CPPGolf

cppgolf is a C/C++ multi-file merge and code-golf/minifier tool.

Install

pip install cppgolf

libclang-backed features such as symbol renaming, type renaming, and static deduplication are optional at runtime. The base CLI and text transforms work without clang.cindex.

CLI

cppgolf solution.cpp
cppgolf solution.cpp -o golf.cpp
cppgolf solution.cpp --merge-only -I include/
cppgolf solution.cpp -DDEBUG=1 --inject-define --merge-only
cppgolf solution.cpp -I include/ --rename-functions --stats
cppgolf solution.cpp -DBOTZONE_PIKAFISH_STANDALONE=1 -DZSTD_DISABLE_ASM
cppgolf solution.cpp --no-rename
cppgolf solution.cpp --config cppgolf.toml --flatten-cfg

Common options

Option	Meaning
-o FILE	Write output to a file instead of stdout.
-I DIR	Add an include search directory. Can be repeated.
-D MACRO[=VALUE]	Pass a macro definition to libclang-backed optional passes. Can be repeated.
--inject-define	Write -D macro definitions into the generated source code.
--merge-only	Only merge files. Skip all later transforms and compression passes.
--no-merge	Skip inlining #include "...".
--no-strip-comments	Keep comments.
--no-compress-ws	Keep whitespace formatting.
--no-std-ns	Do not add using namespace std;.
--no-typedefs	Do not add shortcuts such as ll / ld.
--no-rename	Disable symbol renaming.
--no-win-lean	Do not inject Windows header conflict guards.
--keep-main-return	Keep the trailing return 0; in main.
--keep-endl	Keep endl.
--keep-inline	Keep inline.
--dedup-statics	Deduplicate merged static definitions with libclang.
--aggressive	Remove braces from single-statement if / for / while.
--shortcuts	Insert #define shortcuts for frequent cout / cin.
--rename-functions	Also rename user-defined functions and methods.
--rename-type	Add typedef aliases for long user-defined type names.
--config PATH	Read cppgolf options from a TOML config file.
--cfg-helper PATH	Explicitly use the required cppgolf-cfg-helper executable for CFG flattening.
--cfg-helper-include PATH	Add a system/cross-platform header directory used only by the CFG helper parser. Can be repeated.
--flatten-cfg	Flatten configured function bodies into a switch-based state machine.
--flatten-cfg-function NAME	Add an exact function name for control-flow flattening.
--flower	Insert both dead-code and declaration flowers.
--flower-dead-code	Insert only complex always-false dead-code blocks in function bodies.
--flower-decls	Insert only inert global/namespace/class declarations.
--flower-function NAME	Limit dead-code flower insertion to an exact function name. Can be repeated.
--flower-seed N	Set the deterministic flower seed.
--flower-dead-blocks N	Maximum dead-code flower blocks per function.
--flower-decl-count N	Maximum inert declarations to insert.
--stats	Print size reduction statistics to stderr.

Configuration

Control-flow flattening is an obfuscation pass and can increase code size. It is disabled by default and only touches configured functions.

[flatten_cfg]
enabled = true
helper = "build/cfg-helper/cppgolf-cfg-helper.exe"
helper_includes = ["C:/msys64/usr/include"]
functions = [
  "evaluate",
  "Stockfish::Search::Worker::search",
  "Stockfish::Tablebases::probe",
]
exclude = ["main"]

Flower insertion is also disabled by default. It uses the same cppgolf-cfg-helper parser as CFG flattening to find safe insertion points.

[flower]
enabled = true
dead_code = true
declarations = true
functions = ["target", "N::Box::run"]
exclude = ["main"]
seed = 1
dead_blocks_per_function = 1
declaration_count = 24

When --flatten-cfg, [flatten_cfg].enabled, --flower, or [flower].enabled is active, cppgolf-cfg-helper is required. cppgolf searches for it in this order: explicit --cfg-helper / Python API path, TOML flatten_cfg.helper, CPPGOLF_CFG_HELPER, build/cfg-helper/cppgolf-cfg-helper(.exe) under the current working directory, the same path under the package repository root, then PATH.

For cross-platform flattening, pass target headers to the helper parser with --cfg-helper-include or flatten_cfg.helper_includes. When an MSYS /usr/include directory such as C:/msys64/usr/include is provided, cppgolf automatically uses the matching MSYS GCC include bundle and x86_64-pc-msys target for helper parsing.

Build the helper with normal LLVM/Clang CMake package discovery:

cmake -S tools/cfg-helper -B build/cfg-helper -G Ninja \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
  -DLLVM_DIR=/path/to/llvm/lib/cmake/llvm \
  -DClang_DIR=/path/to/llvm/lib/cmake/clang
cmake --build build/cfg-helper --config Release

If LLVM is installed in a standard prefix, CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/llvm or llvm-config --cmakedir can also be used to locate the packages.

Python API

from pathlib import Path

from cppgolf import process

result, merged_size = process(
    Path("solution.cpp"),
    include_dirs=[],
    defines=["BOTZONE_PIKAFISH_STANDALONE=1"],
    inject_defines=False,
    merge_only=False,
    rename_symbols=False,
    flatten_cfg=False,
    flatten_cfg_functions=[],
    flower=False,
    flower_seed=1,
    cfg_helper_path=None,
)

print(merged_size)
print(result)

Individual passes can also be used directly:

from cppgolf import compress_whitespace, strip_comments
from cppgolf.transforms import golf_typedefs

code = Path("a.cpp").read_text()
code = strip_comments(code)
code = golf_typedefs(code)
code = compress_whitespace(code)

Features

• Merge local #include "..." files recursively and deduplicate top-level system headers.
• Strip comments while preserving strings, character literals, and raw strings.
• Apply safe default text transforms such as std:: removal, typedef shortcuts, endl replacement, inline removal, and trailing return 0; removal in main.
• Compress whitespace at token granularity while preserving preprocessor line structure.
• Optionally rename symbols and user-defined types with libclang.
• Optionally flatten configured function bodies with the required Clang CFG helper.