yaml-cpp is a YAML parser and emitter in C++ matching the YAML 1.2 spec.

See Tutorial and How to Emit YAML for reference. For the old API (until 0.5.0), see How To Parse A Document.

yaml-cpp uses CMake to support cross-platform building. Install CMake (Resources -> Download) before proceeding. The basic steps to build are:

Note: If you don't use the provided installer for your platform, make sure that you add CMake's bin folder to your path.

mkdir build
cd build
cmake [-G generator] [-DYAML_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=on|OFF] ..

• The generator option is the build system you'd like to use. Run cmake without arguments to see a full list of available generators.

  • On Windows, you might use "Visual Studio 12 2013" (VS 2013 32-bits), or "Visual Studio 14 2015 Win64" (VS 2015 64-bits).
  • On OS X, you might use "Xcode".
  • On a UNIX-like system, omit the option (for a Makefile).

• yaml-cpp builds a static library by default, you may want to build a shared library by specifying -DYAML_BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON.

• On Windows with MSVC, static builds default to the static CRT (/MT) so yaml-cpp can link into statically-linked applications (e.g. static MFC). Set -DYAML_MSVC_SHARED_RT=ON if you need the dynamic CRT (/MD) instead. When using CMake, link the yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp imported target (e.g. target_link_libraries(your_target PRIVATE yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp)), which sets the needed defines automatically. If you are not using CMake, define YAML_CPP_STATIC_DEFINE for your target when linking the static library.

• Debug mode of the GNU standard C++ library can be used when both yaml-cpp and client code is compiled with the _GLIBCXX_DEBUG flag (e.g. by calling CMake with -D CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG='-g -D_GLIBCXX_DEBUG' option).

  Note that for yaml-cpp unit tests to run successfully, the GoogleTest library also must be built with this flag, i.e. the system one cannot be used (the YAML_USE_SYSTEM_GTEST CMake option must be OFF, which is the default).

• For more options on customizing the build, see the CMakeLists.txt file.

• The command you'll need to run depends on the generator you chose earlier.

Note: To clean up, just remove the build directory.

You can use for example FetchContent :

include(FetchContent)

FetchContent_Declare(
  yaml-cpp
  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/jbeder/yaml-cpp.git
  GIT_TAG <tag_name> # Can be a tag (yaml-cpp-x.x.x), a commit hash, or a branch name (master)
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(yaml-cpp)

target_link_libraries(YOUR_LIBRARY PUBLIC yaml-cpp::yaml-cpp) # The library or executable that require yaml-cpp library

yaml-cpp 0.9.0 released!

yaml-cpp 0.3.0 is still available if you want the old API.

The old API will stop receiving bugfixes in 2026. The 0.3.x versions provide the old API, and 0.5.x and above all provide the new API.

The autogenerated API reference is hosted on CodeDocs

The following projects are not officially supported:

• Qt wrapper
• UnrealEngine Wrapper