catkin init – Initialize a Workspace

The init verb is the simplest way to “initialize” a catkin workspace so that it can be automatically detected automatically by other verbs which need to know the location of the workspace root.

This verb does not store any configuration information, but simply creates the hidden .catkin_tools directory in the specified workspace. If you want to initialize a workspace simultaneously with an initial config, see the --init option for the config verb.

Catkin workspaces can be initialized anywhere. The only constraint is that catkin workspaces cannot contain other catkin workspaces. If you call catkin init and it reports an error saying that the given directory is already contained in a workspace, you can call catkin config to determine the root of that workspace.

Full Command-Line Interface

usage: catkin init [-h] [--workspace WORKSPACE] [--reset]

Initializes a given folder as a catkin workspace.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --workspace WORKSPACE, -w WORKSPACE
                        The path to the catkin_tools workspace or a directory
                        contained within it (default: ".")
  --reset               Reset (delete) all of the metadata for the given
                        workspace.