LLVM-CONFIG(1)

💅 llvm-config — like, your ✨personal LLVM hype squad✨

okay so bestie, this is llvm-config, and it lives in the LLVM manual, and honestly? it's the friend who always knows the answer and never makes you feel dumb for asking. 🫶

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🌸 NAME 🌸

llvm-config — prints out LLVM compilation options, aka it tells you exactly what flags you need so you don't have to guess (and we do not guess, not on my watch 💅).

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

llvm-config option [components...]

like, you give it an option, you optionally give it some components, and it gives you the info. that's the whole vibe. periodt.

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

okay so llvm-config makes it so much easier to build applications that use LLVM, which is lowkey a lifesaver because LLVM does not come to play about flags. 😭

it can print the compiler flags, the linker flags, and the object libraries you need to link against LLVM. that's it, that's the job, and it does it flawlessly. 👑

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🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

say you wanna link against the JIT, bestie — here's the whole thing, and yes you can copy it:

g++ `llvm-config --cxxflags` -o HowToUseJIT.o -c HowToUseJIT.cpp
g++ `llvm-config --ldflags` -o HowToUseJIT HowToUseJIT.o \
    `llvm-config --libs engine bcreader scalaropts`

look at those backticks doing their little command-substitution dance. iconic. 🌈

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💜 OPTIONS 💜

here we go, the full lineup — every single one, no skips, no skimming, we don't do that here:

• --assertion-mode — prints the assertion mode used when LLVM was built, which is either ON or OFF. simple as that.
• --bindir — prints the installation directory for the LLVM binaries. 📁
• --build-mode — prints the build mode used when LLVM was built (think Debug or Release, yk how it is).
• --build-system — prints the build system used to build LLVM (like cmake or gn, no judgment on either).
• --cflags — prints the C compiler flags you need to use LLVM headers. 🧚
• --cmakedir — prints the installation directory for LLVM CMake modules.
• --components — prints all the valid component names. the full roster, the whole cast. ✨
• --cppflags — prints the C preprocessor flags needed to use LLVM headers.
• --cxxflags — prints the C++ compiler flags needed to use LLVM headers. C++ girlies rise. 💖
• --has-rtti — prints whether or not LLVM was built with rtti — YES or NO, brutally honest.
• --help — prints a summary of llvm-config arguments. when in doubt, ask for help, we love that here. 🫶
• --host-target — prints the target triple used to configure LLVM.
• --ignore-libllvm — ignore libLLVM and link component libraries instead. boundary-setting behavior, honestly.
• --includedir — prints the installation directory for LLVM headers.
• --ldflags — prints the flags needed to link against LLVM libraries.
• --libdir — prints the installation directory for LLVM libraries.
• --libfiles — similar to --libs, but it prints the full path to each library file. super useful when you're making makefile dependencies, because it makes sure a tool gets relinked if any library it uses changes. no stale builds, no cap. 🎯
• --libnames — similar to --libs, but prints the bare filenames of the libraries, without -l or pathnames. great for linking against a not-yet-installed copy of LLVM. 💅
• --libs — prints all the libraries needed to link against the specified LLVM components, including any dependencies. the whole package.
• --link-shared — links the components as shared libraries.
• --link-static — links the component libraries statically.
• --obj-root — prints the object root used to build LLVM.
• --prefix — prints the installation prefix for LLVM.
• --quote-paths — quotes and escapes paths when needed — most notably when a quote, space, backslash or dollar sign character is present in the path. those lil gremlin characters, handled. 🙈
• --shared-mode — prints how the provided components can be collectively linked, either shared or static.
• --system-libs — prints all the system libraries needed to link against the specified LLVM components, including any dependencies.
• --targets-built — prints the component names for all targets supported by this copy of LLVM. 🎯
• --version — prints the version number of LLVM. the humble flex.

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🍓 COMPONENTS 🍓

wanna see the whole list of available components? run llvm-config --components and it'll spill everything. 💖

in most cases, components correspond directly to LLVM libraries. and there are these extremely useful "virtual" components, which are giving main character energy:

• all — includes all LLVM libraries. this is the default if you don't specify any components, so if you're lazy (same) it's got you.
• backend — includes either a native backend or the C backend.
• engine — includes either a native JIT or the bitcode interpreter.

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⭐ EXIT STATUS ⭐

• if llvm-config succeeds, it exits with 0. slay.
• otherwise, if an error occurs, it exits with a non-zero value. 😭 it happens to the best of us.

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

maintained by the LLVM Team (https://llvm.org/) — absolute legends, we stan. 🫶

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🌸 COPYRIGHT 🌸

2003-2026, LLVM Project

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and that's the whole page bestie — page 23, dated 2026-10-06, straight from the LLVM source. go build something iconic with it 💅✨🎀