# auto increment project versions
**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/auto-increment-project-versions/3250
**Category:** Code
**Created:** [May 3, 2021, 10:15am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/auto-increment-project-versions/3250 "2021-05-03T10:15:12Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hex](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/hex)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2021, 10:15am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/auto-increment-project-versions/3250/1 "2021-05-03T10:15:12Z")
how can project versions be incremented automatically? `project()` must be called directly so i cannot generate and include it later. What i can do is set the project version seperately.
Do i have to set all variants of
CMAKE\_PROJECT\_VERSION
PROJECT\_VERSION
MyProj\_VERSION
for major, minor, etc or is there a more direct way to do it?
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### Author:  [@fenrir](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/fenrir)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2021, 10:25am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/auto-increment-project-versions/3250/2 "2021-05-03T10:25:57Z")
You can still do stuff before a call to `project()` if memory serves, it should be possible to, for example, load the version from file to a variable and use that in a call to `project()`.
Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.
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### Author:  [@craig.scott](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/craig.scott)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2021, 11:58am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/auto-increment-project-versions/3250/3 "2021-05-03T11:58:39Z")
You can definitely do this. In fact, Qt6 does exactly this.