Build Systems

See also

Reference for build systems

Complete documentation on all available options, variables, etc.

Build systems provide a convenient way to supply arguments and environmental information to external programs and run them. Use build systems if you need to run your files through build programs like make, command line utilities like tidy, interpreters, etc.

Note

Executables called from build systems must be in your PATH.

File Format

Like many other configuration files in Sublime Text, build systems are JSON files. Fittingly, they have the extension .sublime-build.

Example

Here’s an example of a build system:

{
    "cmd": ["python", "-u", "$file"],
    "file_regex": "^[ ]*File \"(...*?)\", line ([0-9]*)",
    "selector": "source.python"
}

cmd

Required. This option contains the actual command line to be executed:

python -u /path/to/current/file.ext

file_regex

A Perl-style regular expression to capture error information out of the external program’s output. This information is then used to help you navigate through error instances with F4.

selector

If the Tools | Build System | Automatic option is set, Sublime Text will use this information to determine which build system is to be used for the active file.

In addition to options, you can use variables in build systems too, like we’ve done above with $file, which expands to the full path of the file underlying the active buffer.

Where to Store Build Systems

Build systems must be located somewhere under the Packages folder (e. g. Packages/User).

Running Build Systems

Build systems can be run by pressing F7 or from Tools | Build.