clang-tidy

Clang-based C++ linter and static analyzer

TLDR

Run checks on file

$ clang-tidy [file.cpp] -- -I[include/path]

List enabled checks

$ clang-tidy --list-checks

List all available checks

$ clang-tidy --list-checks -checks='*'

Run specific checks

$ clang-tidy -checks='-*,modernize-*' [file.cpp]

Apply automatic fixes

$ clang-tidy --fix [file.cpp]

Export fixes to file

$ clang-tidy --export-fixes=[fixes.yaml] [file.cpp]

Dump configuration

$ clang-tidy --dump-config

SYNOPSIS

clang-tidy [options] file [-- compileoptions_]

clang-tidy is a clang-based C++ linter tool for diagnosing and fixing typical programming errors including style violations, interface misuse, and bugs detectable via static analysis. It is part of the LLVM/Clang extra tools.The tool provides hundreds of checks organized into categories such as bugprone, modernize, performance, readability, and cppcoreguidelines. Many checks can automatically apply fixes to source code, making it useful for large-scale code modernization (e.g., migrating to modern C++ idioms).clang-tidy uses a .clang-tidy configuration file for project-level settings and supports inline suppression with NOLINT comments. For large projects, run-clang-tidy.py provides parallel execution across multiple files.

PARAMETERS

-checks=list

Comma-separated list of checks (+/- prefixed globs)

--list-checks

List enabled checks

--fix

Apply suggested fixes

--fix-errors

Apply fixes even if errors occur

--export-fixes=file

Write fixes to YAML file

--dump-config

Dump configuration to stdout

--warnings-as-errors=list

Treat specified warnings as errors

-p path

Path to compilation database

--config-file=file

Path to .clang-tidy config

--format-style=style

Format style for applied fixes (none, file, llvm, google, webkit, mozilla)

--extra-arg=arg

Additional argument to append to the compiler command line

--fix-notes

Apply fixes from diagnostic notes (implies --fix)

--allow-no-checks

Allow empty enabled checks without error

CONFIGURATION

Create .clang-tidy in project root:

$ Checks: '-*,modernize-*,bugprone-*'
WarningsAsErrors: '*'

CHECK CATEGORIES

bugprone-*

Bug-prone patterns

modernize-*

C++ modernization

performance-*

Performance issues

readability-*

Code readability

cppcoreguidelines-*

C++ Core Guidelines

clang-analyzer-*

Clang Static Analyzer checks

misc-*

Miscellaneous checks

cert-*

CERT secure coding standard

SUPPRESSION

Use comments: NOLINT, NOLINTNEXTLINE, NOLINTBEGIN/NOLINTEND

CAVEATS

Requires compilation database for complex projects. Use run-clang-tidy.py for parallel execution.