Documentation Index
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IX package recipes declare build-time host executables using the bld_tool block. The bld/ namespace contains compilers, parser generators, internationalization tools, GUI framework helpers, ELF manipulation utilities, and fake/stub tools for suppressing unwanted build-time dependencies. This page catalogs everything that package authors explicitly add to bld_tool or bld_libs — template-internal tools that are pulled in automatically (such as bld/make, bld/cmake, and bld/compiler) are not listed here.
Core Infrastructure
These tools cover the most common build-time needs across all package types.
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/pkg/config | pkg-config | When the build system calls pkg-config to locate libraries and their flags |
bld/python | python3 | Build scripts, code generators, meson, waf, gyp |
bld/perl | perl | Build scripts, autotools config.sub, OpenSSL’s Configure script |
bld/bash | bash | Build scripts that use bash-isms ([[, arrays, and other extensions) |
bld/m4 | m4 macro processor | Autotools internals; rarely needed explicitly |
{% block bld_tool %}
bld/pkg/config
bld/perl
{% endblock %}
Parser and Lexer Generators
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/bison | bison (also provides yacc) | Packages with .y grammar files |
bld/flex | flex (also provides lex) | Packages with .l lexer files |
bld/byacc | byacc | When the package specifically requires Berkeley yacc rather than bison |
bld/gperf | gperf perfect hash generator | Packages generating perfect hash tables (glibc, glib, etc.) |
bin/flex (a runtime-linked flex) is occasionally used instead of bld/flex when the package needs flex at runtime or links against libfl. Prefer bld/flex for build-time-only use.
Internationalization and Documentation
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/gettext | msgfmt, xgettext, msgmerge | Packages with .po translation files |
bld/intltool | intltool-merge, intltool-update | GNOME/GTK packages with .desktop or .xml i18n |
bld/texinfo | makeinfo | Packages that build .info documentation |
bld/gtkdoc | gtkdoc-scan, gtkdoc-mkdb | GTK/GNOME libraries that generate API documentation |
bin/scdoc | scdoc man page generator | Wayland/wlroots ecosystem man pages |
bld/auto/archive provides the Autoconf Archive collection of AX_* m4 macros. It is needed in bld_tool when a package extends die/c/autorehell.sh and its configure.ac references macros from the GNU Autoconf Archive — for example AX_WITH_CURSES or AX_PTHREAD. Without this tool, autoreconf generates a broken configure script.
{% block bld_tool %}
bld/auto/archive
{% endblock %}
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/wayland | wayland-scanner | Packages that generate C stubs from .xml Wayland protocol files |
bld/glib | glib-compile-schemas, glib-mkenums, glib-genmarshal, gdbus-codegen | GLib/GTK code generation: schemas, enums, D-Bus bindings |
bld/gir | g-ir-scanner, g-ir-compiler | GObject Introspection typelib generation |
Assembly
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/nasm | nasm assembler | Packages with x86/x86_64 hand-written assembly (codecs, crypto, bootloaders) |
These packages create no-op executables that satisfy build system checks without pulling in heavy real dependencies. All of them belong in bld_tool.
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/fake/er(tool_name=X) | A Python script named X that creates empty output files | Doc generators (asciidoctor, sphinx-build, rst2man, xsltproc) whose output is never installed |
bld/fake(tool_name=X) | An empty shell script named X | When a tool is called during the build but its output is never used |
bld/fakegit | A no-op git command | Builds that call git describe or git rev-parse to embed version strings |
bld/fake/binutils | LLVM-backed readelf, objdump, objcopy, ar, as | When the build expects GNU binutils but LLVM equivalents are sufficient |
bld/fake/er vs bld/fake: bld/fake/er is the smarter variant — it detects -o/--output arguments and creates empty output files so that downstream install targets do not fail on missing generated files. Use bld/fake/er by default; use bld/fake only when the simpler empty-script stub is sufficient.
bld/fakegit: equivalent to bld/fake(tool_name=git). Many packages call git describe during the build to embed a version string. Add bld/fakegit to bld_tool and supply the version string through a patch (for example, by writing a VERSION file or patching a version.h).
Example — suppressing a documentation generator and git version lookup:
{% block bld_tool %}
bld/fake/er(tool_name=asciidoctor)
bld/fakegit
{% endblock %}
bld/fake/er uses:
bld/fake/er(tool_name=asciidoctor) — skip documentation generation (Ruby dependency)bld/fake/er(tool_name=xsltproc) — skip XSLT-based doc or man page generationbld/fake/er(tool_name=rst2man) — skip reStructuredText man pagesbld/fake/er(tool_name=sphinx-build) — skip Sphinx documentation
Before reaching for bld/fake/er, search pkgs/ for the tool name — a real bld/ package may already exist. Only fall back to a fake when the tool genuinely produces output that is never installed.
ELF and Library Manipulation
These infrastructure tools are used by templates and advanced packages that need to inspect or rewrite compiled artifacts.
| Tool | Provides | When to use |
|---|
bld/librarian | patchns, listsym, findlib | Namespace patching and symbol inspection of static libraries |
bld/devendor | devendor, devendor_c, devendor_h | Removing vendor prefixes from bundled library headers and symbols |
bld/reloc | Binary relocation tool | Adjusting RPATH/RUNPATH in installed ELF binaries |
bld/dlfcn | dl_stubs, cut_prefix | dlfcn.h compatibility stubs for static linking without libdl |
bld/prepend | prepend | Prepending content to files in postinstall scripts |
bld/shebangs | Shebang fixer | Rewriting #!/usr/bin/env python3 shebangs to absolute paths |
Python Build Dependencies (pip/ packages)
pip/ packages provide Python modules for build-time use. They go in bld_libs, not bld_tool, because they are importable Python libraries rather than standalone executables.
| Package | Provides |
|---|
pip/setuptools | Python packaging tools (setup.py support) |
pip/PyYAML | YAML parser for build scripts reading .yaml configuration files |
pip/Mako | Mako template engine (used by mesa and other code generators) |
pip/jinja2 | Jinja2 template engine for code generation |
pip/scripts | Build script helpers |
{% block bld_libs %}
pip/Mako
pip/PyYAML
lib/mesa/fakes
{% endblock %}
pip/ packages are generated dynamically from PyPI metadata (see pkgs/pip/pypi.json). Any PyPI package can be referenced as pip/<PackageName> — the name must match the PyPI distribution name exactly, including case.