llvm toolchain: purview #include'd file edits don't retrigger module interface rebuild (stale BMI; #235-family gap on the clang path)

Summary

Under the llvm toolchain, editing a file that a module interface pulls in via a purview #include (e.g. opencv-m's src/core.cppm doing #include "matx_ops.inc" after export module) does not retrigger the module interface rebuild: the next mcpp build/mcpp test reuses the stale BMI, so importers compile against the old surface. Reproduced twice in one session (opencv-m feat/vendor-single-repo, mcpp 0.0.101, llvm 20.1.7):

edit src/matx_ops.inc (purview-included by src/core.cppm)
mcpp test → prints Compiling opencv v0.0.7 (.) but target/<fp>/pcm.cache/opencv.core.pcm mtime predates the edit and its contents lack the new code (verified by grepping the pcm for a newly-added identifier)
touch src/core.cppm && mcpp test → correct rebuild

This looks like the #235 family (purview textual #include → depfile tracking), which was fixed for the gcc path in 0.0.97 — the clang path seems to miss the same edge (different depfile/scanner flow?). gcc 16.1.0 in the same repo/session picked up .inc edits correctly.

Repro sketch

mcpp toolchain default llvm@20.1.7
# module interface with a purview include:
#   export module x;  #include "ops.inc"
mcpp build                      # cold, fine
echo '// change' >> ops.inc
mcpp build                      # BUG: x.pcm not rebuilt (mtime/content stale)

Workaround: touch the including .cppm. Harmless for CI (cold builds) but dangerous locally — during the clang debugging session in #256 it silently served a stale BMI and cost a misdiagnosis round.

Environment: mcpp 0.0.101, linux x86_64, llvm 20.1.7 from mcpp toolchain install.

fix(build): #261 keep only $local_includes in the response file — CI …

test(e2e): 118 asserts the depfile degradation on Windows instead of …

batch: #261 windows cmdline, #257 clang depfile, #258 conditional per…

Fixed in 0.0.102 (PR #264, squashed to main as 5807e36).

Root cause was a conflated predicate in 0.0.97: posixDepfile decided BOTH whether to emit a depfile at all AND whether to run the awk filter that strips GCC's reversed module-rules, and both were scoped to GCC because Clang's depfile shape was unverified. Measured on both bundled toolchains, Clang emits a single plain rule (x.o: x.cppm ops.inc) with nothing the filter would remove — so the gate was guarding against a shape that does not exist, at the cost of the correctness contract bundled with it.

Split into posixDepfile (any POSIX non-MSVC toolchain) and needsGnuModuleFilter (GCC only). Clang now gets a depfile, and C/GAS edges get one too (they had none on any toolchain). Verified by hand under llvm 20.1.7 and 22.1.8, and e2e 118 drops # requires: gcc for a Clang leg.

Windows + a GNU-dialect toolchain still cannot track textual includes (the GCC filter needs awk, which native Windows lacks), but that is now reported through diag::degraded with its user-visible impact instead of being silent — and e2e 118 asserts that report fires on Windows rather than asserting a capability the platform doesn't have.

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llvm toolchain: purview #include'd file edits don't retrigger module interface rebuild (stale BMI; #235-family gap on the clang path) #257

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llvm toolchain: purview #include'd file edits don't retrigger module interface rebuild (stale BMI; #235-family gap on the clang path) #257

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Sunrisepeak commented on Jul 21, 2026

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