We are proud to announce the release of TMS Smart Setup 2.0 — a major new version that takes Smart Setup beyond its original scope and transforms it into a universal build and installation platform for the entire Delphi ecosystem.

While Smart Setup has always been about simplifying how TMS products are installed and updated, with this new version, any developer can use Smart Setup to build, install, and manage Delphi libraries — whether open-source, commercial, or in-house projects.

A Quick Recap: What is Smart Setup?

For those who are new: TMS Smart Setup is an open-source build and installation tool for Delphi libraries and components. It automates the entire setup process — downloading dependencies, compiling packages, managing configurations — with simple commands.

It started as a tool to install TMS products reliably, but it has grown into a flexible system capable of managing any Delphi project, including open-source libraries hosted on GitHub.

Smart Setup Registry: A Community-Driven Ecosystem

One of the highlights of version 2.0 is the introduction of the Smart Setup Registry — a public repository where developers can list their own Delphi libraries to be installable via Smart Setup.

We’ve also added a new concept of Servers, allowing Smart Setup to look for packages across multiple sources. By default, a “community” server is pre-configured, pointing to the registry mentioned above. This paves the way for a collaborative ecosystem where any developer can publish their projects for others to install effortlessly.

For example, you can now install Spring4D, one of the most popular open-source libraries for Delphi, with a single command:

tms install spring4d

tmsgui: Now Fully Community-Aware

While the command-line tool has always been the core of Smart Setup, version 2.0 brings tmsgui (the Smart Setup GUI tool) to a whole new level, making it the perfect interface for managing both TMS and community libraries visually.

Here’s what’s new in tmsgui:

Fully Adapted for Community Libraries

tmsgui now integrates seamlessly with the community server. You can browse, search, and install open-source libraries just like you would with TMS products — all from the graphical interface.

Search Functionality

As the number of supported libraries grows, so does the need to find them quickly. That’s why we’ve added a search feature in tmsgui. Type in a keyword and instantly filter the list of available packages.

Server Selection

You can now select which server you want to browse. With a simple dropdown, you can list only TMS products, only community libraries, or see all available packages in one place.

Configurable Servers Dialog

Managing your package sources is easy with the new Server Configuration Dialog. From here, you can:

• Enable/disable specific servers

• Add custom servers

• Remove servers you no longer need

This is especially useful for companies who want to point to private repositories or internal servers.

Onboarding Experience

For first-time users, tmsgui now provides an Getting Started Dialog that helps configure your environment. You can choose to:

• Work exclusively with TMS products

• Use only community libraries

• Enable both environments at once

This tailoring ensures that Smart Setup is aligned with your workflow from the very beginning.

Flexible Naming Conventions and Package Structures

Previously, Smart Setup had strict rules for how packages and folders had to be named (e.g., "d11" for Delphi 11). Version 2.0 breaks that limitation.

You can now define your own naming conventions. Want your packages inside a folder named "Delphi 11" instead of "d11"? Now you can.

This flexibility ensures that Smart Setup adapts to your project’s structure, not the other way around.

Automatic Package Generation

Another major improvement is Smart Setup's ability to automatically generate package files for projects that don't have them.

For developers maintaining open-source projects — or even private libraries — this means you no longer need to manually prepare and maintain Delphi package files just to be compatible with Smart Setup. The tool can create them for you on-the-fly.

Multi-Version Compilation Made Simple

If you have a single package that needs to be compiled across multiple Delphi versions, Smart Setup 2.0 introduces a new way to handle that smoothly.

You can now structure your folders using naming patterns like "D11+", indicating that the contents should apply to Delphi 11 and all newer versions. Smart Setup will intelligently compile the package for each applicable version, eliminating redundancy.

Dcu Megafolders — Tidy Up Your Library Path

When installing tens of products, your Delphi library path can get bloated very quickly. To solve this, Smart Setup 2.0 introduces Dcu Megafolders.

With this feature, Smart Setup can consolidate the compiled DCUs of multiple products into a single folder, significantly shortening your library path and simplifying configuration in large projects.

Delphi 13 Florence Beta Support

Although still a work in progress, Smart Setup 2.0 already includes preliminary support for Delphi 13 Florence (Ganymede beta).
If you are part of the beta program, you can already start testing your components with Smart Setup and ensure compatibility with the upcoming Delphi release.

Improved Configuration & Breaking Changes

We’ve also introduced refinements to the skip registration options in the tms.config.yaml. You can now explicitly skip actions like registry entries or filelinks, giving you finer control over the installation process.

There's a new syntax (skip register: [All, -option1, -option2]) that future-proofs your configurations as new options are introduced. If you're already using skip-register configurations, we recommend reviewing them for compatibility.

Other Noteworthy Improvements

• Exe compilation settings: You can now configure whether to compile debug versions of executables and specify if you want them built with the latest or earliest Delphi version installed.

• tmsgui usability fix: The Install and Uninstall buttons are now correctly enabled when a product status is available.

• Expanded documentation: We've enhanced the official documentation to better guide developers in creating their own Smart Setup bundles and configurations.

Smart Setup 2.0 — Ready for the Entire Delphi Community

With these new features, Smart Setup 2.0 becomes not just a tool for TMS users but a foundation for the entire Delphi ecosystem. Developers can now:

• Easily install open-source libraries with a single command.

• Prepare their own projects for Smart Setup with minimal configuration.

• Manage large-scale installations with streamlined library paths and automated package generation.

What’s Next?

This is just the first post in a series where we’ll dive deeper into what Smart Setup can do. Upcoming posts will cover:

1. Smart Setup Performance — How it can install an entire ecosystem faster than ever, including comparison videos.

2. Adding Your Library to Smart Setup — A guide for developers to publish their libraries to the community registry.

3. Using Smart Setup for In-House Projects — Leveraging private repositories and zip servers for custom installations.

4. Installing Popular Delphi Libraries — Dedicated posts explaining how to install Spring4D, ZeosLib, DelphiAST, and more.

Stay tuned — we’re just getting started.

📥 Download TMS Smart Setup 2.0
👉 https://doc.tmssoftware.com/smartsetup/download

🔗 Smart Setup GitHub repository
👉 https://github.com/tmssoftware/smartsetup

📥 Official documentation
👉 https://doc.tmssoftware.com/smartsetup

—
The TMS Smart Setup Team