Installing development tools

Set up Clarinet and VS Code for Stacks development.


Get your development environment ready with Clarinet and the VS Code extension. These tools provide everything you need to write, test, and deploy smart contracts.

Install Clarinet

Terminal
$
brew install clarinet

Verify installation:

Terminal
$
clarinet --version
clarinet-cli 2.10.0

Install VS Code extension

Terminal
$
code --install-extension hirosystems.clarity-lsp

Or install from VS Code: Extensions panel → Search "Clarity" → Install

Configuration options

SettingCommandDescription
Shell completionsclarinet completions <shell>Enable tab completion for commands
Update Clarinetbrew upgrade clarinetGet the latest version (macOS)
Extension settingsVS Code Settings → ClarityConfigure formatter, linting

Test your environment

Verify your setup is working correctly:

Terminal
$
clarinet new my-test && cd my-test
Created directory my-test
Created file Clarinet.toml
$
clarinet contract new counter
Created file contracts/counter.clar
Created file tests/counter.test.ts
$
npm run test
0 passed | 0 failed

Common issues

For detailed VS Code features, see the extension guide.