cpptrace

cpptrace is a small C++17 debugging helper for explicitly tracked variables. It records when tracked objects are created, assigned, read explicitly, and destroyed, with typed value snapshots, thread ids, monotonic sequence numbers, and JSON export.

Quick Start

#include "cpptrace/trace.hpp"

int raw = 10;
auto traced = CPPTRACE_WRAP(raw);
CPPTRACE_SET(traced, 20);

CPPTRACE_VAR(name, std::string("cpptrace"));
CPPTRACE_SET(name, std::string("cpptrace-v1"));

for (const auto& event : cpptrace::events()) {
    // inspect event.old_value.text and event.new_value.text
}

For new values, prefer cpptrace::var<T> or CPPTRACE_VAR. For existing variables, use cpptrace::trace_var or CPPTRACE_WRAP. Heap-owned values can use cpptrace::box<T>. Pointer rebinding and controlled pointee writes can use cpptrace::ptr<T>.

Boundary

This is not compiler instrumentation. It cannot see raw writes that bypass the wrapper: naked references, naked pointers, memcpy, external libraries, or untracked container elements. In C++17, operator assignments also cannot capture caller source locations automatically; use CPPTRACE_SET or pass CPPTRACE_HERE to set() when location matters.