Cross-compiling and targets

beansc build compiles for exactly one target. The host is the default. You pick another target with --target, and shape the build with the CPU, sysroot, and runtime options below.

Selecting a target

beansc build app.b --target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu -o app

Thirty triples are registered. Common alternate spellings normalize to a supported one, for example aarch64-apple-darwin and riscv64gc-unknown-linux-musl.

Inspect one target’s facts with:

beansc target x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu

beansc target <triple> prints that target’s layout and capability facts.

The cross-build options

Option	Meaning
--target <triple>	The target to build for. Default host.
--cpu <generic|native|name>	Target CPU. native is host builds only.
--features <+f,-f,...>	Enable or disable CPU features.
--sysroot <path>	Target sysroot for a cross link. Must exist.
--cc <path>	C driver. Default clang.
--linker <name>	Passed as -fuse-ld=<name>.
--ar <path>	Static archive tool. Default ar.

Compile versus link

A cross compile needs no target libraries: --emit obj and --emit ir work without a sysroot. Only a cross link, producing a finished binary or shared library for another target, needs --sysroot. Every setting is validated before Clang runs, and tools are executed directly, never through a shell.

Runtime profiles

--runtime chooses how much runtime the build includes. A capability a profile drops is refused at check time, by name, so you find out early rather than at link time.

Profile	What you get
full (default)	Everything.
minimal	libc, but no OS services. Drops filesystem, sockets, poller, processes, signals, shared memory, and dylibs.
freestanding	No OS at all. Also drops threads, clocks, random, and environment.

A target with no OS requires --runtime freestanding.

beansc build blink.b --target thumbv7em-none-eabi --runtime freestanding -o blink

Supported targets

The 30 registered triples include:

• macOS: arm64-apple-darwin.
• Linux GNU: x86_64, aarch64, riscv64, i686, armv7, arm, loongarch64, powerpc64le, powerpc, powerpc64, s390x.
• Linux musl: x86_64, aarch64, riscv64, loongarch64, powerpc64le, powerpc64.
• Windows (seven ABIs): x86_64-pc-windows-gnu, i686-pc-windows-gnu, x86_64-pc-windows-gnullvm, aarch64-pc-windows-gnullvm, x86_64-pc-windows-msvc, i686-pc-windows-msvc, aarch64-pc-windows-msvc.
• WebAssembly: wasm32-wasip1, wasm32-unknown-unknown.
• Bare metal: thumbv7em-none-eabi, riscv32-unknown-none-elf.

WebAssembly and the two bare-metal targets are preview.

Full and slim packages

Beans install packages come in two shapes:

• Full packages bundle Clang, LLD, and llvm-ar. They ship for Linux x86-64 and ARM64 GNU, and Windows x64, ARM64, and x86 (LLVM-MinGW). A native build needs no extra tools.
• Slim packages ship everywhere else. A native build then needs Clang on your PATH.

Run beansc doctor to see which tools your install already has.

The required native 1.0 CI hosts are macOS arm64, Linux x86-64 GNU, and Linux arm64 GNU. See Maturity and platforms.