Use when switching xmake's output theme (colors, progress style, emoji) or fixing garbled/unreadable terminal output — `xmake g --theme=...`. Built-in themes: default, ninja, emoji, dark, light, plain, powershell.
Use when the user is starting a new Xmake project, installing Xmake, or needs the minimal xmake.lua structure. Covers installation, `xmake create`, the project layout, and the smallest valid xmake.lua.
Use when writing or reviewing an `xmake.lua` (project, package recipe, or toolchain) and you want to follow idiomatic xmake style — description vs script domain separation, naming, indentation, `set_` vs `add_`, option/config organization, and common conventions used across xmake-repo and the xmake project itself. Apply this alongside `xmake-targets`/`xmake-packages`/etc. as a stylistic overlay.
Use when creating a new xmake project from a built-in or third-party template (`xmake create -t <template>`), listing available templates, or authoring and distributing custom templates (built-in, user-global, or via xmake-repo). Covers template layout, `${TARGET_NAME}` / `${FAQ}` substitution, and language selection.
Use when invoking Xmake from the command line — configuring, building, running, cleaning, installing, packing, or inspecting a project. Covers the common flags for `xmake f`, `xmake`, `xmake run`, `xmake install`, `xmake pack`, and friends.
Use when exporting an xmake project to another build system or IDE — `compile_commands.json` for clangd/LSP, `CMakeLists.txt`, `build.ninja`, Visual Studio solution (`vsxmake`), or an Xcode project. Covers `xmake project -k <kind>` and how each generator is typically used.
Use when you want to build a third-party project that uses CMake, Autotools, Meson, Ninja, Bazel, Make, MSBuild, Xcodebuild, or NdkBuild — through xmake, so you inherit xmake's cross-compilation and toolchain detection. Covers `xmake` auto-detection, `--trybuild=<system>`, `--tryconfigs="..."`, and cross-compile recipes for Android / iOS / MinGW / custom SDKs.
Use when building C# projects with xmake — `.cs` sources with the Mono `mcs` or .NET `dotnet` toolchain, binary / library output, adding references, and mixing with native code via P/Invoke.