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Did you know we recommend Node 12.x in our macOS setup docs? Neither did I. Let's stop doing that.
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Setting Up Development Dependencies on macOS
You will need to install these tools on your machine:
- Node.js
- Yarn
- Python 3
- Xcode and Xcode Command Line Tools (Xcode -> Preferences -> Downloads)
Node.js
Let's see if you have the right version of node
installed. Open a terminal and run this command inside the Desktop source directory:
$ node -v
If you see an error about being unable to find node
, that probably means you don't have any Node tools installed. You can download Node from the Node.js website, install the package, and restart your shell.
You can verify that your installed version matches the one currently used by GitHub Desktop by looking at our .node-version file. Usually the same major version is enough but if you're running into problems building Desktop please try installing that exact version.
I need to use different versions of Node.js in different projects!
We currently support these Node version managers: nvm
and asdf-nodejs
.
Configuring nvm
-
Install
nvm
using the instructions here. -
Within the Desktop source directory, install version of Node.js it requires:
$ nvm install
- Ensure you are running the right version:
$ nvm use
- Verify you have the right version by running
node -v
again:
$ node -v
If you see any version number, you're good to go.
Configuring asdf-nodejs
asdf
is a little more involved to install. Check out the instructions here and here for more information.
Yarn
Follow this guide to install
a system-level yarn
. GitHub Desktop uses a local version of yarn
, but it
needs a version on your PATH
to bootstrap itself.
This is important because yarn
uses lock files to pin dependencies. If you
find yourself changing packages, this will prevent mismatches in versions
between machines.
If you're not familiar with yarn
, please read this document
to help familiarize yourself with how to do the common package tasks that are
relevant to Desktop.
Python
macOS comes with Python pre-installed, and it happens to be the right version, so you're probably fine! But let's be sure. Open a terminal and run this command inside the Desktop source directory:
$ python3 --version
If you see the output Python 3.9.x
, you're good to go!
I need to use different versions of Python in different projects!
For this, we recommend pyenv. (It's the only game in town.)
-
Install pyenv according to the instructions.
-
Within the Desktop source directory, install version of Python it requires:
pyenv install
- Verify you have the right version by running
python3 --version
again:
$ python3 --version
If you see the output Python 3.9.x
, you're good to go!
Xcode Command Line Tools
Run this command to install the Xcode command line tools.
xcode-select --install
If you already have them, it'll say so!
Back to setup
Once you've installed the necessary dependencies, head back to the setup page to finish getting set up.