# How to install and build Turbo JS This guide shows how to get a working `turbo-js` binary. It assumes you have Go 1.26 or later and can use a terminal. ## The short way, from a checkout ```bash git clone ssh://git@rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-js.git cd turbo-js make install ``` That builds the editor, puts it where your shell looks for commands, and tells you what it found: the Go version it built with, where the binary went, whether that directory is on your `PATH`, and whether `typescript-language-server` — the language server — is installed. The build goes to a temporary file first, so a failed build never replaces a working installation. Then, from any Node.js project: ```bash turbo-js main.js ``` ### Options ```bash scripts/install.sh --prefix ~/bin # install somewhere of your choosing scripts/install.sh --with-server # install the language server too scripts/install.sh --uninstall # remove it again (make uninstall) scripts/install.sh --help ``` Without `--prefix`, the editor goes where `go install` would put it: `$GOBIN`, or `$GOPATH/bin` when `GOBIN` is unset — usually `~/go/bin`. `--with-server` runs `npm install -g typescript-language-server typescript@6`, so it needs `npm` — that is, Node.js; see [How to install Node.js](install-node.md). The `@6` is not optional: TypeScript 7 ships no `tsserver.js`, and a `typescript-language-server` installed beside it fails to start. The installer then checks the server by running `typescript-language-server --version` rather than trusting that the file exists, because a version manager can leave a shim on `PATH` for a Node that has since been removed. ## Just build it, without installing ```bash make build ./bin/turbo-js main.js ``` `make build` also runs `scripts/check-version.sh` on what it built, so a binary that does not report the version the build meant fails the build rather than shipping. ## From the module proxy, without a checkout ```bash go install rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-js@latest ``` If the command is then "not found", the install directory is not on your `PATH`: ```bash export PATH="$PATH:$(go env GOPATH)/bin" ``` Turbo JS has not been tagged yet, so until its first release `@latest` names the newest commit and the binary reports `devel` rather than a number; [the version number](../reference/versioning.md) explains why. ## Check it works ```bash turbo-js -version turbo-js -list-themes ``` The first names the commit the binary was built from, which is what to quote in a bug report; [the version number](../reference/versioning.md) explains what each form means. The second prints the themes compiled into the binary and tells you where your own would go. ## Variants - **You only want to run it once**: `go run rickub.com/turbo-editors/turbo-js@latest main.js` - **You want the binary somewhere specific**: `go build -o /usr/local/bin/turbo-js .` - **Your terminal has no true colour**: use `turbo-js -theme turbo-classic`, which is built from the sixteen ANSI colours only. `turbo-dark` and `borland-light` use 24-bit colours. ## When something goes wrong **`the installed binary does not run`.** The installer prints whatever the system said just above that line — read it first, because it names the actual problem. The installer replaces the binary rather than writing over the one that is there, so a reinstall gives the file a fresh identity. That matters on macOS, which caches a binary's code signature against its inode: writing new bytes into the old inode leaves the cached signature describing something else, and the kernel then refuses to run a binary that built and installed perfectly. If you have an older copy installed by something that used `cp`, removing it first clears any such state: ```bash scripts/install.sh --uninstall scripts/install.sh ``` **`Go x.y or later is needed`.** The editor is written in Go, so building it needs a Go toolchain even though it is an editor for JavaScript. The version comes from `go.mod`, so it cannot drift from what the code actually needs. **`build failed; nothing was installed`.** Your existing installation is untouched — the build goes to a temporary file first. The compiler's own output is printed above the message. **`the build did not carry its version; nothing was installed`.** The binary built but does not report the version the installer stamped into it — a linker flag naming a symbol that no longer exists, usually. Nothing is installed; the check that failed is described under [the version number](../reference/versioning.md#checked-at-build-time). **`typescript-language-server is not installed, so there will be no completion`.** Not an error: editing, colouring and themes all work without it. Install the server when you want completion — [How to enable JavaScript completion](enable-completion.md) — or re-run the installer with `--with-server`. ## Terminal requirements Turbo JS needs a terminal that reports its size and supports mouse reporting — every mainstream one does. It reads `TERM` through tcell; if the display is wrong, check that `TERM` matches your terminal (`xterm-256color` is a safe default). ## See also - Every flag: [command line reference](../reference/cli.md) - Getting completion working: [How to enable JavaScript completion](enable-completion.md) - Node.js itself: [How to install Node.js](install-node.md) - A guided first session: [Your first JavaScript program in Turbo JS](../tutorials/getting-started.md)