colcon-workspace

What problem does it solve?

Coordinating builds, tests, and overlays for ROS 2 projects across multiple packages can be slow, error-prone, and hard to reproduce. This Skill provides a structured workflow to create, manage, and optimize colcon workspaces, including strategies for using --symlink-install, selective builds, and workspace overlays to speed development and maintain consistency.

Core Features & Use Cases

• Create and structure ros2_ws with src/, build, install, and log directories.
• Build efficiently with --symlink-install, selective builds, and overlay management.
• Manage workspace overlays across multiple ROS 2 installations or source spaces.
• Provide guidance on common mistakes and complete development workflow.
• Example: set up a multi-package workspace and reproduce builds across machines.

Quick Start

Create a ROS 2 workspace folder (e.g., ros2_ws) with a src directory, then run colcon build --symlink-install and source install/setup.bash to start using it.