dpkg-buildapi(1)

dpkg-buildapi(1) dpkg suite dpkg-buildapi(1)

NAME

dpkg-buildapi - returns the build API level to use during package build

SYNOPSIS

dpkg-buildapi [option...] [command]

DESCRIPTION

dpkg-buildapi is a tool to retrieve the dpkg-build-api(7) level to use during build of source Debian packages.

This program was introduced in dpkg 1.22.0.

COMMANDS

--help
Show the usage message and exit.
--version
Show the version and exit.

OPTIONS

-ccontrol-file
Specifies the main source control file to read information from. The default is debian/control.

ENVIRONMENT

DPKG_BUILD_API
The build API level to use. This is intended to be used internally by the tools executed from debian/rules to avoid having to parse debian/control multiple times, and not to set the global build API level from debian/rules, otherwise build drivers (such as dpkg-buildpackage(1)) cannot access it.
DPKG_COLORS
Sets the color mode. The currently accepted values are: auto (default), always and never.
DPKG_NLS
If set, it will be used to decide whether to activate Native Language Support, also known as internationalization (or i18n) support. The accepted values are: 0 and 1 (default).

FILES

Packaging support

/usr/share/dpkg/buildapi.mk
Makefile snippet that parses the build API level into a variable.
2026-01-23 1.23.5