CHIP compilation is generally split into two steps

1. Generate ninja/makefile for out-of-source builds
2. Compilation using ninja/makefiles

Manual building is generally platform-dependent. All build steps would require a bootstrapped environment (loads a pigweed build environment) and will then be followed by platform-specific instructions.

The file BUILDING.md describes general requirements and examples. Typical usage is:

source scripts/activate
gn gen out/host
ninja -C out/host

The script build_examples.py provides a single entry point for generating and executing the build.

Build environment MUST be properly configured for build_examples to succeed. For example ESP32 builds requite IDF_PATH to be set. Building in the corresponding build image or the chip vscode image satisfy the build environment requirement.

Usage examples:

1. Compile the all clusters app for a ESP32 DevKitC

   ./scripts/build/build_examples.py --target esp32-devkitc-all-clusters build

2. Generate all the makefiles (but do not compile) using a specific output root

   ./scripts/build/build_examples.py --target linux-x64-chip-tool --out-prefix ./mydir gen

3. Compile the qpg lock app and copy the output in a 'artifact' folder. Note the argument order (artifact copying is an argument for the build command)

   ./scripts/build/build_examples.py --target qpg-lock build --copy-artifacts-to /tmp/artifacts

4. Find out possible target choices:

   ./scripts/build/build_examples.py--log-level fatal targets