What is msvc-kit?

msvc-kit is a portable MSVC Build Tools installer and manager for Rust/Windows development. It allows you to download and use the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler without installing the full Visual Studio IDE.

Why msvc-kit?

The Problem

Building native code on Windows typically requires:

• Installing Visual Studio (several GB)
• Running the Visual Studio Installer
• Manually configuring environment variables
• Dealing with version conflicts

This is especially painful for:

• CI/CD pipelines - Installing VS takes too long
• Lightweight environments - Docker containers, VMs
• Version management - Need multiple MSVC versions
• DCC plugin development - Maya, Houdini, UE5 plugins

The Solution

msvc-kit downloads only the necessary components directly from Microsoft's servers:

# Just 3 commands
cargo install msvc-kit
msvc-kit download
msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

Features

Feature	Description
Direct Download	Downloads from Microsoft CDN, no VS Installer needed
Resumable	Interrupted downloads can be resumed
Cached	Manifests and packages are cached locally
Multi-version	Install multiple MSVC/SDK versions side by side
Multi-arch	Support x64, x86, arm64, arm targets
Library API	Use programmatically in Rust projects
Shell Scripts	Generate activation scripts for any shell

Components Downloaded

MSVC Compiler

• cl.exe - C/C++ compiler
• link.exe - Linker
• lib.exe - Static library manager
• ml64.exe - MASM assembler
• Headers and libraries

Windows SDK

• Windows headers
• Import libraries
• rc.exe - Resource compiler
• Debugging tools

Use Cases

Rust Development

msvc-kit is perfect for Rust development on Windows. The cc crate and rustc will automatically find the configured MSVC toolchain.

msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression
cargo build  # Works!

CI/CD Pipelines

# GitHub Actions example
- name: Install MSVC
  run: |
    cargo install msvc-kit
    msvc-kit download
    msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

DCC Plugin Development

Build plugins for Maya, Houdini, 3ds Max, Unreal Engine without installing Visual Studio:

msvc-kit download --msvc-version 14.38  # Match your DCC's compiler
msvc-kit setup --script --shell powershell | Invoke-Expression

Next Steps

• Getting Started - Install and first use
• Installation - Detailed installation options
• CLI Download - Download command reference