CLI Options Reference¶

Complete reference for all rninja command-line options.

Synopsis¶

rninja [OPTIONS] [TARGETS...]

Core Options¶

Target Selection¶

Option	Description
`TARGETS`	Targets to build (default: all)
`-t TOOL`	Run a subtool

Build File¶

Option	Default	Description
`-f FILE`	`build.ninja`	Specify build file
`-C DIR`	`.`	Change to directory before building

Parallelism¶

Option	Default	Description
`-j N`	CPU count	Parallel jobs
`-l N`	(none)	Load average limit

Error Handling¶

Option	Default	Description
`-k N`	`1`	Keep going until N failures (0 = infinite)

Output Control¶

Option	Description
`-v`	Verbose output (show commands)
`-d MODE`	Debug mode (stats, explain, keepdepfile, keeprsp)
`-w FLAG`	Warning control
`-q`	Quiet mode (no status output)

Execution Mode¶

Option	Description
`-n`	Dry run (don't execute commands)

rninja Extensions¶

Caching¶

Option	Default	Description
`--cache`	auto	Enable caching (auto/local/remote/off)
`--no-cache`	-	Disable caching
`--cache-read-only`	false	Read from cache but don't write
`--cache-write-only`	false	Write to cache but don't read

Daemon¶

Option	Default	Description
`--daemon`	auto	Use build daemon (auto/on/off)
`--no-daemon`	-	Force single-shot mode

Output Format¶

Option	Description
`--json`	JSON output format
`--trace FILE`	Write Chrome trace to FILE

Diagnostics¶

Option	Description
`--version`	Show version
`--help`	Show help
`--explain`	Explain why targets rebuild

Subtools (-t)¶

Build Management¶

rninja -t clean [TARGETS]     # Remove build outputs
rninja -t cleandead           # Remove stale outputs
rninja -t restat [FILES]      # Update file timestamps in log
rninja -t recompact           # Compact .ninja_log

Queries¶

rninja -t query TARGET        # Show target info
rninja -t deps [TARGET]       # Show dependencies
rninja -t targets [RULE]      # List targets
rninja -t commands [TARGET]   # Show build commands

Export¶

rninja -t compdb [RULES]      # Generate compile_commands.json
rninja -t graph [TARGET]      # Generate GraphViz dot

Cache (rninja extension)¶

rninja -t cache-stats         # Show cache statistics
rninja -t cache-gc            # Run garbage collection
rninja -t cache-clear         # Clear entire cache
rninja -t cache-health        # Check cache health

Daemon (rninja extension)¶

rninja -t daemon-status       # Show daemon status
rninja -t daemon-stop         # Stop daemon
rninja -t daemon-start        # Start daemon

Debug Modes (-d)¶

Mode	Description
`stats`	Print build statistics
`explain`	Explain what caused rebuilds
`keepdepfile`	Don't delete .d files
`keeprsp`	Don't delete response files

# Example: Show why targets rebuild
rninja -d explain

# Example: Show build statistics
rninja -d stats

Warning Flags (-w)¶

Flag	Description
`dupbuild=warn`	Warn on duplicate rules
`dupbuild=err`	Error on duplicate rules
`phonycycle=warn`	Warn on phony cycles
`phonycycle=err`	Error on phony cycles

# Treat duplicate builds as errors
rninja -w dupbuild=err

Option Combinations¶

Maximum Performance¶

rninja -j$(nproc) --cache=auto

CI/CD Build¶

rninja -j4 -k0 --cache=remote --json

Debugging¶

rninja -v -d explain --no-cache

Clean Room Build¶

rninja --no-cache --no-daemon

Environment Overrides¶

Many options have environment variable equivalents:

Option	Environment Variable
`-j N`	`RNINJA_JOBS`
`--cache`	`RNINJA_CACHE_MODE`
`--daemon`	`RNINJA_DAEMON_MODE`

See Environment Variables for the complete list.

Ninja Compatibility¶

rninja accepts all standard Ninja options:

# These work identically in ninja and rninja
-C DIR          # Change directory
-f FILE         # Build file
-j N            # Jobs
-k N            # Keep going
-l N            # Load limit
-n              # Dry run
-v              # Verbose
-d MODE         # Debug
-t TOOL         # Subtool
-w FLAG         # Warning

Extended options (--cache, --daemon, --json, --trace) are rninja-specific but don't affect compatibility.