Adds a tested compilation database generator (#2636)

Author: nickclark2016

.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/report-a-bug.md

@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ Describe any steps you've taken to try to solve or workaround the bug.
 **How can we reproduce this?**
 Please provide a [minimal, reproducible example](https://stackoverflow.com/help/minimal-reproducible-example) we can use to replicate the problem in our own development environments. Use [code blocks](https://help.github.com/en/articles/creating-and-highlighting-code-blocks) to format code and console output nicely.
 
+- [ ] Visual Studio 2026 (vs2026)
 - [ ] Visual Studio 2022 (vs2022)
 - [ ] Visual Studio 2019 (vs2019)
 - [ ] Visual Studio 2017 (vs2017)
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@ Please provide a [minimal, reproducible example](https://stackoverflow.com/help/
 - [ ] GNU Makefile Legacy (gmakelegacy)
 - [ ] XCode (xcode)
 - [ ] Codelite
+- [ ] Compile Commands
 - [ ] Other (Please list below)
 
 **What version of Premake are you using?**

.gitignore

@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ Makefile
 *.ninja_deps
 *.ninja_log
 .vscode/
+*compile_commands.json
+.cache/
 
 *.bbprojectsettings
 Scratchpad.txt

modules/codelite/tests/test_codelite_config.lua

@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@
 		prepare()
 		codelite.project.compiler(cfg)
 		test.capture [[
-      <Compiler Options="-isystem sysdir;-isystem sysdir2" C_Options="-isystem sysdir;-isystem sysdir2" Assembler="" Required="yes" PreCompiledHeader="" PCHInCommandLine="no" PCHFlags="" PCHFlagsPolicy="1">
+      <Compiler Options="-isystemsysdir;-isystemsysdir2" C_Options="-isystemsysdir;-isystemsysdir2" Assembler="" Required="yes" PreCompiledHeader="" PCHInCommandLine="no" PCHFlags="" PCHFlagsPolicy="1">
       </Compiler>
 		]]
 	end
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@
 		prepare()
 		codelite.project.compiler(cfg)
 		test.capture [[
-      <Compiler Options="-idirafter sysdir;-idirafter sysdir2" C_Options="-idirafter sysdir;-idirafter sysdir2" Assembler="" Required="yes" PreCompiledHeader="" PCHInCommandLine="no" PCHFlags="" PCHFlagsPolicy="1">
+      <Compiler Options="-idiraftersysdir;-idiraftersysdir2" C_Options="-idiraftersysdir;-idiraftersysdir2" Assembler="" Required="yes" PreCompiledHeader="" PCHInCommandLine="no" PCHFlags="" PCHFlagsPolicy="1">
       </Compiler>
 		]]
 	end

modules/compilecommands/_manifest.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+--
+-- _manifest.lua
+-- Define the compilecommands manifest
+-- Author: Nick Clark
+-- Copyright (c) 2026 Jess Perkins and the Premake project
+--
+
+
+return {
+	"_preload.lua",
+	"compilecommands.lua",
+}

modules/compilecommands/_preload.lua

@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+--
+-- _preload.lua
+-- Define the compilecommands actions
+-- Author: Nick Clark
+-- Copyright (c) 2026 Jess Perkins and the Premake project
+--
+
+local p = premake
+
+newoption {
+	category = "Compilation Database",
+
+	trigger = "cc-config",
+	description = "Specify the configuration to generate compile_commands.json for",
+}
+
+newoption {
+	category = "Compilation Database",
+
+	trigger = "cc-platform",
+	description = "Specify the platform to generate compile_commands.json for",
+}
+
+newoption {
+	category = "Compilation Database",
+
+	trigger = "cc-output",
+	description = "Specify the output file path for compile_commands.json",
+}
+
+newaction {
+	trigger = "compilecommands",
+	shortname = "compilecommands",
+	description = "Generate compile_commands.json files",
+
+	-- Action Capabilities
+	valid_kinds = { "ConsoleApp", "WindowedApp", "StaticLib", "SharedLib" },
+	valid_languages = { "C", "C++" },
+	valid_tools = {
+		cc = { "clang", "cosmocc", "emcc", "gcc" },
+	},
+
+	toolset = "clang",
+
+	onInitialize = function()
+		require("compilecommands")
+	end,
+
+	configurable = true,
+
+	execute = function()
+		local all_commands = {}
+
+		for wks in p.global.eachWorkspace() do
+			-- Platform is set in the following order of precedence
+			-- 1. Command line option
+			-- 2. Workspace default platform
+			-- 3. Empty string
+			local platform = _OPTIONS["cc-platform"] or wks.defaultplatform or ""
+
+			-- Configuration is set in the following order of precedence
+			-- 1. Command line option
+			-- 2. First build configuration of the workspace
+			-- 3. Empty string
+			local buildcfg = _OPTIONS["cc-config"] or wks.configurations[1] or ""
+
+			local compile_commands = p.modules.compilecommands.generate(wks, platform, buildcfg)
+			all_commands = table.join(all_commands, compile_commands)
+		end
+
+		local results, err = json.encode(all_commands)
+		if not results then
+			p.error("Failed to encode compile commands to JSON: %s", err)
+			return
+		end
+
+		local output_path = _OPTIONS["cc-output"] or "compile_commands.json"
+
+		local dir = path.getdirectory(output_path)
+		local ok, err = os.mkdir(dir)
+		if not ok then
+			error(err, 0)
+		end
+
+		local f, err = os.writefile_ifnotequal(results, output_path)
+		if err then
+			p.error("Failed to write compile_commands.json: %s", err)
+		elseif f ~= 0 then
+			printf("Generated %s...", path.getrelative(os.getcwd(), output_path))
+		end
+	end
+}
+
+return function(cfg)
+	return (_ACTION == "compilecommands")
+end