--- title: Compile-time version strings in CMake | daily.dev description: A practical guide to embedding Git repository state (commit hash, tag, branch) into C++ code at compile time using CMake. The approach uses a standalone... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/compile-time-version-strings-in-cmake-d9g9aylte twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Compile-time version strings in CMake | daily.dev og:description: A practical guide to embedding Git repository state (commit hash, tag, branch) into C++ code at compile time using CMake. The approach uses a standalone... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/compile-time-version-strings-in-cmake-d9g9aylte og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/D9g9AyltE.png og:image:alt: Compile-time version strings in CMake og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Compile-time version strings in CMake **[Matt Keeter](https://daily.dev/sources/mattkeeter)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A practical guide to embedding Git repository state (commit hash, tag, branch) into C++ code at compile time using CMake. The approach uses a standalone version.cmake script that runs git commands, generates a version.cpp file with string constants, and integrates with CMakeLists.txt via a custom command that forces re-execution before every build. The solution is fast: ~0.09s when nothing changed, ~0.28s when regeneration and relinking are needed. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Stamp It\! 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