Thrust

Compiler Flags (v0.2.1)

Core compilation, backend, target, JIT, ABI, std, and debug flags.

Latest

Overview

These flags shape the compilation pipeline itself: targets, emitted representations, JIT execution, ABI decisions, standard library resolution, and debug information.

Reference source: thrustc/thrustc_cli/src/help.rs

Back to command line reference

-build-dir

Set the directory used for generated compiler artifacts.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: path/to/build

Details

Use this when you want emitted files, intermediates, and temporary build outputs to live outside the default location.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -build-dir build/

Notes

-tools-dir

Set the compiler tools directory used to find external helper tools.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: path/to/tools

Details

This points the compiler at a tools root that expands what it can discover automatically during the pipeline.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -tools-dir ./tools

Notes

-target

Set the target architecture.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: architecture name

Allowed values: x86_64

Details

Use this when the desired architecture is enough and you do not need to spell a full target triple.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -target x86_64

Notes

-target-triple

Set the full target triple used for code generation and linking decisions.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: target triple

Allowed values: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu, x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

Details

The target triple controls operating system, architecture, vendor, and ABI assumptions in one place.

Prefer this over `-target` when cross-compiling or when the platform details matter.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -target-triple x86_64-pc-linux-gnu

Notes

-cpu

Select the CPU model used for optimization and code generation tuning.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: cpu name

Allowed values: haswell, alderlake, ivybridge, pentium, pantherlake

Details

This helps the backend emit code for a specific processor family rather than a generic architecture.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -cpu haswell

Notes

-cpu-enable-features

Enable specific CPU features in addition to the CPU baseline.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: feature;feature

Allowed values: sse2, cx16, sahf, tbm

Details

Use this when you want to turn on a small set of backend features without replacing the whole feature list.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -cpu-enable-features sse2;cx16

Notes

-cpu-disable-features

Disable specific CPU features from the active configuration.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: feature;feature

Allowed values: sse2, cx16, sahf, tbm

Details

This is useful when the selected CPU baseline is too aggressive for the actual deployment environment.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -cpu-disable-features tbm

Notes

-cpu-features

Replace the CPU feature set with an explicit signed list.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: +feature,-feature

Allowed values: +sse2, +cx16, +sahf, -tbm

Details

This gives direct low-level control over the backend feature string.

Use it when you want an explicit allow and deny list rather than incremental enable or disable flags.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -cpu-features +sse2,+cx16,-tbm

Notes

-emit

Emit one selected compilation artifact instead of performing only the default end-to-end flow.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: artifact kind

Allowed values: llvm-bc, llvm-ir, asm, unopt-llvm-ir, unopt-llvm-bc, unopt-asm, obj, unchecked-pretty-ast, unchecked-ast, pretty-ast, ast, pretty-tokens, tokens

Details

Use emission when you want a file output such as LLVM IR, assembler, object code, tokens, or AST snapshots.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -emit llvm-ir

Notes

-print

Print one selected compilation representation to standard output.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: printable unit

Allowed values: llvm-ir, unopt-llvm-ir, asm, unopt-asm, unchecked-pretty-ast, unchecked-ast, pretty-ast, ast, pretty-tokens, tokens

Details

This is the text-output twin of `-emit`.

Use it for inspection, debugging, or piping compiler output into another tool.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -print tokens

Notes

-opt

Choose the optimization level.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: optimization level

Allowed values: O0, O1, O2, O3, Os, Oz

Details

Higher levels generally trade compilation time for more aggressive optimization.

Use size-oriented levels when output size matters more than raw performance.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -opt O2

Notes

-stop-at

Stop the pipeline after a selected compiler stage.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: pipeline stage

Allowed values: lexing, parsing, scope-analysis, ast-verification, type-checking, general-analysis, attribute-checking, linter, compiler-intrinsic-checking, compiler-callconventions-checking, codegen

Details

This is useful for debugging the compiler pipeline and inspecting partial outputs.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -stop-at parsing

Notes

-reloc-model

Select how the backend handles relocations and external symbol references.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: relocation model

Allowed values: static, pic, dynamic

Details

This affects generated machine code and the way addresses are represented.

Use PIC-related modes when the output must be position independent.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -reloc-model pic

Notes

-code-model

Choose the backend code model.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: code model

Allowed values: small, medium, large, kernel

Details

The code model influences assumptions about code and data placement in the address space.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -code-model small

Notes

-macos-version

Set the macOS SDK or deployment version used for Apple targets.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: version

Allowed values: 15.0.0

Details

Use this when you need the generated output to match a specific macOS deployment baseline.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -macos-version 15.0.0

Notes

-ios-version

Set the iOS SDK or deployment version used for Apple mobile targets.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: version

Allowed values: 17.4.0

Details

This matters when targeting Apple mobile environments and their deployment constraints.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -ios-version 17.4.0

Notes

-cuda-version

Set the NVIDIA CUDA version used for CUDA-oriented compilation flows.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: version

Allowed values: 2.0

Details

This lets the compiler adapt CUDA-related ABI or backend expectations for a particular CUDA release.

Examples

thrustc kernel.thrust -cuda-version 2.0

Notes

-jit

Enable the JIT execution mode.

Accepts value: no

Details

With JIT enabled, the compiler prepares the program for in-process execution instead of only generating files.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -jit

Notes

-jit-libc

Set the C runtime used by the JIT execution flow.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: path/to/libc.so

Details

Use this when the JIT runtime must link against a specific C runtime library.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -jit -jit-libc /usr/lib/libc.so

Notes

-jit-link

Add an extra shared library for JIT execution.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: path/to/library.so

Details

This lets the JIT loader resolve external symbols from additional libraries.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -jit -jit-link /usr/lib/libraylib.so

Notes

-jit-entry

Set the entry point symbol used by JIT execution.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: symbol name

Details

Use this when the executed function is not the default `main`.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -jit -jit-entry run

Notes

-jit-args

Pass arguments to the program executed through the JIT runtime.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: "--foo;bar"

Details

Arguments are passed through the JIT configuration rather than through the host shell after compilation.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -jit -jit-args "--name;demo"

Notes

-abi

Select the ABI used for code generation.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: ABI name

Allowed values: system-v, nvidia-cuda, webassembly

Details

The ABI affects calling conventions, data passing rules, and interoperability with external code.

In v0.2.1, the public help also lists `webassembly` as an available ABI option.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -abi system-v
thrustc main.thrust -abi webassembly

Notes

-mode

Select the compiler features mode.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: feature mode

Allowed values: stable, unstable

Details

Stable mode limits the language surface to stable features.

Unstable mode enables experimental or incomplete features.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -mode stable

Notes

-std

Set the standard library root path.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: path/to/std

Details

Use this when the compiler should resolve the standard library from a non-default location.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -std ./std

Notes

-std-version

Set the standard library version to use.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: x.x.x

Details

This helps the compiler resolve the expected versioned standard library snapshot.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -std-version 0.2.0

Notes

-dbg

Enable generation of debug information.

Accepts value: no

Details

This turns on backend debug info emission such as DWARF data where supported.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -dbg

Notes

No extra notes for this flag.

-dbg-for-inlining

Emit debug information optimized for inlined functions.

Accepts value: no

Details

Use this when debugging optimized builds where inlining would otherwise hide useful location information.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -dbg -dbg-for-inlining

Notes

No extra notes for this flag.

-dbg-for-profiling

Emit extra debug information for source-level profiling tools.

Accepts value: no

Details

This helps profilers map optimized machine code back to the original source more accurately.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -dbg-for-profiling

Notes

No extra notes for this flag.

-dbg-dwarf-version

Set the DWARF version used for debug information.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: DWARF version

Allowed values: v4, v5

Details

Use this when your debugger or platform requires a specific DWARF generation.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust -dbg-dwarf-version v5

Notes

--disable-abi

Disable ABI detection and ABI-specific code generation behavior.

Accepts value: no

Details

This can be useful for debugging or for niche targets where automatic ABI handling gets in the way.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --disable-abi

Notes

No extra notes for this flag.

--denormal-floating-point-behavior

Control how denormal floating-point values are handled for general floating-point operations.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: mode list

Allowed values: IEEE, preserve-sign-signature, transform-to-positive-zero, dynamic

Details

This affects how the backend treats denormal values and therefore can change numerical edge-case behavior.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --denormal-floating-point-behavior IEEE

Notes

--denormal-floating-point-32-bits-behavior

Control how denormal 32-bit floating-point values are handled.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: mode list

Allowed values: IEEE, preserve-sign-signature, transform-to-positive-zero, dynamic

Details

This is the 32-bit specific counterpart of the general denormal floating-point behavior flag.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --denormal-floating-point-32-bits-behavior IEEE

Notes

--symbol-linkage-strategy

Choose the strategy used when symbol linkages need to be merged or reconciled.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: strategy

Allowed values: any, exact, large, samesize, noduplicates

Details

This matters when the backend has to reason about multiple declarations of the same symbol.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --symbol-linkage-strategy exact

Notes

--stack-protector

Enable stack protection instrumentation.

Accepts value: no

Details

This inserts stack state protection intended to make some classes of memory corruption harder to exploit.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --stack-protector

Notes

No extra notes for this flag.

--sanitizer

Enable one selected sanitizer runtime and its instrumentation.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: sanitizer

Allowed values: address, hwaddress, memory, thread, memtag

Details

Sanitizers add runtime checks and diagnostics for memory issues, threading bugs, or related classes of problems.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --sanitizer address

Notes

--no-sanitize

Disable specific sanitizer subfeatures or code emission details.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: setting;setting

Allowed values: bounds, coverage

Details

Use this to narrow or tune the effect of an active sanitizer configuration.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --sanitizer address --no-sanitize bounds

Notes

--opt-passes

Pass a custom LLVM optimization pass list.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: -p{passname,passname}

Details

Use this when the default optimization pipeline is not enough and you want to control LLVM pass selection directly.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --opt-passes -p{instcombine,sroa}

Notes

--modificator-passes

Pass a custom modificator optimization pass list.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: pass;pass

Allowed values: loopvectorization, loopunroll, loopinterleaving, loopsimplifyvectorization, mergefunctions, callgraphprofile

Details

This lets you tune the pass set used by the compiler-specific modificator stage.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --modificator-passes loopvectorization;loopunroll

Notes

--target-triple-darwin-variant

Set the Darwin target variant triple.

Accepts value: yes

Value syntax: variant triple

Allowed values: arm64-apple-ios15.0-macabi

Details

Use this when a Darwin target needs its variant triple spelled out separately from the main target triple.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --target-triple-darwin-variant arm64-apple-ios15.0-macabi

Notes

--enable-ansi-color

Enable ANSI color formatting in diagnostics output.

Accepts value: no

Details

This is useful when the compiler runs in terminals or logs that preserve ANSI escape sequences.

Examples

thrustc main.thrust --enable-ansi-color

Notes

No extra notes for this flag.