Dependency Strategies

Rebaze supports multiple strategies for resolving external dependencies.

Available Strategies

Strategy	Hermetic	Speed	Setup
system	No	Fast	Minimal
source	Yes	Slow (first build)	Moderate
vcpkg	Partial	Moderate	vcpkg install
conan	Partial	Moderate	Conan install

System Strategy (Default)

Uses system-installed libraries via pkg-config.

[strategy]
default = "system"

How it works:

1. Generates cc_library targets with linkopts
2. At build time, pkg-config resolves library paths
3. System libraries are linked

Pros:

• Fast builds
• Simple setup
• Works with existing packages

Cons:

• Non-hermetic
• Version may vary across machines
• Not reproducible

Generated:

cc_library(
    name = "zlib",
    linkopts = ["-lz"],
)

Source Strategy

Builds dependencies from source using rules_foreign_cc.

[strategy]
default = "source"

How it works:

1. Downloads source archives
2. rules_foreign_cc builds them
3. Built libraries are used as deps

Pros:

• Fully hermetic
• Reproducible builds
• Same version everywhere

Cons:

• Slower first build
• Requires package metadata

Generated:

cmake(
    name = "zlib",
    lib_source = "@zlib//:all_srcs",
    out_static_libs = ["libz.a"],
)

Per-Package Overrides

Mix strategies based on your needs:

[strategy]
default = "system"

[strategy.overrides]
openssl = "source"  # Hermetic
zlib = "source"     # Hermetic
qt = "system"       # Large, use system

Choosing a Strategy

Use system when:

• Developing locally
• Dependencies are stable system packages
• Build speed is important

Use source when:

• Reproducibility is critical
• Building in varied environments
• Creating release builds

Tip

Hybrid approach: Use system for local development, source for CI:

[strategy]
default = "system"

[strategy.overrides]
openssl = "source"

CI Considerations

For CI pipelines:

rebaze.ci.toml

[strategy]
default = "source"

rebaze migrate . --config rebaze.ci.toml