Installation

swaggercpp targets C++23 and is distributed through multiple channels so you can pick whichever matches your project's toolchain.

Requirements

• A C++23-capable compiler: MSVC 19.38+ (VS 2022 17.8), GCC 13+, Clang 17+
• CMake 3.26 or newer
• Transitive dependencies (pulled automatically by your package manager):
  • nlohmann-json — JSON DOM
  • yaml-cpp — YAML parsing/emission
  • cpp-httplib — embedded Swagger UI server

TIP

Tests and benchmarks additionally require gtest and benchmark, but they are off by default. Consumers never build them.

Option 1: vcpkg (recommended)

Manifest mode

Add a vcpkg.json next to your top-level CMakeLists.txt:

{
  "name": "my-app",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "dependencies": [ "swaggercpp" ],
  "builtin-baseline": "<recent-sha-from-microsoft/vcpkg>"
}

Obtain a baseline SHA that already contains swaggercpp:

git -C $env:VCPKG_ROOT rev-parse HEAD

Then point CMake at the vcpkg toolchain in CMakePresets.json:

"cacheVariables": {
  "CMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE": "$env{VCPKG_ROOT}/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake"
}

CMake will install swaggercpp and its dependencies into out/build/<preset>/vcpkg_installed/ on the first configure.

Classic mode

vcpkg install swaggercpp

This installs into <vcpkg-root>/installed/<triplet>/ and is visible to any project that wires in the vcpkg toolchain file without carrying a vcpkg.json.

Do not mix modes

If your project has a vcpkg.json, manifest mode activates automatically and the classic global install is ignored. In that case, swaggercpp must be declared in dependencies or find_package(swaggercpp CONFIG REQUIRED) will fail.

Option 2: Conan

A Conan recipe ships under packaging/conan/. To consume directly:

# conanfile.txt
[requires]
swaggercpp/0.2.1

[generators]
CMakeDeps
CMakeToolchain

And build:

conan install . --output-folder=build --build=missing -s compiler.cppstd=23
cmake --preset conan-default
cmake --build --preset conan-release

See the Conan guide for registry setup and local conan create validation.

Option 3: CMake find_package

If you installed the library manually (for example through vcpkg or cmake --install), consume it with:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.26)
project(my_app LANGUAGES CXX)

find_package(swaggercpp CONFIG REQUIRED)

add_executable(my_app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE swaggercpp::swaggercpp)
target_compile_features(my_app PRIVATE cxx_std_23)

Option 4: FetchContent

For fully hermetic builds that pin a specific tag:

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(
  swaggercpp
  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/stescobedo92/swagger-cpp.git
  GIT_TAG v0.2.1
)

FetchContent_MakeAvailable(swaggercpp)

add_executable(my_app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(my_app PRIVATE swaggercpp::swaggercpp)
target_compile_features(my_app PRIVATE cxx_std_23)

WARNING

With FetchContent, you must resolve nlohmann_json, yaml-cpp and httplib yourself — typically through vcpkg or Conan alongside.

Verifying the installation

Create a minimal program:

// main.cpp
#include <iostream>
#include "swaggercpp/swaggercpp.hpp"

int main() {
    auto doc = swaggercpp::DocumentReader::read(R"(
openapi: 3.1.0
info:
  title: Smoke
  version: 0.0.1
paths: {}
)");
    std::cout << (doc ? "ok" : "fail") << '\n';
}

Build and run — you should see ok.

Next steps

• Quick start — 5-minute tutorial
• Guide — deeper narrative walkthrough
• API reference — full type and function listings