qt6-cpp

name

qt6-cpp

description

This skill should be used when the user is working on Qt6 C++ projects, debugging Qt crashes, designing C++ application architecture, setting up CMake builds, integrating VTK for 3D visualization, or troubleshooting Windows platform issues with MSVC or Clang-CL. Activates for Qt6, C++ architecture, signal/slot debugging, QObject lifecycle issues, model/view patterns, networking with QNetworkAccessManager, and Windows deployment.

Qt6 C++ Pair Programming Reference

Comprehensive reference for building large Qt6/C++ systems on Windows (MSVC 2022 / Clang-CL, Qt 6.10+). Reference documents are in references/ and drop-in code templates are in templates/, both relative to this skill's directory.

Guiding Principle

Crash diagnosis infrastructure is priority #1. Every pattern must answer: "When this goes wrong at 2am, can Claude read the dump and tell you exactly what happened?"

Document Index

When a topic comes up, read the relevant reference document from the references/ subdirectory of this skill. To find the skill directory, search for SKILL.md containing qt6-cpp under C:\Projects\claude-local-plugins\.

Topic	Reference File
Crash debugging, minidumps, object census, QPointer, sanitizers	references/crash-diagnosis.md
Project structure, error bus, startup/shutdown, signal/slot	references/architecture.md
CMake setup, presets, sanitizers, testing, deployment	references/cmake.md
QNetworkAccessManager, requests, retry, SSL	references/networking.md
Custom models, large datasets, sort/filter, delegates	references/model-view.md
VTK 9.5 + Qt, molecular viz, pipeline patterns	references/3d-vtk.md
Qt 6.10 API changes, version switching	references/qt68-lts.md
Dark mode, DPI, OpenGL/AMD, paths, DLLs, Defender	references/windows-gotchas.md

Drop-In Templates

Copy these from the templates/ subdirectory into any new project for immediate crash diagnosis:

Template	Purpose
templates/crash-handler.h + .cpp	Minidump + object census + log ring buffer
templates/error-bus.h + .cpp	Centralized error reporting + Result<T,E>
templates/connection-auditor.h	Signal/slot connection tracking (header-only)
templates/thread-guard.h	Thread affinity assertion (header-only)
templates/structured-logger.h	Per-module logging + message handler
templates/CMakeLists.txt	Project skeleton with diagnostics wired up

Quick Patterns

Starting a New Project

1. Copy templates/ diagnostic files into your project
2. CrashHandler::instance()->install() + StructuredLogger::instance()->install() in main()
3. CENSUS_REGISTER(this) in every QObject constructor
4. ACONNECT() macro instead of QObject::connect() for audited connections
5. ASSERT_THREAD(this) at the top of thread-sensitive methods

When Something Crashes

1. Find the companion .txt file next to the .dmp — paste it to Claude
2. Object Census: what was alive? Any deleteLater=PENDING?
3. Connection Audit: dangling connections?
4. Log tail: last state transition? Thread transfers? Warnings?

MSVC Environment from Non-Developer Shells

Use Enter-VsDevShell PowerShell module — never write batch files as workarounds.

Import-Module "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community\Common7\Tools\Microsoft.VisualStudio.DevShell.dll"
Enter-VsDevShell -VsInstallPath "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\18\Community" -DevCmdArguments "-arch=x64" -SkipAutomaticLocation

Environment

• Target Qt: 6.10.2 (C:\Qt\6.10.2\msvc2022_64)
• Compilers: MSVC 2022 (VS 18 Community), Clang-CL
• VTK: 9.5.2 source at C:\Projects\VTK-9.5.2 (needs build+install to C:\Projects\VTK)
• CMake: C:\Qt\Tools\CMake_64\bin\cmake.exe
• Ninja: C:\Qt\Tools\Ninja\ninja.exe
• OS: Windows 11 (Modern Standby only, no S3)
• Hardware: AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO, 128 GB LPDDR5x, Radeon 8060S (integrated)