsp — emit data about errors suitable for a LSP 🧠
  • --print-large-functions — print functions with large compile size 🐘
  • --warn-deadcode= yes|no|error — print warning on dead-code: yes, no, error 🧟
  • --warn-recursivecontracts= yes|no|error — print warning on recursive contracts: yes, no, error 🔄
  • --warn-methodvisibility= yes|no|error — print warning when methods have ignored visibility attributes 👀
  • --warn-methodsnotresolved= yes|no|error — print warning on methods not resolved when accessed: yes, no, error 🧐
  • --warn-deprecation= yes|no|error — print warning when using deprecated code and constructs: yes, no, error 🕰️
  • --warn-builtin= yes|no|error — print warning when using builtin functions outside of the stdlib: yes, no, error 🏠

🐞 Debug info

  • -g — emit debug info 🪲
  • -g0 — emit no debug info 🚫

🎨 Pretty output

  • --ansi= yes|no — set colour output using ansi on/off, default is to try to detect it 🌈
  • --echo-prefix arg — sets the prefix for any output using '$echo', defaults to 'c3c:' 💬

🧪 Test runner settings

  • --test-filter arg — set a filter when running tests, running only matching tests 🎣
  • --test-breakpoint — when running tests, trigger a breakpoint on failure 🛑
  • --test-nosort — do not sort tests 🔀
  • --test-noleak — disable tracking allocator and memory leak detection for tests 🚰
  • --test-show-output — disable test stdout capturing, all tests can print as they run 📢
  • --test-nocapture — disable test stdout capturing, all tests can print as they run, same as --test-show-output 👯‍♀️
  • --test-quiet — run tests without printing full names, printing output only on failure 🤐
  • --test-log-level= verbose|debug|info|warn|error|critical — set log priority when running tests 📊

📈 Benchmark output

  • --benchmark-csv-report — print a CSV report after benchmarks have completed 📋

🔗 Linking & libraries

  • -l library — link with the static or dynamic library provided 🔌
  • -L library dir — append the directory to the linker search paths 🗺️
  • -z argument — send the argument as a parameter to the linker 📨
  • --cc path — set C compiler (for C files in projects and use as system linker) 🛠️
  • --linker= option [path] — linker: builtin, cc, custom (default is 'cc'), and 'custom' requires a path ⚓
  • --use-stdlib= yes|no — include the standard library (default: yes) 📚
  • --link-libc= yes|no — link libc and other default libraries (default: yes) 🧷
  • --custom-libc= yes|no — set to true if a custom libc implementation is provided (default: no) 🧪
  • --emit-stdlib= yes|no — output files for the standard library (default: yes) 🏛️
  • --emit-only file — output only the file matching file 🎯

🏷️ Symbol name overrides

  • --panicfn name — override the panic function name 💥
  • --testfn name — override the test runner function name 🧪
  • --benchfn name — override the benchmark runner function name ⏱️

🧭 Codegen & cpu

  • --reloc= option — relocation model: none, pic, PIC, pie, PIE 🧱
  • --cpu-flags string — add/remove cpu flags from the default, e.g. '+a,-b' 🎛️
  • --x86cpu= option — set general level of x64 cpu: baseline, ssse3, sse4, avx1, avx2-v1, avx2-v2 (Skylake/Zen1+), avx512 (Icelake/Zen4+), native 🖥️

okay that's the end of part 1, and part 2 is coming right up 🫶

  • --x86vec= option — caps the fanciest vector type the compiler will use. Your options: none, mmx, sse, avx, avx512, default. Pick your vibe 💅
  • --riscv-abi= option — sets which RISC-V ABI you're on: int-only, float, or double. choose wisely bestie.
  • --riscv-cpu= option — picks the general level of your RISC-V cpu: rvi (that's the default for 32-bit), rvimac, rvimafc, rvgc (default for 64-bit), rvgcv. lowkey a whole alphabet soup but slay 🌸
  • --memory-env= option — sets the memory environment: normal, small, tiny, none. it's giving "how much room do we have to breathe" 🫶
  • --strip-unused= yes|no — strips unused code and globals out of the output. default is yes, so the compiler is already doing the cleanup for you ✨
  • --fp-math= option — floating point math behaviour: strict, relaxed, fast. strict is the goody-two-shoes, fast is the reckless main character 😭
  • --win64-simd= option — Win64 SIMD ABI: array, full.
  • --win-debug= option — picks the debug output format on Windows: codeview or dwarf. default is codeview 🪟
  • --max-vector-size number — the biggest vector bit size you're allowed to use. default is 4096, which is already huge ngl.
  • --max-stack-object-size number — biggest size a stack object can be, in KB. default is 128 🧚
  • --max-macro-iterations number — the max number of times a macro loop can go around before it gets told to chill. default is 1048575, so like... a lot 💀
  • --print-linking — prints the linker arguments. nosy but make it fashion.
  • --benchmarking — runs the built-in benchmarks 🔥
  • --testing — runs the built-in tests. very responsible of you tbh 🎀
  • --list-attributes — lists every attribute.
  • --list-builtins — lists every builtin.
  • --list-keywords — lists every keyword.
  • --list-operators — lists every operator.
  • --list-precedence — lists the operator precedence order, aka who goes first 👑
  • --list-project-properties — lists all the available keys used in project.json files.
  • --list-manifest-properties — lists all the available keys used in manifest.json files.
  • --list-targets — lists every architecture the compiler supports 🌈
  • --list-type-properties — lists all type properties.
  • --list-asm — lists every asm instruction for the current target. heads up: you must use it together with a compilation command like compile or build, or it just won't hit 🫶
  • --print-output — prints the object files it created to stdout.
  • --print-input — prints the C3 files it was given to stdout.
  • --win-sdk dir — sets the directory for Windows system library files when you're cross compiling.
  • --wincrt= option — Windows CRT linking: none, static-debug, static, dynamic-debug (this one's the default if debug info is enabled), dynamic (default). lots of options but periodt 💅
  • --windef file — uses a Windows def file for function exports instead of dllexport.
  • --win-vs-dirs dir;dir — overrides the Windows VS detection. note the semicolon between the two dirs, bestie — it's not a typo ✨
  • --win-subsystem= subsystem — the Windows subsystem: console (default), windows (default if @winmain is present), native, posix, boot, efi-app, efi-boot, efi-rom or efi-runtime. the efi girlies are eating 🍓
  • --macos-sdk dir — sets the directory for the MacOS SDK when you're cross compiling.
  • --macos-min-version ver — sets the minimum MacOS version to compile for.
  • --macos-sdk-version ver — sets the MacOS SDK version compiled for.
  • --linux-libc= host|gnu|musl — sets which libc to use on Linux. defaults to host 🐧
  • --linux-crt dir — sets the directory used for finding crt1.o and related files.
  • --linux-crtbegin dir — sets the directory used for finding crtbegin.o and related files.
  • --android-ndk dir — sets the NDK directory location.
  • --android-api ver — sets the Android API version.
  • --bsd-sysroot dir — sets the BSD sysroot directory.
  • --sanitize= option — turns on a sanitizer: address, memory, thread. friendship bracelets for your memory bugs 💖

✨ EXAMPLES ✨

bestie these are copy-paste ready, go off 🦋

Create a project:

c3c init new_project

Create a library project:

c3c init-lib new_library

Compile a file:

c3c compile main.c3

Build the current project:

c3c build

Run tests for the current project:

c3c test

that's the whole page, no cap 🎀 the C3 Compiler was being iconic on 2026-07-03, and yes the man page footer literally reads c3c(1) — she's a classic, iykyk 💜

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