From d389d169b7f01006f557993b2bb1cf9a07469671 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "Scott E. Graves" <scott.e.graves@protonmail.com>
Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2025 08:57:28 -0600
Subject: [PATCH] updated README.md and bulid scripts

---
 .jenkins_builds   |  3 +++
 .jenkins_macos    |  3 +++
 .jenkins_msys2    |  3 +++
 README.md         | 20 ++++++++++++++++++--
 grab_packages.cmd | 11 +++++++++++
 5 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
 create mode 100644 grab_packages.cmd

diff --git a/.jenkins_builds b/.jenkins_builds
index 65a7d39..0771fb9 100644
--- a/.jenkins_builds
+++ b/.jenkins_builds
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ pipeline {
           }
         }
 
+        stage('grab_packages') {
+          steps { script { retryWithBackoff(2, 5) { sh 'grab_packages.sh' } } }
+        }
         stage('win32_shared') {
           steps { script { retryWithBackoff(2, 5) { sh 'scripts/test_win32.sh shared' } } }
         }
diff --git a/.jenkins_macos b/.jenkins_macos
index cbf33a2..fa9cbe7 100644
--- a/.jenkins_macos
+++ b/.jenkins_macos
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ pipeline {
           }
         }
 
+        stage('grab_packages') {
+          steps { script { retryWithBackoff(2, 5) { sh 'grab_packages.sh' } } }
+        }
         stage('macos_aarch64_shared') {
           steps {
             script { retryWithBackoff(2, 5) { sh 'scripts/test_unix.sh shared' } }
diff --git a/.jenkins_msys2 b/.jenkins_msys2
index 1151b0a..a5da47f 100644
--- a/.jenkins_msys2
+++ b/.jenkins_msys2
@@ -36,6 +36,9 @@ pipeline {
           }
         }
 
+        stage('grab_packages') {
+          steps { script { retryWithBackoff(2, 5) { sh 'grab_packages.cmd' } } }
+        }
         stage('msys2_x86_64_shared') {
           steps {
             script { retryWithBackoff(2, 5) { bat 'scripts\\test_msys2.cmd shared "" x86_64' } }
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index aa442a3..59390b0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ All builds are orchestrated through project scripts — **direct CMake invocatio
 
 ## 🚀 Getting Started
 
-### 1️⃣ Clone the Build System
+### 1 Clone the Build System
 ```bash
 git clone https://git.fifthgrid.com/sgraves/cpp-build-system.git
 git clone https://github.com/sgraves76/cpp-build-system.git
@@ -45,7 +45,23 @@ cd cpp-build-system
 
 ---
 
-### 2️⃣ Create a New Project
+### 2 Grab all packages
+Run the root-level `grab_packages.sh`/`grab_packages.cmd`
+
+Example:
+```bash
+./grab_packages.sh
+```
+
+```cmd
+grab_packages.cmd
+```
+
+This will download and validate all packages currently supported by `cpp-build-system`. They will be placed within eth `support/3rd_party/` folder.
+
+---
+
+### 3 Create a New Project
 Run the root-level `create_project.sh` with:
 1. The **project name**
 2. The **parent directory** where the new project should live
diff --git a/grab_packages.cmd b/grab_packages.cmd
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..585c745
--- /dev/null
+++ b/grab_packages.cmd
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+@echo off
+
+setlocal
+
+pushd "%~dp0"
+call src\scripts\setup_msys2.cmd
+
+call mingw64 -no-start ./grab_packages.sh
+popd
+
+endlocal