# Maintaining the build files This document explains how to maintain the build files in the codebase. ## Overview On how to build the Node.js core, see [Building Node.js](../../BUILDING.md). There are three main build files that may be directly run when building Node.js: * `configure`: A Python script that detects system capabilities and runs [GYP][]. It generates `config.gypi` which includes parameters used by GYP to create platform-dependent build files. Its output is usually in one of these formats: Makefile, MSbuild, ninja, or XCode project files (the main Makefile mentioned below is maintained separately by humans). For a detailed guide on this script, see [configure][]. * `vcbuild.bat`: A Windows Batch Script that locates build tools, provides a subset of the targets available in the [Makefile][], and a few targets of its own. For a detailed guide on this script, see [vcbuild.bat](#vcbuildbat). * `Makefile`: A Makefile that can be run with GNU Make. It provides a set of targets that build and test the Node.js binary, produce releases and documentation, and interact with the CI to run benchmarks or tests. For a detailed guide on this file, see [Makefile][]. On Windows `vcbuild.bat` runs [configure][] before building the Node.js binary, on other systems `configure` must be run manually before running `make` on the `Makefile`. ## vcbuild.bat To see the help text, run `.\vcbuild help`. Update this file when you need to update the build and testing process on Windows. ## configure The `configure` script recognizes many CLI flags for special build formulas. Many are not represented by `vcbuild` shortcuts, and need to be passed either by: * Calling `python configure --XXX --YYY=PPPP` directly, followed by `vcbuild noprojgen` * Setting `set config_flags=--XXX --YYY=PPPP` before calling `vcbuild` To see the help text, run `python configure --help`. Update this file when you need to update the configuration process. ## Makefile To see the help text, run `make help`. This file is not generated, it is maintained by humans. This is not usually run on Windows, where [vcbuild.bat](#vcbuildbat) is used instead. ### Options * `-j <n>`: number of threads used to build the binary. On the non-CI targets, the parallel tests will take up all the available cores, regardless of this option. [GYP]: https://gyp.gsrc.io/docs/UserDocumentation.md [Makefile]: #makefile [configure]: #configure