Set up for development

What it is

The Developer moduleAn optional set of tools for one kind of work (development, creative work, gaming, AI) that you add or remove in Settings > Modules. turns WolOS into a workstation for writing software, in one step. It adds GitA tool that keeps every version of your project's files, so you can go back and share your work. and the GitHub command line, a code editor (Code - OSS), mise (one tool that installs any version of Node, Python, Go, Rust and other languages, per project), containersA sealed box that runs a program together with everything it needs, so projects cannot disturb each other. that run without administrator rights (podman), terminalA window where you type commands instead of clicking. Super+Return opens one. tools (lazygit, btop, zellij, jq) and a programmer's font. It also adds CrystalThe programming language WolOS's own apps and tools are written in. It reads like Ruby and runs fast., the language WolOS apps are written in, with CryswolThe library that lets a program written in Crystal use WolOS: windows, notifications, files and the rest., the library that lets a Crystal program use everything WolOS offers. A module is a bundle WolOS keeps as one unit: added in one step, removed in one step.

Why

Setting up a new computer for programming usually costs a day of installing, configuring and finding out what is missing. A module makes that one tick. The base system stays small for everyone else, because the module is never ticked for you. And because Crystal and Cryswol come with it, the first app you write is a real WolOS app, not a web page in a window.

How

While you install WolOS

1. On the page "Apps for What You Do", turn on Developer Tools. You see "Code editor, Git, containers and programming languages" under it, and the download size under the list.

   

2. Finish the install. The module downloads while WolOS installs; without the internet it is added at the first start with a network.

On a WolOS that is already installed

1. Open Settings > Modules (or type "modules" in the Settings search field) and click Install next to Developer.

   

   You see a password sheet: adding packages for every account needs an administrator. Type your password and click Allow.

2. Let it finish. Right after the packages, Settings runs the part that belongs to your own account: it makes the folder ~/Work for your projects and turns on the container service for you. You see Ready next to Developer. If you see Finish Setup instead (for example when the module was added from a terminal), click it once. It changes nothing when run again.

   

   

3. Open Terminal (Super+Space, type te, Return) and check:

   crystal --version
   git --version

   You see both answer with a version number.

   

In a terminal the same two steps are:

wol modules install dev
wol modules enable dev

More tools from the Store

The Store's Develop page has editors, IDEs, database tools and a game engine, each one click.

Languages with mise

mise installs a language per project without touching the system. In a project folder:

mise use node@22
mise use [email protected]

The version is written to the project, so the next person who opens it gets the same one.

A worked example

Alice wants to try a small web project. She opens System Settings > Modules, clicks Install next to Developer Tools and types her password. When the row says Ready, she opens Terminal, types crystal --version and git --version and sees both answer with a version number. Her projects go in the new Work folder, and she opens them in the code editor. Her laptop was ready for programming in the time it took to make tea.

If something goes wrong

Related

Your first app in Crystal · The terminal and the wol command · Cryswol · Modules