pkgconfig: support static linking by GGRei · Pull Request #27869 · vlang/v

GGRei · 2026-07-19T11:45:49Z

Summary

This PR adds generic static pkg-config support to V.

enables static pkg-config resolution for GCC and Clang when an exact -static token is passed through -cflags
supports explicit #pkgconfig --static directives
resolves public and private dependency metadata recursively
preserves linker ordering, repeated libraries, and linker groups
handles supported .pc field names case-insensitively
keeps the existing dynamic behavior unchanged for normal builds, TCC, MSVC, and cross-compilation

The implementation and tests are fully self-contained. No Pango, vglyph, vcpkg, external consumer, or external pkgconf oracle is added to V or its CI.

This issue was originally identified on vgui.

Scope boundaries and intentionally unchanged behavior

This PR is deliberately limited to explicit static pkg-config resolution and ordered propagation of the resulting flags.

It does not:

infer static pkg-config mode from ambient CFLAGS or LDFLAGS; these remain opaque compiler pass-through inputs. Static mode is selected through V's parsed -cflags/-ldflags -static options or an explicit #pkgconfig --static directive;
implement target-aware pkg-config or sysroot selection for cross-compilation. The existing protection against leaking host include and library paths into another target remains unchanged;
change historical dynamic pkg-config behavior;
require an external pkgconf executable at compiler runtime;
change the pre-existing mixed-case -l*.LIB normalization behavior.

Previously reviewed non-actionable findings

The following recurring Codex findings have already been checked with executable probes:

Ambient CFLAGS / LDFLAGS should select static mode: rejected because these variables are backend pass-through inputs, not semantic dependency-resolution selectors.
Repeated dependency graph traversals must be preserved: rejected against pkgconf 2.5.1. For shared public/private dependencies, multiple roots, cycles, and diamonds, pkgconf and V emit each dependency once in the same order. Explicit repeated library fragments and positional linker groups are still preserved.
Static metadata-only queries must validate the dependency closure: rejected against the selected pkgconf 2.5.1 oracle. Metadata-only queries remain direct reads, while --exists and flag-producing queries validate the required closure.
Cross-target pkg-config flags should be retained: rejected as pre-existing out-of-scope behavior. A correct solution requires an explicit target pkg-config/sysroot contract rather than reusing host paths.
A different public-cycle ordering should be used: rejected because the claimed ordering is version-dependent; this implementation follows pkgconf 2.5.1.
Out of scope: this PR does not make run_result().output safe for arbitrary unquoted shell or Make embedding, since the compiler consumes structured cflags/link_flags directly. It also does not extend the parser to cover pkgconf-specific escaped-hash handling in variable assignments; that requires a separate cross-mode parser change and is not needed for the reported Windows static-linking issue.

@codex Please do not reopen these findings without a reproducer against the current PR head and the selected pkgconf 2.5.1 oracle.

Validation

A dedicated smoke matrix passed on:

Linux GCC
Linux Clang
Linux TCC
macOS Clang
Windows UCRT64 GCC
Windows UCRT64 Clang
Windows MSVC
Windows TCC

All changed V files pass v fmt -verify, and git diff --check is clean.

Fixes vlang/gui#74

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GGRei · 2026-07-19T13:24:40Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-19T15:00:30Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-19T18:08:41Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-20T10:28:53Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-20T12:50:19Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-20T15:49:14Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-20T20:42:51Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-20T21:48:36Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-21T06:22:47Z

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GGRei · 2026-07-21T07:50:30Z

@codex review but reread the PR description and follow the scope and review instructions stated there.

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GGRei · 2026-07-21T09:21:52Z

@codex review but reread the PR description and follow the scope and review instructions stated there.

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GGRei · 2026-07-21T10:23:12Z

@codex review but reread the PR description and follow the scope and review instructions stated there.

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GGRei · 2026-07-21T11:25:20Z

@codex review but reread the PR description and follow the scope and review instructions stated there.

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-07-21T11:33:49Z

+		previous := m.find_visible(fragment)
+		if previous >= 0 && m.should_merge_visible(previous, fragment) {
+			m.fragments.delete(previous)
+			m.merge_visible.delete(previous)


Preserve repeated direct archive operands

When a public Libs: field intentionally repeats a direct archive operand, e.g. Libs: /path/libcycle.a /path/libcycle.a, this merge path treats the archive like a normal visible fragment and deletes the earlier occurrence before appending the later one. Repeating a static archive is a valid way for .pc metadata to satisfy circular symbol dependencies, so V can now emit only one archive and fail links that the pkg-config metadata explicitly made repeatable.

Useful? React with 👍 / 👎.

The circular-archive scenario is real, but this is not actionable for this PR. For ordinary public Libs fragments, V intentionally follows pkgconf 2.5.1, which also collapses A B A to B A. Repetitions required for circular resolution are already preserved in Libs.private, linker groups, and positional epochs, and the existing tests explicitly encode that policy. Changing public direct archives would diverge from the selected oracle and expand the scope beyond vlang/gui#74.

GGRei · 2026-07-21T14:18:24Z

@codex review but reread the PR description and follow the scope and review instructions stated there.

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chatgpt-codex-connector · 2026-07-21T14:26:49Z

+			if flag.starts_with(prefix) {
+				res << flag


Preserve split operands in static-only filters

When a static .pc file uses valid split operands such as Libs: -L /dir -l foo or Cflags: -I /dir, this token-by-token filter keeps only the -L/-l/-I control token for --*-only-* queries and drops the following operand; --libs-only-other has the inverse problem and emits those dropped operands as standalone “other” flags. In #pkgconfig --static --libs-only-L ... the checker then feeds a bare -L into parse_pkgconfig_link_flags, which rejects it as missing a path, while the CLI output is also unusable.

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Rejected for this PR. pkgconf 2.5.1 produces the same bare controls and standalone operands for split-form ---only- queries, and V's historical dynamic directive behaves identically. The complete static compiler path used by vlang/gui#74 preserves the split pairs and links successfully. Making these metadata-only filters pair-aware would diverge from the selected oracle and expand this PR into a general CLI-filter contract change.

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pkgconfig: support static linking

d2662d9

GGRei force-pushed the feature/pkgconfig-static-linking branch from 5ef7e9d to d2662d9 Compare July 23, 2026 09:57

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Summary

Scope boundaries and intentionally unchanged behavior

Previously reviewed non-actionable findings

Validation

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GGRei commented Jul 19, 2026 •

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