Supported tool versions
Last updated: October 13, 2026
At the time of the last major updates to the Gcov plugin, the following notes on version compatibility were known to be accurate.
Keep in mind that for proper functioning, you do not necessarily need to install all the tooks the Gcov plugin works with. Depending on configuration options documented in later sections, any of the following tool combinations may be sufficient for your needs:
gcovgcov+gcovrgcov+reportgeneratorgcov+gcovr+reportgenerator
gcov
The Gcov plugin is known to work with gcov packaged with GNU Compiler
Collection 12 through at least 15.
The maintainers of gcov introduced significant behavioral changes for
version 12. Previous versions of gcov had a simple exit code scheme with only a
single non-zero exit code upon fatal errors. Since version 12 gcov emits a
variety of exit codes even if the noted issue is a non-fatal error. The Gcov
plugin's logic assumes version 12 behavior and processes failure messages and
exit codes appropriately, taking into account plugin configuration options.
The Gcov plugin should be compatible with versions of gcov before version 12.
That is, its improved gcov exit handling should not be broken by the prior
simpler behavior. The Gcov plugin dependes on the gcov command line and has
been compatible with it as far back as gcov version 7.
Because long file paths are quite common in software development scenarios, by
default, the Gcov plugin depends on the gcov -x flag. This flag hashes long
file paths to ensure they are not a problem for certain platforms' file
systems. This flag became available with gcov version 7. We do not recommend
using gcov version 6 and earlier. And, in fact, because of the Gcov plugin's
dependence on the gcov -x flag, attempting to use it will fail.
GNU Compiler Collection 14 introduced support for Modified Condition/Decision
Coverage (MC/DC). For this reason, the Gcov plugin's own :mcdc option (see
Setup) explicitly checks for GCC 14+. The plugin raises a clear
error if running against an older GCC with :mcdc enabled. This GCC-version
dependency is specific to :mcdc; it does not otherwise affect how the
plugin processes coverage.
gcovr
The Gcov plugin is known to work with gcovr 5.2 through gcovr 8.x. The
Gcov plugin supports gcovr command line conventions since version 4.2 and
attempts to support gcovr command lines before version 4.2. We recommend
using gcovr 5 and later.
Several :gcovr options and report types depend on a minimum gcovr version, checked and
enforced by this plugin (see GCovr Configuration for each
option's own details):
| Option | Minimum gcovr version |
|---|---|
:decisions |
5.1 |
:merge_mode_function |
6.0 (ignored for earlier versions) |
:fail_under_decision |
7.0 |
JaCoCo report |
7.0 |
lcov report |
7.0 (gcovr only; ReportGenerator has no minimum) |
:mcdc |
8.0 |
gcovr 7.0 also deprecated :branches, :sort_uncovered, and
:sort_percentage's underlying flags in favor of renamed equivalents; the
plugin automatically uses whichever form of arguments your installed gcovr
expects but each is enabled with the keys documented.
reportgenerator
The Gcov plugin is known to work with reportgenerator 5.2.4. The command line
for executing reportgenerator that the Gcov plugin relies on has largely been
stable since version 4. We recommend using reportgenerator 5.0 and later.
Unlike gcovr, the plugin does not detect the installed reportgenerator
version or gate any option on it.