RAD Studio CLI

A command-line tool for discovering installed Embarcadero RAD Studio products (Delphi / C++Builder) and working with them — building projects with MSBuild or bds.exe, compiling resource files, managing IDE environment variables and search paths, and more — without having to open the IDE.

Overview

RAD Studio CLI reads the Windows Registry to find every installed RAD Studio / Delphi / C++Builder version on your machine (from classic Borland/CodeGear releases through the latest Embarcadero RAD Studio), and exposes that information through a simple CLI.

It can drive MSBuild to build .dproj/.cbproj project files as well as .groupproj project groups, using the correct toolchain environment (rsvars.bat / rsvars64.bat) for a chosen version, architecture, and platform.

It can also invoke the Delphi command-line compilers (DCC32.exe, DCC64.exe, DCCARM64EC.exe) directly, compile resource script files, and read or update the IDE's registry-backed environment variables and search paths.

RAD Studio CLI detects whether the targeted installation actually supports command-line compilation (Community and Trial editions typically don't), and both the build command and the direct dcc32/dcc64/dccarm64ec compiler commands automatically fall back to driving bds.exe instead when it doesn't — avoiding the "This version of the product does not support command line compiling" prompt without any extra flags.

When building a project group with bds.exe, each referenced project is patched and built the same way as if built individually, so options like config, platform, version-info stamping and preferred tool architecture are applied consistently across the whole group.

This makes it convenient to build Delphi/C++Builder projects and manage IDE configuration from scripts, CI pipelines, AI agents, or any terminal.

Features

• 🔍 Discovery — automatically detects all installed RAD Studio/Delphi/C++Builder versions from the registry.
• 🧭 Version selection — target an installation by product name (RAD Studio 13), codename (Florence, Rio, Berlin), or product version (13, 12, XE2), or default to the latest installed version.
• 🛠️ Build via MSBuild — build .dproj/.cbproj files, or an entire .groupproj project group, with a chosen configuration, architecture, and platform, optionally embedding version-info resources (company name, product version, copyright, etc.) and pinning a preferred 32-bit/64-bit command-line tool architecture. Automatically falls back to bds.exe on installations that don't support command-line compiling, unless --no-bds is passed.
• 🧱 Build via bds.exe — build the same project or project group files through bds.exe instead of MSBuild (same options as build), which avoids the "This version of the product does not support command-line compiling" prompt shown by Community/Trial editions. Used automatically as a fallback by build and by dcc32/dcc64/dccarm64ec, or invoke it directly with the bds command.
• 🧮 Direct compiler invocation — compile Delphi files straight through DCC32.exe/DCC64.exe/DCCARM64EC.exe (dcc32/dcc64/dccarm64ec commands), with options for conditional defines, unit/resource/include search directories, output directories, and passing through raw compiler switches; falls back to bds.exe automatically on editions without command-line compiling support.
• 📦 Resource compilation — compile .rc resource script files to .res via brcc32.exe.
• ⚙️ IDE environment variables — view, set, or remove environment variables stored per-architecture for a RAD Studio installation.
• 🧩 Search path management — view, add, insert, or remove entries in the IDE's environment PATH, Library path, and Browsing path, per architecture/platform.
• ℹ️ Product info — print detailed information about installed products, including compiler/package versions, edition, personalities (Delphi/C++Builder), root directory, available architectures/platforms, command-line compilation support, and detected command-line compilers.
• 📌 Self-install — add (or remove) the CLI's directory to your user PATH so radstudio is available from any terminal.

Requirements

• Windows (the tool relies on the Windows Registry and Windows-only APIs)
• A RAD Studio / Delphi / C++Builder installation registered under the current user
• Rust toolchain if building from source

Installation

You can download the latest release from the Releases page, or build it from source with Cargo:

git clone https://github.com/Delphier/radstudio.git
cd radstudio
cargo build --release

The resulting binary is target/release/radstudio.exe. Optionally, register it on your PATH so it can be run from anywhere:

radstudio self install

Run radstudio self uninstall to remove it from PATH again.

Usage

radstudio [NAME] [COMMAND] [OPTIONS]

Arguments

Argument	Description
[NAME]	RAD Studio name or version to target, e.g. 13, XE2, or Florence. Accepts a product name ("RAD Studio 13.1"), codename (Rio, Berlin), or version number. If omitted, the latest installed version is used.

Commands

Command	Description
build (alias msbuild)	Build a project file (*.dproj, *.cbproj, *.groupproj) via MSBuild; automatically falls back to bds.exe if the installation doesn't support command-line compiling (disable with --no-bds)
bds	Build a project file via bds.exe (same options as build); avoids the command-line compiling restriction on Community/Trial editions
dcc32	Compile Delphi files for Win32 via DCC32.exe; falls back to bds.exe if command-line compiling is unsupported
dcc64	Compile Delphi files for Win64 via DCC64.exe; falls back to bds.exe if command-line compiling is unsupported
dccarm64ec	Compile Delphi files for WinARM64EC via DCCARM64EC.exe; falls back to bds.exe if command-line compiling is unsupported
brcc (alias brcc32)	Compile a resource script file (.rc) into a .res file via brcc32.exe
env	View, set, or remove IDE environment variables
env-path (alias path)	View, add, insert, or remove entries in the IDE environment PATH
library-path (aliases lib-path, libpath)	View, add, insert, or remove entries in the IDE Library path
browsing-path	View, add, insert, or remove entries in the IDE Browsing path
info	Print installed RAD Studio product information
self install / self uninstall	Add or remove this tool from the user PATH

Running env, envpath, librarypath, or browsingpath with no subcommand prints the current values. Each supports its own subcommands:

• env — set/add <NAME> <VALUE> to set a variable, remove/rm/delete/del <NAME> to remove one.
• envpath, librarypath, browsingpath — add/push/append <ITEM> to append an entry (skipped if it already exists), insert <ITEM> to prepend an entry, remove/rm/delete/del <ITEM> to remove one.

dcc32, dcc64, and dccarm64ec take a source <FILE> plus compiler options: --no-config (skip the default dcc*.cfg), -D/--define <NAME> (repeatable), --unit-search-dirs/--resource-search-dirs/--include-search-dirs <DIRS>, -B/--build (rebuild all units), -Q/--quiet, --output-dir/--unit-output-dir/--package-bpl-output-dir/--package-dcp-output-dir <DIR>, C++Builder-related flags (--cpp, --cpp-win64x, --cpp-bpi-output-dir, --cpp-hpp-output-dir, --cpp-obj-output-dir), and a trailing -- <ARGS> to pass any additional raw compiler switches straight through to the compiler (e.g. radstudio dcc64 MyProject.dpr -- -W-SYMBOL_DEPRECATED).

Options

Option	Description
-a, --architecture <ARCH>	Toolchain/IDE architecture to use, e.g. IntelX86 (aliases x86, 32bit) or IntelX64 (aliases x64, 64bit); applies to all commands
-p, --platform <PLATFORM>	Target platform, e.g. Win32, Win64, Win64x, WinARM64EC, OSX64, OSXARM64, Linux64, Android32, Android64, IOSDevice64
--no-bds (alias --nobds)	For build and dcc32/dcc64/dccarm64ec, disable the automatic fallback to bds.exe on installations that don't support command-line compiling
--no-splash (aliases --nosplash, --no-logo, --nologo, --ns)	Suppress the bds.exe splash screen (when building or falling back to bds.exe) or the MSBuild startup logo (/nologo)
-h, --help	Print help
-V, --version	Print version

build and bds additionally accept -t, --preferred-tool-architecture <ARCH> (aliases --pta, --tool, --tools, --toolarch, --tool-arch) to pin whether the project's command-line compiler and tools run as 32-bit or 64-bit (DCC_PreferredToolArchitecture), independent of the -a/--architecture used to locate the toolchain itself.

Examples

Show all detected RAD Studio installations:

radstudio info

Show details for a specific version (by codename, product name, or number):

radstudio Florence info
radstudio 13 info
radstudio XE2 info

Build a project with the latest installed version:

radstudio build MyProject.dproj

Build a specific configuration/platform with a chosen RAD Studio version:

radstudio 13 build MyProject.dproj --config Release --platform Win64

Force the 64-bit command-line compiler/tools regardless of the toolchain architecture used to locate MSBuild.exe:

radstudio build MyProject.dproj --preferred-tool-architecture x64

Build and stamp the output with version-info resources:

radstudio build MyProject.dproj `
  --FileVersion "1.2.3" `
  --CompanyName "My Company" `
  --ProductName "My Product" `
  --LegalCopyright "Copyright © 2026 My Company"

Build with bds.exe instead of MSBuild (useful on Community/Trial editions that block command-line compiling via MSBuild):

radstudio bds MyProject.dproj --config Release --platform Win64

Build every project referenced by a project group, via bds.exe:

radstudio bds MyProjectGroup.groupproj --config Release --platform Win64

Build with build, but force a hard failure instead of silently falling back to bds.exe on editions that don't support command-line compiling:

radstudio build MyProject.dproj --no-bds

Suppress the bds.exe splash screen or the MSBuild startup logo while building:

radstudio build MyProject.dproj --no-splash

Compile a Delphi source file directly with DCC32.exe:

radstudio dcc32 MyProject.dpr

Compile for Win64 with a conditional define and a custom unit output directory:

radstudio dcc64 MyProject.dpr -d DEBUG --unit-output-dir .\dcu

Compile for WinARM64EC using a specific RAD Studio version, passing raw extra options through:

radstudio 13 dccarm64ec MyProject.dpr -- -W-SYMBOL_DEPRECATED

Compile on a Community/Trial edition (automatically falls back to bds.exe, no extra flags needed):

radstudio dcc64 MyPackage370.dpk

Compile a resource script into a .res file:

radstudio brcc MyProject.rc

Compile with an explicit output path, using a specific RAD Studio version:

radstudio 13 brcc MyProject.rc MyProject.res

Show IDE environment variables for the latest installed version:

radstudio env

Set an IDE environment variable:

radstudio env set MY_VAR "some value"

Remove an IDE environment variable:

radstudio env remove MY_VAR

Append a directory to the IDE's environment PATH:

radstudio envpath add "C:\Tools\bin"

Show the Library path for a specific platform:

radstudio 13 librarypath --platform Win64

Insert an entry at the front of the Browsing path:

radstudio browsingpath insert "C:\MyLib\Include"

Project structure

This is a Cargo workspace with three crates:

crates/
├── radstudio/           # library crate — registry discovery, product info, tools integration
├── radstudio-cli/       # cli crate — the `radstudio` command-line binary
└── radstudio-macros/    # internal proc-macro crate — generates DCC command-line option tables

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue to discuss significant changes before submitting a large PR.