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CAIL

Install

CAIL is a static C++23 library for calling LLM providers from your application. You install it once with CMake, link cail::cail in your project, and include the headers you need. Include <cail/cail.hpp> for the full API, or narrower headers such as <cail/generate.hpp> and <cail/openai.hpp> for a single provider.

CAIL is in alpha. Interfaces can change between releases. Pin the version you depend on and skim the docs when you upgrade.

Prerequisites

Section titled “Prerequisites”
  • CMake 3.31 or newer
  • A C++23 compiler supported by the pinned Glaze release
  • OpenSSL development files for HTTPS

Install as a CMake package

Section titled “Install as a CMake package”

From a CAIL source tree, install the library and its dependencies to a prefix:

Terminal window
cmake -S . -B build -DCAIL_BUILD_EXAMPLES=OFF -DBUILD_TESTING=OFF
cmake --build build
cmake --install build --prefix /path/to/cail

In your application’s CMakeLists.txt:

find_package(cail 0.3 CONFIG REQUIRED)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE cail::cail)

Configure your app with -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/cail so CMake finds the installed package. Build CAIL with the same compiler and compatible build settings as your application.

The install step also places Glaze and magic_enum in the same prefix, so you do not need separate dependency installs for a normal consumer build.

Dependencies at configure time

Section titled “Dependencies at configure time”

CAIL uses Glaze 8.4.0 or newer and magic_enum. The first cmake configure in the CAIL tree downloads them unless they are already on your system.

For offline or locked-down builds, install those libraries yourself and point CMake at them:

Terminal window
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/deps

Try the examples (optional)

Section titled “Try the examples (optional)”

If you cloned the repository and want runnable samples before wiring CAIL into your own target:

Terminal window
cmake -S . -B build
cmake --build build --target cail_openai_prompt
export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-key"
./build/cail_openai_prompt

Set the API key for whichever provider example you run. The Providers guide lists environment variable names.

Contributing to CAIL

Section titled “Contributing to CAIL”

If you are changing the library itself, see Build and test for the ./dev workflow, test suites, and CI checks. Compile time covers header include costs when you add CAIL to a large codebase.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”