This command is the primary way to manage your identity when interacting with remote repositories (like ConanCenter or a private Artifactory).
| Problem | Solution | |---------|----------| | "My library found the wrong header version!" | Set transitive_headers=True only for libs that actually expose headers; use CMakeDeps to isolate include paths. | | "Conan recompiles everything every time." | Check your profile’s settings (e.g., compiler.cppstd ). Change any setting → new binary ID. Use --build=missing instead of --build=always . | | "I need a system lib, not Conan’s copy." | Use system_package_version or mark the dependency as system in your recipe. | | "The Conan 1.x vs 2.x migration scares me." | Start with conan new cmake_exe -d name=mypkg -d version=0.1 (Conan 2 style). Run conan install with --version=2.0 gradually. | conan user
: / @ / (e.g., poco/1.9.4@pocoproject/stable ). This command is the primary way to manage
: Managing authentication for private repositories. For example, a user can log in to a remote server using the command conan user -p -r to access proprietary company packages. Change any setting → new binary ID
It is instantaneous. The command sends a lightweight request to the remote registry to validate credentials. There is no "fat client" lag here; it validates the user and updates the local cache token immediately.
For senior users, the focus shifts to . This involves writing recipes that describe how to build a library from source and package it for others. Advanced users also explore Lockfiles , which pin every single dependency (and their dependencies) to a specific version, providing 100% reproducible builds.
In Conan package references, the "user" is a mandatory part of the package ID (for Conan 1.x and some 2.x manual packages) that acts as a namespace to prevent naming collisions.