Currently it's only possible to provide a DEPFILE option to add_custom_command when using Ninja. https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/merge_requests/66 Relevant issue: https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/issues/15479 The other generators should also support that option. I'm thinking specifically of Ninja Multi-Config (haven't tested), Unix Makefiles, and if possible Visual Studio and Xcode.