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Bear is a tool that generates a JSON compilation database for Clang tooling.

It captures compiler invocations during the build process and writes compile_commands.json, which describes how each translation unit is compiled. Tools like clangd, clang-tidy, and other Clang-based analysis tools use this file to understand your project's build configuration.

Quick start

bear -- <your-build-command>

User guide

• Installation - packages and building from source
• Usage - basic usage, examples, limitations
• Configuration - YAML config file reference
• Platform notes - macOS, Windows, WSL2, Docker, BSD
• How it works - architecture and internals
• Troubleshooting - common problems and solutions
• FAQ - frequently asked questions
• Migrating from 3.x - what changed in 4.x

Project

• Roadmap
• Features
• Packaging - guide for distribution maintainers
• Release process
• Contributing