Command-line options

bear runs in four modes, selected by the subcommand or its absence: combined (bear, no subcommand, the default), bear intercept, bear semantic, and bear parse-sh. Options given before -- belong to Bear; everything after -- is the build command, passed through untouched.

Combined runs the build, captures it, and writes the compilation database in one step. It is the default and the recommended way to run Bear.
bear intercept runs the build and only captures it, writing the raw event stream to a file for later analysis.
bear semantic reads an event stream and writes the compilation database, without running a build.
bear parse-sh writes the compilation database from shell command text, such as a build’s dry-run output or a saved build log, without running anything.

See How Bear works for the mechanism behind capture and analysis, Configure Bear for every key the -c/--config file accepts, and Exit status for what Bear’s own exit code means in each mode.

Global usage

bear [OPTIONS] -- <BUILD_COMMAND>...
bear [OPTIONS] <COMMAND>

Bear is a tool that generates a compilation database for clang tooling.

Subcommands

Command	Description
`intercept`	intercepts command execution
`semantic`	detect semantics of command executions
`parse-sh`	produces the compilation database from build-system dry-run text (e.g. `make -n` output)
`help`	Print this message or the help of the given subcommand(s)

Arguments

Argument	Description
`<BUILD_COMMAND>...`	Build command

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-c, --config <FILE>`	Path of the config file	-
`-o, --output <FILE>`	Path of the result file	`compile_commands.json`
`-a, --append`	Append result to an existing output file	-
`-h, --help`	Print help	-
`-V, --version`	Print version	-

bear intercept

intercepts command execution

bear intercept --output <FILE> -- <BUILD_COMMAND>...

Arguments

Argument	Description
`<BUILD_COMMAND>...`	Build command

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-o, --output <FILE>`	Path of the event file to write	-
`-h, --help`	Print help	-

bear semantic

detect semantics of command executions

bear semantic [OPTIONS]

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-i, --input <FILE>`	Path of the event file to read	`-`
`-o, --output <FILE>`	Path of the result file	`compile_commands.json`
`-a, --append`	Append result to an existing output file	-
`--print-compilers`	Print the compilers Bear recognizes and exit	-
`-h, --help`	Print help	-

Reads the event stream that bear intercept (or a third-party producer) writes and produces the compilation database, e.g.:

bear semantic --input events.json

bear parse-sh

produces the compilation database from build-system dry-run text (e.g. make -n output)

bear parse-sh [OPTIONS]

Options

Flag	Description	Default
`-i, --input <FILE>`	Path of the shell text to parse	`-`
`-o, --output <FILE>`	Path of the result file	`compile_commands.json`
`-a, --append`	Append result to an existing output file	-
`-C, --directory <DIR>`	Initial working directory for the parsed commands	-
`-h, --help`	Print help	-

Parses the text a build system prints in dry-run mode and writes the compilation database, without running a build, e.g.:

make -n | bear parse-sh

Keyboard shortcuts

Bear