Visual Studio Code Analysis Tools

Running clang-tidy results in itemized warnings that populate the Error List, allowing you to quickly navigate around your code. To toggle squiggle display or background runs, navigate to Tools > Options > Text Editor > C/C++ > Advanced.

In addition, Clang-Tidy support for CMake configurations only extends to Windows. We do not currently support configuration via the CMAKE_CLANG_TIDY variable in CMakeLists.txt in the IDE.

Starting in Preview 2, you can configure which tool(s) to use via the enableMicrosoftCodeAnalysis and enableClangTidyAnalysis keys, with in-editor warnings and the Error List updating on file save. In CMake configurations targeting Windows, you can customize checks by specifying the clangTidyChecks key in the JSON view of CMakeSettings.json, with a string value to be passed to the tool's –checks option.

Further configuration is possible via options such as Checks, HeaderFilterRegex, and SystemHeaders. Clang-tidy files attempt to read additional settings from where you can provide further configuration, e.g., the input to be provided to the –checks option of the tool.

Rule sets for the MSVC Code Analysis engine are configurable under the 'Microsoft' tab, while the 'Clang-Tidy' tab allows you to specify which specific clang-tidy checks to enable or disable. If you explicitly run Code Analysis without either tool enabled, you'll simply get a warning returned in the Error List.

In the General tab, you can select which tool(s) to run when running analysis – whether that's via the Analyze menu, on build, or automatically in the background. We've redesigned the Code Analysis section of project Property Pages, allowing you to better configure and define which tool you're using with each of your projects.

While Code Analysis will run automatically in the background on files opened in the Editor, by default it will not run at build time on all your files. Configuring clang-tidy defaults to the respective tool as dictated by your platform toolset and compiler: Microsoft Code Analysis if using MSVC ('Visual Studio 2019') and clang-tidy if using LLVM/clang-cl.

For more information about using Clang/LLVM as a compiler in your project, see our past blog posts on Clang/LLVM for MSBuild projects and for CMake projects. Visual Studio 2019 version 16.4 Preview 1 brings a significant improvement to the C++ code analysis experience: native support for clang-tidy, a Clang-based 'linter' tool developed by the LLVM Project that delivers a variety of code improvements such as modernization and standards conformance, static analysis, and automatic formatting.

Visual studio code analysis tools