Summary

The summary module prints a configuration summary at the end of the CMake configure step. It collects information from all loaded modules and presents it in a compact, aligned format, giving developers an immediate overview of how the project is configured.

The summary is automatically deferred using cmake_language(DEFER) so that it always appears last in the configure output, after all modules have registered their options and variables.

Built-in sections

The summary automatically displays the following information when the corresponding modules are loaded:

Project info:

• Preset name — when using CMake presets
• Install prefix
• Project version — when the version module has set it

Build configuration:

• Generator (Ninja, Unix Makefiles, etc.)
• Build type (Debug, Release, RelWithDebInfo, etc.)
• Build docs — when the BUILD_DOCS option is defined
• Build tests — when the BUILD_TESTING option is defined
• Coverage — when both BUILD_TESTING and ENABLE_COVERAGE are defined

Sanitizers — when the sanitizers module is loaded:

• Undefined, address, memory, and thread sanitizer status

Custom entries

Use add_summary_entry to add project-specific information after the built-in sections. Entries appear in the order they are registered.

add_summary_entry

add_summary_entry(<label> <value>)

Parameter	Description
label	Short name shown in the left column
value	Value shown in the right column

find_package(SQLite3)
add_summary_entry("sqlite" "${SQLite3_FOUND}")

Behavior

• Only prints for top-level projects.
• Labels are automatically aligned to the longest entry for readability.

Example output

   mylib summary:

     preset:             release
     prefix:             /usr/local
     version:            1.2.3

     generator:          Ninja
     build type:         Release
     build docs:         OFF
     build tests:        ON
     with coverage:      OFF

     sanitize undefined: ON
     sanitize address:   ON
     sanitize memory:    OFF
     sanitize thread:    OFF

     sqlite:             TRUE