docs/content/code-security/code-scanning/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/configuring-the-codeql-workflow-for-compiled-languages.md

title, shortTitle, intro, product, permissions, redirect_from, versions, type, topics

title	shortTitle	intro	product	permissions	redirect_from	versions	type	topics
Configuring the CodeQL workflow for compiled languages	Configure compiled languages	You can configure how {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} uses the {% data variables.code-scanning.codeql_workflow %} to scan code written in compiled languages for vulnerabilities and errors.	{% data reusables.gated-features.code-scanning %}	If you have write permissions to a repository, you can configure {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %} for that repository.	/github/finding-security-vulnerabilities-and-errors-in-your-code/configuring-code-scanning-for-compiled-languages /github/finding-security-vulnerabilities-and-errors-in-your-code/configuring-the-codeql-action-for-compiled-languages /github/finding-security-vulnerabilities-and-errors-in-your-code/configuring-the-codeql-workflow-for-compiled-languages /code-security/secure-coding/configuring-the-codeql-workflow-for-compiled-languages /code-security/secure-coding/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/configuring-the-codeql-workflow-for-compiled-languages /github/finding-security-vulnerabilities-and-errors-in-your-code/automatically-scanning-your-code-for-vulnerabilities-and-errors/configuring-the-codeql-workflow-for-compiled-languages	fpt ghes ghae ghec * * * *	how_to	Advanced Security Code scanning CodeQL Actions Repositories C/C++ C# Java Kotlin

{% data reusables.code-scanning.beta %} {% data reusables.code-scanning.enterprise-enable-code-scanning-actions %}

About the {% data variables.code-scanning.codeql_workflow %} and compiled languages

{% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning_caps %} works by running queries against one or more databases. Each database contains a representation of all of the code in a single language in your repository. For the compiled languages {% data variables.code-scanning.compiled_languages %}, the process of populating this database involves building the code and extracting data.

{% data reusables.code-scanning.autobuild-compiled-languages %}

{% ifversion code-scanning-without-workflow-310 %}

For {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %}, you can use the default setup, which analyzes your code and automatically configures your {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %}, or the advanced setup, which generates a workflow file you can edit. The default setup can analyze all compiled languages supported by {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %}{% ifversion codeql-swift-beta %} except for Swift, for which you must use the advanced setup{% endif %}. For more information about the advanced setup, see "AUTOTITLE."

{% elsif code-scanning-without-workflow %}

For {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %}, you can use the default setup, which analyzes your code and automatically configures your {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %}, or the advanced setup, which generates a workflow file you can edit. The default setup does not support any compiled languages, so you must use the advanced setup. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."

{% else %}

You set up {% data variables.product.prodname_dotcom %} to run {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %} for your repository by adding a {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %} workflow to the repository. For {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %}, you add the {% data variables.code-scanning.codeql_workflow %}. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE."

{% endif %}

If your workflow uses a language matrix, autobuild attempts to build each of the compiled languages listed in the matrix. Without a matrix autobuild attempts to build the supported compiled language that has the most source files in the repository. With the exception of Go, analysis of other compiled languages in your repository will fail unless you supply explicit build commands.

About autobuild for {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %}

{% data reusables.code-scanning.autobuild-compiled-languages %}

• autobuild for C/C++
• autobuild for C# {% ifversion codeql-go-autobuild %} - autobuild for Go {% endif %} {% ifversion codeql-kotlin-beta %} - autobuild for Java and Kotlin {% else %} - autobuild for Java {% endif %} {% ifversion codeql-swift-beta %} - autobuild for Swift {% endif %}

{% note %}

{% ifversion ghae %} Note: {% data reusables.actions.self-hosted-runners-software %} {% else %} Note: If you use self-hosted runners for {% data variables.product.prodname_actions %}, you may need to install additional software to use the autobuild process. Additionally, if your repository requires a specific version of a build tool, you may need to install it manually. For more information, see "AUTOTITLE". {% endif %}

{% endnote %}

autobuild for C/C++

Supported system type	System name
Operating system	Windows, macOS, and Linux
Build system	Windows: MSbuild and build scripts Linux and macOS: Autoconf, Make, CMake, qmake, Meson, Waf, SCons, Linux Kbuild, and build scripts

The behavior of the autobuild step varies according to the operating system that the extraction runs on. On Windows, the autobuild step attempts to autodetect a suitable build method for C/C++ using the following approach:

1. Invoke MSBuild.exe on the solution (.sln) or project (.vcxproj) file closest to the root. If autobuild detects multiple solution or project files at the same (shortest) depth from the top level directory, it will attempt to build all of them.
2. Invoke a script that looks like a build script—build.bat, build.cmd, and build.exe (in that order).

On Linux and macOS, the autobuild step reviews the files present in the repository to determine the build system used:

1. Look for a build system in the root directory.
2. If none are found, search subdirectories for a unique directory with a build system for C/C++.
3. Run an appropriate command to configure the system.

autobuild for C#

Supported system type	System name
Operating system	Windows and Linux
Build system	.NET and MSbuild, as well as build scripts

The autobuild process attempts to autodetect a suitable build method for C# using the following approach:

1. Invoke dotnet build on the solution (.sln) or project (.csproj) file closest to the root.
2. Invoke MSbuild (Linux) or MSBuild.exe (Windows) on the solution or project file closest to the root. If autobuild detects multiple solution or project files at the same (shortest) depth from the top level directory, it will attempt to build all of them.
3. Invoke a script that looks like a build script—build and build.sh (in that order, for Linux) or build.bat, build.cmd, and build.exe (in that order, for Windows).

{% ifversion codeql-go-autobuild %}

autobuild for Go

Supported system type	System name
Operating system	Windows, macOS, and Linux
Build system	Go modules, dep and Glide, as well as build scripts including Makefiles and Ninja scripts

The autobuild process attempts to autodetect a suitable way to install the dependencies needed by a Go repository before extracting all .go files:

1. Invoke make, ninja, ./build or ./build.sh (in that order) until one of these commands succeeds and a subsequent go list ./... also succeeds, indicating that the needed dependencies have been installed.
2. If none of those commands succeeded, look for go.mod, Gopkg.toml or glide.yaml, and run go get (unless vendoring is in use), dep ensure -v or glide install respectively to try to install dependencies.
3. Finally, if configurations files for these dependency managers are not found, rearrange the repository directory structure suitable for addition to GOPATH, and use go get to install dependencies. The directory structure reverts to normal after extraction completes.
4. Extract all Go code in the repository, similar to running go build ./....

{% endif %}

autobuild for Java {% ifversion codeql-kotlin-beta %} and Kotlin {% endif %}

Supported system type	System name
Operating system	Windows, macOS, and Linux (no restriction)
Build system	Gradle, Maven and Ant

The autobuild process tries to determine the build system for Java codebases by applying this strategy:

1. Search for a build file in the root directory. Check for Gradle then Maven then Ant build files.
2. Run the first build file found. If both Gradle and Maven files are present, the Gradle file is used.
3. Otherwise, search for build files in direct subdirectories of the root directory. If only one subdirectory contains build files, run the first file identified in that subdirectory (using the same preference as for 1). If more than one subdirectory contains build files, report an error.

{% ifversion codeql-swift-beta %}

autobuild for Swift

Supported system type	System name
Operating system	macOS
Build system	Xcode

The autobuild process tries to build the biggest target from an Xcode project or workspace.

For more information about building Swift code, see "Considerations for building Swift." {% endif %}

Adding build steps for a compiled language

{% data reusables.code-scanning.autobuild-add-build-steps %} For information on how to edit the workflow file, see "AUTOTITLE."

After removing the autobuild step, uncomment the run step and add build commands that are suitable for your repository. The workflow run step runs command-line programs using the operating system's shell. You can modify these commands and add more commands to customize the build process.

- run: |
    make bootstrap
    make release

For more information about the run keyword, see "AUTOTITLE."

If your repository contains multiple compiled languages, you can specify language-specific build commands. For example, if your repository contains C/C++, C# and Java, and autobuild correctly builds C/C++ and C# but fails to build Java, you could use the following configuration in your workflow, after the init step. This specifies build steps for Java while still using autobuild for C/C++ and C#:

- if: matrix.language == 'cpp' || matrix.language == 'csharp'
  name: Autobuild
  uses: {% data reusables.actions.action-codeql-action-autobuild %}

- if: matrix.language == 'java'
  name: Build Java
  run: |
    make bootstrap
    make release

For more information about the if conditional, see "AUTOTITLE."

For more tips and tricks about why autobuild won't build your code, see "AUTOTITLE."

If you added manual build steps for compiled languages and {% data variables.product.prodname_code_scanning %} is still not working on your repository, contact {% data variables.contact.contact_support %}.

{% ifversion codeql-swift-beta %}

Considerations for building Swift

{% data reusables.code-scanning.beta-swift-support %}

Code scanning of Swift code uses macOS runners by default. Since {% data variables.product.company_short %}-hosted macOS runners are more expensive than Linux and Windows runners, we recommend that you build only the code that you want to analyze. For more information about pricing for {% data variables.product.company_short %}-hosted runners, see "AUTOTITLE."

xcodebuild and swift build are both supported for Swift builds. We recommend only targeting one architecture during the build. For example, ARCH=arm64 for xcodebuild, or --arch arm64 for swift build.

You can pass the archive and test options to xcodebuild. However, the standard xcodebuild command is recommended as it should be the fastest, and should be all that CodeQL requires for a successful scan.

For Swift analysis, you must always explicitly install dependencies managed via CocoaPods or Carthage before generating the {% data variables.product.prodname_codeql %} database.

For Swift, the autobuild process tries to build the biggest target from an Xcode project or workspace.

{% endif %}