Build from Source

Tidecoin Core uses CMake. Developers normally build from source so they can run unit tests, functional tests, fuzzers, and local instrumentation.

This page is contributor-facing. Operators building a deployment node should use Node & Operations / Build from Source.

Minimal Build

From the Tidecoin Core repository:


cmake -B build
cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"

Useful binaries are written under build/bin/, including tidecoind, tidecoin-cli, tidecoin-qt when GUI support is enabled, and test binaries where configured.

Toolchain Baseline

Dependency	Notes
CMake	Tidecoin docs use CMake 3.22 or newer as the baseline.
C++ compiler	GCC 11.1 or newer, or Clang 16 or newer.
Python 3	Required for functional tests and scripts.
pkg-config	Used by dependency discovery on many Unix systems.
Qt	Optional GUI build dependency.
SQLite	Wallet dependency where descriptor wallet support needs it.
ZeroMQ	Optional notification interface.
Cap’n Proto	Optional IPC-related dependency.

Check ../tidecoin/doc/dependencies.md and platform-specific build docs when a system package is missing.

Common CMake Options

Goal	Example
Configure default build	`cmake -B build`
Build	`cmake --build build -j"$(nproc)"`
Use a preset	`cmake --preset=<preset>`
Build libFuzzer target	`cmake --preset=libfuzzer`
Disable optional components	Pass the relevant `-D...=OFF` option from CMake help or presets
Inspect cache	`cmake -LAH build`

Do not guess option names in docs or scripts. Use cmake -LAH build, CMakePresets.json, and the repository build docs as the source of truth.

Run Tests After Building


ctest --test-dir build
build/test/functional/test_runner.py

For wallet-heavy unit suites that are intentionally gated:


TIDECOIN_RUN_WALLET_TESTS=1 ./build/bin/test_tidecoin --run_test=wallet_tests

Fuzzer Build

For libFuzzer:


cmake --preset=libfuzzer
cmake --build build_fuzz
FUZZ=process_message build_fuzz/bin/fuzz

Use Fuzzing before adding or changing fuzz targets.

Common First-Build Problems

Symptom	Check
CMake cannot find a package	Install the dependency or disable the optional feature.
Functional tests cannot find binaries	Build first and run from the repository root or pass the correct config file.
ZMQ tests fail	Install Python ZMQ bindings and build with ZMQ support.
IPC tests fail	Install `pycapnp` and Cap’n Proto dependencies.
Wallet tests are missing	Check wallet build options and gated wallet test environment variables.

See also: Testing, Fuzzing, Architecture, Node Build Guide.