Environment Setup

Every example in this section assumes gen is on your PATH. Pick one of the two installation paths below.

Native toolchain (macOS)

Recommended · Download the GEN binaries locally and run them directly. Thoroughly tested on Apple Silicon.

Devcontainer

Fallback · Run inside a Docker container. Use when ARM-based macOS isn’t available.

Heads-up — Devcontainers have proven less reliable in past workshops. If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, pick the native path.

Native toolchain (macOS)
Devcontainer (fallback)

Install and sign in to the GitHub CLI

brew install gh
gh auth login
gh auth setup-git

Follow the wizard to authenticate.

Download the GEN CLI (cargo-genie)

For Apple Silicon (arm64):

mkdir -p ~/bin
gh release download v0.14.0 -R gen-bc/gen-framework-preview -O ~/bin/gen -p "gen-darwin-arm64"
chmod +x ~/bin/gen

Add ~/bin to your PATH

export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
export GEN_CLI_PATH=~/bin/gen

Install Rust

Required for the optional Rust SDK examples in later lessons:

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

Restart your terminal after installation so the new PATH and Rust environment take effect.

Install the rest of the toolchain

cargo-genie can verify and install the RISC-V target, linker, and objcopy for you:

gen genie install-env --install

Verify

gen --version

Should print v0.14.0 (or later).

Checkpoint — gen --version works. You’re ready for the first lesson.

Install and sign in to the GitHub CLI

brew install gh
gh auth login
gh auth setup-git

Install Docker Desktop

Download from docker.com, then verify:

docker --version
docker info

Create your workspace

mkdir gen-cli-work && cd gen-cli-work
git init

Download and extract the devcontainer asset

gh release download v0.7.0 -R gen-bc/gen-framework-preview -p "devcontainer.tar.gz"
tar -xzf devcontainer.tar.gz && rm devcontainer.tar.gz

Set GH_TOKEN

export GH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)
echo 'export GH_TOKEN=$(gh auth token)' >> ~/.zshrc

Start working

From your IDE (VS Code or Cursor, with the Dev Containers extension):

code .
# or
cursor .

Then click Reopen in Container.Or from the terminal:

npm install -g @devcontainers/cli
devcontainer up --workspace-folder .
devcontainer exec --workspace-folder . bash

Checkpoint — you’re at a shell inside the container with gen on the PATH. gen --version should print v0.14.0-compatible output.

What’s next

Your first account

Two commands to a working on-chain identity.

Native toolchain (macOS)

Devcontainer

​What’s next

Your first account

What’s next