building

name	building
description	Use when building knowhere from source, configuring build options (CPU/GPU/DISKANN/ASAN), or troubleshooting compilation errors

Building Knowhere

Prerequisites

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install build-essential libopenblas-openmp-dev libaio-dev python3-dev python3-pip
pip3 install conan==2.28.1 --user
conan profile detect --force
conan remote add default-conan-local2 https://milvus01.jfrog.io/artifactory/api/conan/default-conan-local2
export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin

Build Commands

Build Type	Command
CPU Release	make
CPU Debug	make WITH_DEBUG=True
CPU + UT	make WITH_UT=True
CPU + UT + ASAN	make WITH_UT=True WITH_ASAN=True
GPU (CUVS)	make WITH_GPU=True
GPU + UT	make WITH_GPU=True WITH_UT=True
macOS	make (auto-detects libc++)

Run tests after building with WITH_UT=True:

make test

Build Flags

Flag	Description
WITH_GPU=True	Enable GPU (cuVS) build
WITH_UT=True	Enable unit tests
WITH_ASAN=True	Enable AddressSanitizer
WITH_CARDINAL=True	Enable Cardinal build
WITH_DEBUG=True	Debug build (default: Release)
CONAN_PROFILE=<p>	Use a custom Conan profile
LIBCXX=<lib>	Override compiler.libcxx (auto-detected from OS)

Common Issues

• libstdc++ errors: Override with make LIBCXX=libstdc++11
• macOS: libc++ is auto-detected; OpenMP uses Homebrew's libomp
• CMake 4.x: Set export CMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 for old dependency recipes
• ASAN failures: Check for memory leaks, use-after-free, buffer overflows

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If this build relates to new features or interface changes, consider updating documentation. See documenting skill.