voice-cat/docs/building.md

# Building & Manual Testing

This doc explains what each CMake preset in [`CMakePresets.json`](../CMakePresets.json) is
*for*, which one to actually use day-to-day, and the commands to stand up a real server +
`vccli` clients against each other for manual testing. For the one-paragraph quick-start see
[`CLAUDE.md`](../CLAUDE.md); for `ctest` targets see [`AGENTS.md`](../AGENTS.md). This doc is
the missing middle: *how the presets relate to each other*, and *how to drive the binaries by
hand*.

## 1. What each preset is for

| Preset | Binary dir | Deps | What it's actually for |
|--------|-----------|------|-------------------------|
| `dev` | `build/dev` | none (`VOICECAT_USE_VCPKG_DEPS=OFF`) | The M0 skeleton. Compiles with just a C++20 compiler — no `VCPKG_ROOT` needed. Subsystems are stubs (`VC_ERR_NOT_IMPLEMENTED`). Good for "does the repo even build" sanity checks, not for testing real voice/control behavior. |
| `vcpkg-base` | — | real deps via vcpkg | Hidden base preset, not used directly. Requires `VCPKG_ROOT` in the environment; every preset below inherits it. |
| `m1-dev` | `build/m1-dev` | real deps | **The one you actually want.** Despite the name, this is the live development preset for everything from M1 onward — M1, M2, and M3 were all built, tested, and manually verified against `build/m1-dev` (see `PROGRESS.md`). Builds tools + tests. |
| `m2-dev` | `build/m2-dev` | real deps | Cache-identical to `m1-dev` (same `VOICECAT_BUILD_TOOLS=ON`, `VOICECAT_BUILD_TESTS=ON`, same triplet) — the only difference is the binary dir. It exists from when the project briefly split a preset per milestone; that convention was dropped in practice. Use it only if you want a second, isolated build tree (e.g. to compare two branches) — there's no behavioral reason to prefer it over `m1-dev`. |
| *(no `m3-dev`)* | — | — | M3 work used `m1-dev` directly; no separate preset was ever added for it. If you see `m3-dev` mentioned anywhere, it doesn't exist — use `m1-dev`. |
| `server-release` | `build/server-release` | real deps, `Release` | Production-shaped build (docs/deployment.md "from source" path): `CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release`, tools on, **tests off**. This is what you'd actually ship/run, not what you iterate against. |

So in practice there are really only two presets that matter:
- **`dev`** — fast no-deps build to confirm the skeleton compiles.
- **`m1-dev`** — everything else: real protocol, real voice, real manual testing.

## 2. One-time setup for the real-deps presets

`m1-dev`, `m2-dev`, and `server-release` all need `VCPKG_ROOT` pointing at a bootstrapped
vcpkg checkout:

```bash
# once:
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg
./vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh        # .bat on Windows

# every shell session (PowerShell):
$env:VCPKG_ROOT = "D:\path\to\vcpkg"
```

`vcpkg.json` (manifest mode) pins every dependency (protobuf, mbedTLS, libsodium, asio,
sqlite3, spdlog, opus, miniaudio) — `cmake --preset m1-dev` resolves and builds them
automatically on first configure. That first configure is slow (vcpkg building from source);
subsequent ones are cached.

## 3. Build + test (the loop you'll run constantly)

```bash
cmake --preset m1-dev
cmake --build --preset m1-dev
ctest --test-dir build/m1-dev --output-on-failure
```

(`ctest --preset m1-dev` is equivalent — both are wired up in `CMakePresets.json`.) Binaries
land in `build/m1-dev/bin/` (`.exe` suffix on Windows):

- `build/m1-dev/bin/voicecat-server`
- `build/m1-dev/bin/vccli`
- `build/m1-dev/bin/voicecat-admin`

## 4. Manual testing: server + two clients

### Start the server

```bash
./build/m1-dev/bin/voicecat-server --name "Test Server" --data-dir ./voicecat-data
```

First run generates an Ed25519 identity + self-signed cert under `--data-dir`, creates the
SQLite store, and creates a default "Lobby" channel. Other server flags:

```
--port <n>          control+media port (default 8384)
--data-dir <path>   data directory (default ./voicecat-data)
--name <name>       server name
--no-guests         disable guest access (then provision accounts via voicecat-admin)
--print-config      print effective config and exit
--version           print version and exit
```

### Drive it with `vccli`

`vccli` is the headless client used to exercise the protocol by hand. Full flag list:

```
vccli [--host H] [--port P] [--nick NAME] [--channel ID]
      [--voice] [--mute] [--text MSG] [--list-devices]
      [--input-device ID] [--input-mode vad|ptt] [--share-screen-audio]

  --host H              server host (default 127.0.0.1)
  --port P              server TCP port (default 8384)
  --nick NAME           guest nickname (default vccli-test)
  --channel ID          channel to join after auth (default 1, Lobby)
  --voice               start a MIC stream and stay connected until Ctrl+C
  --mute                start with the mic muted (only meaningful with --voice)
  --text MSG            send MSG to the channel, then exit
  --list-devices        print input/output devices (vc_list_devices) and exit
  --input-device ID     use device ID (from --list-devices) for the MIC stream
  --input-mode vad|ptt  send-side input gate mode (default vad)
  --share-screen-audio  also start a SCREEN_AUDIO stream (WASAPI loopback on Windows)
```

While `--voice` is running, stdin accepts `ptt on`, `ptt off`, `mode vad`, `mode ptt` to
toggle the input gate live.

**Smoke test — two clients talking:**

```bash
# terminal A
./build/m1-dev/bin/vccli --nick Alice --text "hello from Alice"

# terminal B (separate window, after A confirms it sent)
./build/m1-dev/bin/vccli --nick Bob --text "hello from Bob"
```

**Real voice between two clients (needs working mic/speakers, two terminals):**

```bash
# terminal A
./build/m1-dev/bin/vccli --nick Alice --voice

# terminal B
./build/m1-dev/bin/vccli --nick Bob --voice
```

Speak into the mic on one side; you should hear it on the other. Ctrl+C to disconnect.

**Enumerate audio devices before picking one:**

```bash
./build/m1-dev/bin/vccli --list-devices
./build/m1-dev/bin/vccli --nick Alice --voice --input-device <ID> --input-mode ptt
```

**Provisioning a non-guest account** (if the server was started with `--no-guests`):

```bash
./build/m1-dev/bin/voicecat-admin --data-dir ./voicecat-data account add alice --password secret
./build/m1-dev/bin/voicecat-admin --data-dir ./voicecat-data account list
```

## 5. `server-release` (production-shaped build)

Same dependency story, but `Release` build type and no tests — this is the closest local
analogue to what `docs/deployment.md`'s "from source" path produces:

```bash
cmake --preset server-release
cmake --build --preset server-release
./build/server-release/bin/voicecat-server
```

Use this to sanity-check release-mode behavior (e.g. perf, optimized codepaths) — not for
day-to-day development, since it has no test target wired up.