man7.org > Linux > man-pages

Linux/UNIX system programming training

flatpak-build-init(1) — Linux manual page

NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | EXAMPLES | SEE ALSO | COLOPHON 

FLATPAK BUILD-INIT(1)       flatpak build-init      FLATPAK BUILD-INIT(1)

NAME         top

       flatpak-build-init - Initialize a build directory

SYNOPSIS         top


       flatpak build-init [OPTION...] DIRECTORY APPNAME SDK RUNTIME
                          [BRANCH]

DESCRIPTION         top

       Initializes a separate build directory.  DIRECTORY is the name of
       the directory.  APPNAME is the application id of the app that will
       be built.  SDK and RUNTIME specify the sdk and runtime that the
       application should be built against and run in.  BRANCH specify
       the version of sdk and runtime

       Initializes a directory as build directory which can be used as
       target directory of flatpak build. It creates a metadata inside
       the given directory. Additionally, empty files and var
       subdirectories are created.

       It is an error to run build-init on a directory that has already
       been initialized as a build directory.

OPTIONS         top

       The following options are understood:

       -h, --help
           Show help options and exit.

       --arch=ARCH
           The architecture to use. See flatpak --supported-arches for
           architectures supported by the host.

       -v, --var=RUNTIME
           Initialize var from the named runtime.

       -w, --writable-sdk
           Initialize /usr with a copy of the sdk, which is writable
           during flatpak build. This can be used if you need to install
           build tools in /usr during the build. This is stored in the
           usr subdirectory of the app dir, but will not be part of the
           final app.

       --tag=TAG
           Add a tag to the metadata file. This option can be used
           multiple times.

       --sdk-extension=EXTENSION
           When using --writable-sdk, in addition to the sdk, also
           install the specified extension. This option can be used
           multiple times.

       --extension=NAME=VARIABLE[=VALUE]
           Add extension point info.

       --sdk-dir
           Specify a custom subdirectory to use instead of usr for
           --writable-sdk.

       --update
           Re-initialize the sdk and var, don't fail if already
           initialized.

       --base=APP
           Initialize the application with files from another specified
           application.

       --base-version=VERSION
           Specify the version to use for --base. If not specified, will
           default to "master".

       --base-extension=EXTENSION
           When using --base, also install the specified extension from
           the app. This option can be used multiple times.

       --type=TYPE
           This can be used to build different types of things. The
           default is "app" which is a regular app, but "runtime" creates
           a runtime based on an existing runtime, and "extension"
           creates an extension for an app or runtime.

       --extension-tag=EXTENSION_TAG
           If building an extension, the tag to use when searching for
           the mount point of the extension.

       --verbose
           Print debug information during command processing.

       --ostree-verbose
           Print OSTree debug information during command processing.

EXAMPLES         top

       $ flatpak build-init /build/my-app org.example.myapp org.gnome.Sdk
       org.gnome.Platform 3.36

SEE ALSO         top

       flatpak(1), flatpak-build(1), flatpak-build-finish(1),
       flatpak-build-export(1)

COLOPHON         top

       This page is part of the flatpak (a tool for building and
       distributing desktop applications on Linux) project.  Information
       about the project can be found at ⟨http://flatpak.org/⟩.  It is
       not known how to report bugs for this man page; if you know,
       please send a mail to man-pages@man7.org.  This page was obtained
       from the project's upstream Git repository
       ⟨https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak⟩ on 2025-08-11.  (At that
       time, the date of the most recent commit that was found in the
       repository was 2025-08-06.)  If you discover any rendering
       problems in this HTML version of the page, or you believe there is
       a better or more up-to-date source for the page, or you have
       corrections or improvements to the information in this COLOPHON
       (which is not part of the original manual page), send a mail to
       man-pages@man7.org

flatpak                                             FLATPAK BUILD-INIT(1)

Pages that refer to this page: flatpak(1),  flatpak-build(1),  flatpak-build-bundle(1),  flatpak-build-commit-from(1),  flatpak-build-export(1),  flatpak-build-finish(1)

HTML rendering created 2025-09-06 by Michael Kerrisk, author of The Linux Programming Interface.

For details of in-depth Linux/UNIX system programming training courses that I teach, look here.

Hosting by jambit GmbH.

Cover of TLPI