DART Build System

Load this skill when working with DART's build system.

Quick Commands

pixi run config       # Configure CMake
pixi run build        # Build
pixi run test         # Run tests
pixi run test-all     # Full validation (lint + build + tests)
pixi run -e cuda test-all # CUDA-enabled full validation on Linux CUDA hosts
pixi run lint         # Format code

Full Documentation

For complete build instructions, read: docs/onboarding/building.md

For build system internals (CMake, dependencies): docs/onboarding/build-system.md

Common Issues

Issue	Solution
CMake not found	pixi install
Missing dependency	Check pixi.toml
Build failure	pixi run config then pixi run build
Linking error	Check CMakeLists.txt in relevant module

CUDA Notes

• On Linux hosts with visible NVIDIA GPUs, the CUDA Pixi config auto-detects compute capabilities for DART_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES; set DART_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES=<arch> only when overriding that detected list.
• If CUDA runtime tests fail with unsupported PTX/toolchain errors, verify the generated CUDA flags include the local GPU architecture before assuming a kernel bug.

Pixi Lockfiles

• Do not edit pixi.lock by hand. Change dependency constraints in pixi.toml, then run a Pixi command such as pixi install to let Pixi regenerate the lockfile.
• If pixi.lock changes format or has broad solver churn, keep the generated output and call it out in the PR rather than attempting to splice lockfile entries manually.

Filament GUI Visual Checks

• For Filament GUI, scene, or simulation rendering changes, load dart-verify-sim. Pair a text correctness oracle with agent-capture, view assessment, and claim-relevant engine debug layers; inspect the artifact and sidecar instead of relying only on command success.
• If the user explicitly asks for the dartsim app, run pixi run dartsim and terminate it after confirming the GUI binary launches.

Key Files

• pixi.toml - Package management
• CMakeLists.txt - Build configuration
• cmake/ - CMake modules