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How to integrate Vcpkg with Meson Build system

#vcpkg
#meson

Photo by @theshubhamdhage from Unsplash.com

The worst part about developing on Windows is developing on Windows. Okay, jokes aside, life is generally easier on Linux.

On Linux, package management is typically handled by the OS. You just download the library with the -devel suffix, and in meson.build, you add the dependency() function to link it to your program.

On Windows, however, you often find yourself hunting for installers, manually setting up INCLUDE and LIB paths, or dealing with “DLL hell”.

But how do you integrate Vcpkg (which solves the package downloading part) with Meson (which handles the build configuration)? Easy, with a native-file!

The Native File

Vcpkg is a free C/C++ package manager from Microsoft for managing libraries. To make it talk to Meson, we need a “Native File”.

This file acts as a bridge. It tells Meson specific details about the host machine, such as where to find the pkg-config executable. Since Vcpkg generates pkg-config files for installed libraries, pointing Meson to Vcpkg’s internal pkgconf.exe allows standard dependency() calls to work magically.

Here is the native file content:

[constants]
vcpkg_base_path = 'C:/vcpkg/'
vcpkg_base_install_dir = 'C:/vcpkg/installed/'

vcpkg_target_triplet = 'x64-windows'
vcpkg_host_triplet = 'x64-windows'

vcpkg_installed_dir =  vcpkg_base_install_dir + vcpkg_target_triplet + '/'
vcpkg_host_installed_dir = vcpkg_base_install_dir + vcpkg_host_triplet + '/'
vcpkg_toolchain_file =  vcpkg_base_path + 'scripts/toolchains/windows.cmake'

[properties]
cmake_toolchain_file = vcpkg_base_path + 'scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake'

[binaries]
vcpkg = [ vcpkg_base_path + 'vcpkg.exe']
pkgconfig = [ vcpkg_installed_dir + 'tools/pkgconf/pkgconf.exe']

[cmake]
VCPKG_TARGET_TRIPLET = vcpkg_target_triplet
VCPKG_HOST_TRIPLET = vcpkg_host_triplet
VCPKG_CHAINLOAD_TOOLCHAIN_FILE = vcpkg_base_path + 'scripts/toolchains/windows.cmake'
_VCPKG_INSTALLED_DIR = vcpkg_installed_dir
VCPKG_CRT_LINKAGE = 'dynamic'

[built-in options]
pkg_config_path =  [ vcpkg_installed_dir + 'lib/pkgconfig;' + vcpkg_installed_dir + 'share/pkgconfig']
cmake_prefix_path = [ vcpkg_installed_dir ]

Save it somewhere (I named it meson-vcpkg.txt and placed it in the same folder as the meson.build file).

Important: Modify vcpkg_base_path and vcpkg_base_install_dir inside the file so that they point to your actual Vcpkg installation folder.

Manifest Mode

Instead of installing packages manually via the command line (e.g., vcpkg install sdl3), we will use Manifest Mode. This keeps your project self-contained and ensures that anyone who clones your repo gets the exact same dependencies.

Create a vcpkg.json in your project root:

{
  "name": "meson-vcpkg",
  "version": "1",
  "description": "Testing meson and vcpkg integration together using manifest mode of vcpkg",
  "dependencies": ["sdl3", "libyaml", "pkgconf"]
}

Add your dependencies under “dependencies”. I added SDL3, libyaml, and pkgconf (which is required for the integration to work) as examples.

The Build File

Now, set up your meson.build to consume these packages. Notice how clean it is—no hardcoded paths!

project('meson-vcpkg', 'c', default_options: ['c_std=c11', 'warning_level=3'])

# These dependencies will be found via the native file configuration
sdl3_dep = dependency('sdl3')
libyaml_dep = dependency('yaml-0.1')

deps = [sdl3_dep, libyaml_dep]

executable('deptest', 'main.c', dependencies: [deps])

Building the Project

Finally, configure the build folder. We pass the --native-file argument to tell Meson about our Vcpkg configuration.

$ meson setup build --native-file meson-vcpkg.txt

Example output:

The Meson build system
Version: 1.8.0
Source dir: C:\meson-vcpkg
Build dir: C:\meson-vcpkg\build
Build type: native build
Project name: meson-vcpkg
Project version: undefined
C compiler for the host machine: clang (clang 20.1.4 "clang version 20.1.4")
C linker for the host machine: clang link 14.44.35207.1
Host machine cpu family: x86_64
Host machine cpu: x86_64
Found pkg-config: YES (C:/vcpkg/installed/x64-windows/tools/pkgconf/pkgconf.exe) 2.4.3
Run-time dependency sdl3 found: YES 3.2.12
Run-time dependency yaml-0.1 found: YES 0.1
Build targets in project: 1

meson-vcpkg undefined

  User defined options
    Native files: .\meson-vcpkg.txt
    wrap_mode   : nodownload

Found ninja-1.12.1 at "C:\Program Files\Meson\ninja.EXE"

It will automatically invoke Vcpkg to install the dependencies listed in vcpkg.json before the build starts.

Troubleshooting

Missing DLLs

Most likely, your program will crash at startup with an error about missing .dll files.

This happens because Windows loads dynamic libraries from the executable’s directory or the system PATH. Vcpkg builds dynamic libraries by default, but it doesn’t automatically copy them to your output folder.

Solution: You need to copy all the necessary DLL files into the build folder (where your executable is located).

Demonstration

Find the demonstration in my GitHub repo.

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