How to dynamically configure Unreal Engine include paths in CMake for external projects?

Question

I’m working on a C++ application that integrates with Unreal Engine 5.5 libraries. I want to dynamically configure the Unreal Engine include paths in my CMake setup without hardcoding the engine directory (e.g., /home/user/UnrealEngine5.5). This is to make the project more portable across systems and installations.

What I’ve Tried:

I wrote a FindUnreal.cmake module that hardcodes the paths:

set(UNREAL_INCLUDE_DIRS
   ${UNREAL_ENGINE_DIR}/Engine/Source
   ${UNREAL_ENGINE_DIR}/Engine/Source/Runtime
   ${UNREAL_ENGINE_DIR}/Engine/Source/ThirdParty

)

set(UNREAL_LIBRARY_DIRS
   ${UNREAL_ENGINE_DIR}/Engine/Binaries/Linux
)

file(GLOB UNREAL_LIBRARIES "${UNREAL_LIBRARY_DIRS}/*.so")
if (NOT UNREAL_LIBRARIES)
   message(FATAL_ERROR "No Unreal Engine libraries found in: ${UNREAL_LIBRARY_DIRS}")
endif ()

in the CMakelists.txt

include_directories(
   src/
   ${UNREAL_INCLUDE_DIRS}
)

While this works, it’s not portable. I’d like to dynamically discover these paths, perhaps using find_path() or environment variables.

I attempted using an environment variable (UE_ENGINE_DIR) to specify the engine root, but I'm unsure how to recursively add all the required include paths.

Question:

• How can I dynamically discover and configure Unreal Engine include paths in CMake?
• Is there a standard or best practice for integrating external projects with Unreal Engine headers and libraries?

Additional Context:

I’ve verified that Unreal Engine is installed in /home/user/UnrealEngine5.5. The relevant header files (CoreMinimal.h, Containers/Array.h) are located under Engine/Source/Runtime/Core/Public. However, due to missing include paths for dependencies like CoreTypes.h, the build fails unless I manually add these paths to CMakeLists.txt.

Any advice or examples would be greatly appreciated!