Theos

A cross-platform build system for creating iOS, macOS, Linux, and Windows programs.

Commands

Commands in Theos are implemented as Makefile targets, and are executed by using make <commands>. These can often be combined to accomplish multiple things in one go. Theos includes a variety of commands for everything from packaging to installation.

The core commands

Command Description
make Compile source that has changed since your last build. No further action is taken.
make clean Clean the build directory so the project is completely rebuilt the next time you run make.
make stage Compile source and stage the output into $THEOS_STAGING_DIR (by default, .theos/_/). This creates the filesystem hierarchy that will be installed on a target device.
make package Compile source, execute staging, and build an output package into $THEOS_PACKAGE_DIR (by default, packages/).
make install Install the last built package to the device located at $THEOS_DEVICE_IP:$THEOS_DEVICE_PORT. If ran on an iOS device without $THEOS_DEVICE_IP set, it will install the package locally.

You most frequently want to use make do to build your latest changes, stage and package it up, and install on your configured device. This is a shortcut for make package install.

Useful commands

Command Description
make clean package Clean the build directory and rebuild the project. If you’ve updated a header without touching any source files, you may need to use the clean command to see the update in your build.
make package FINALPACKAGE=1 Optimise assets, convert plists to binary format, and generate a package with a “clean” version (ie, no build number). Recommended when building a package you’re about to release.
make package FINALPACKAGE=1 STRIP=0 Build a release package, but without stripping symbols.

Miscellaneous

Command Description
make all The same as running make.
make messages=yes Enable verbosity for the build. Useful to provide when asking for assistance.
make update-theos Update Theos to the latest commit. See Installation for more info.
make troubleshoot Present quick links to troubleshooting info, and upload the make output to GitHub Gist for sharing. See Help for more info.
make clean-packages Remove all packages from $THEOS_PACKAGE_DIR.
make show Open the directory where packages are placed in your system’s file manager.