Prerequisites

Building or developing on base/base requires Rust, Just, Foundry, a C/C++ toolchain, and optionally Docker. Instructions below target Linux (Debian/Ubuntu); macOS users can substitute brew install where applicable.

Rust

The project requires Rust 1.88 or later. The recommended way to install and manage Rust toolchains is through rustup:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh

Follow the on-screen prompts and then reload your shell:

source "$HOME/.cargo/env"

Verify the installed version:

rustc --version
# rustc 1.88.0 (or later)

If you already have Rust installed, make sure it is up to date:

rustup update

Just

Just is a command runner used throughout the project for build, test, and devnet workflows. Install it with one of:

# Using cargo (works everywhere Rust is installed)
cargo install just

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install just

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install just

Confirm the installation:

just --version

Foundry

Foundry is required for compiling the Solidity test contracts used by several crates. Install via the official installer:

curl -L https://foundry.paradigm.xyz | bash

Then run:

foundryup

This gives you forge, cast, anvil, and chisel. Verify with:

forge --version

Build Essentials

A standard C/C++ toolchain and a few system libraries are needed to compile native dependencies:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git libclang-dev pkg-config curl build-essential

# macOS (Xcode Command Line Tools provide clang and related headers)
xcode-select --install
brew install pkg-config

Docker (Optional)

Docker is only required if you plan to build container images or run the local devnet. Install Docker Engine by following the official instructions for your platform, or on Ubuntu:

sudo apt install -y docker.io
sudo systemctl enable --now docker
sudo usermod -aG docker "$USER"

Log out and back in for the group change to take effect, then verify:

docker --version
docker compose version

The devnet uses Docker Compose (the docker compose plugin, not the legacy docker-compose binary).

Quick Check

Once everything is installed, you can run a quick sanity check from the repository root:

rustc --version && cargo --version && just --version && forge --version && git --version

All five commands should succeed and print version information. With these prerequisites in place, proceed to Building from Source.