Static analysis

This page covers running LIBRA’s static analysis tools: running all tools or a single tool, auto-fixing warnings, suppressing noise, and configuring clang-tidy check categories.

For conceptual background on how LIBRA uses a compilation database, language detection, and header coverage, see Static analysis. For the target reference, see Target reference. For the flag reference, see analyze.

1. Add an analyze preset

Analysis should run in its own preset and build directory, separate from debug builds:

{
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "analyze",
      "inherits": "base",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug",
        "LIBRA_ANALYSIS":  "ON"
      }
    }
  ],
  "buildPresets": [
    {
      "name": "analyze",
      "configurePreset": "analyze",
      "targets": ["analyze"]
    }
  ]
}

Setting "targets": ["analyze"] in the build preset means cmake --build --preset analyze runs analysis directly without building the full project first.

2. Run all tools

CLI

clibra analyze --preset analyze

CMake

cmake --preset analyze
cmake --build --preset analyze --target analyze

Only tools found on PATH are run. If cppcheck is not installed, analyze-cppcheck does not exist and is silently skipped by the umbrella analyze target. Run clibra info or cmake --build --preset analyze --target help-targets to see which tools are available.

3. Run a single tool

CLI

clibra analyze clang-tidy   --preset analyze

CMake

cmake --build --preset analyze --target analyze-clang-tidy

4. Auto-fix warnings

CLI

clibra analyze --fix --preset analyze       # all auto-fixers
clibra analyze clang-tidy --fix --preset analyze

CMake

cmake --build --preset analyze --target fix
cmake --build --preset analyze --target fix-clang-tidy
cmake --build --preset analyze --target fix-clang-check

5. Run a specific clang-tidy check category

LIBRA creates per-category targets for each clang-tidy check group, each of which enables only that category’s checks via -*,+category.*:

CLI

clibra analyze clang-tidy-modernize     --preset analyze
clibra analyze clang-tidy-bugprone      --preset analyze
clibra analyze clang-tidy-readability   --preset analyze

CMake

cmake --build --preset analyze --target analyze-clang-tidy-modernize
cmake --build --preset analyze --target analyze-clang-tidy-bugprone

Available categories are listed in Target reference. Run cmake --build --preset analyze --target help-targets to confirm which are active in your build.

6. Suppress warnings

cppcheck — inline suppression:

// cppcheck-suppress uninitvar
int x;

cppcheck — file or pattern suppression (in project-local.cmake):

set(LIBRA_CPPCHECK_SUPPRESSIONS
    "uninitvar:src/generated.cpp"
    "syntaxError")

set(LIBRA_CPPCHECK_IGNORES
    "src/third_party/")

clang-tidy — disable checks within a category:

Because LIBRA’s per-category targets use -* to disable all checks before enabling the category, suppressions in .clang-tidy have no effect on per-category targets. To disable specific checks across all targets, use LIBRA_CLANG_TIDY_CHECKS_CONFIG in project-local.cmake:

# Appended to --checks; must start with ","
set(LIBRA_CLANG_TIDY_CHECKS_CONFIG
    ",-clang-diagnostic-*,-modernize-use-trailing-return-type")

clang-tidy — NOLINT inline suppression:

int x = getValue(); // NOLINT(readability-identifier-naming)

7. Supply your own tool config files

# In project-local.cmake
set(LIBRA_CLANG_TIDY_FILEPATH
    ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/.clang-tidy)