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Our build instructions assume you have a C++ development environment complete with Git, Python, Conan, CMake, and a C++ compiler. This document explains how to set one up.

Tested compiler versions

xrpld is built in the C++23 dialect by default. Make sure your toolchain is recent enough — the compiler versions currently tested in CI are:

Compiler Version
GCC 15.2
Clang 22
Apple Clang 17
MSVC 19.44

LLVM tools (clang-tidy and clang-format) are also pinned to version 22.

Older compilers may fail to build the latest develop code: the codebase now relies on C++23 features and has been adjusted for clang-tidy. If the latest code doesn't build for you, update your build toolchain first.

Linux and macOS

The recommended way to get a development environment on Linux and macOS is the Nix development shell. It provides the exact tooling used in CI — git, python, conan, cmake, clang-tidy, clang-format, and everything else — with a single command and without installing anything system-wide:

nix --experimental-features 'nix-command flakes' develop

On Linux, Nix also provides the compiler (GCC). On macOS, the shell uses your system-wide Apple Clang as the compiler, so you still need to manage its version (see below).

See Using the Nix development shell for installation and usage details, including how to select a different compiler.

Note

Using Nix is not mandatory. Any custom environment (Homebrew packages or anything else) will continue to work, but then it is up to you to keep it in sync with the environment used in CI. Nix unifies the development environment for everyone and synchronizes updates, which is why we recommend it.

macOS: managing the Apple Clang version

Because the Nix shell uses the system-wide Apple Clang on macOS, the compiler version is whatever your installed Xcode (or Command Line Tools) provides. The following command should return a version greater than or equal to the minimum required:

clang --version

If you develop other applications using Xcode, you might be consistently updating to the newest version of Apple Clang, which will likely cause issues building xrpld. You may want to install and pin a specific version of Xcode:

  1. Download Xcode

    • Visit Apple Developer Downloads
    • Sign in with your Apple Developer account
    • Search for an Xcode version that includes the expected Apple Clang version
    • Download the .xip file

  2. Install and configure Xcode

    # Extract the .xip file and rename for version management
# Example: Xcode_16.2.app

# Move to Applications directory
sudo mv Xcode_16.2.app /Applications/

# Set as default toolchain (persistent)
sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode_16.2.app/Contents/Developer

# Set as environment variable (temporary)
export DEVELOPER_DIR=/Applications/Xcode_16.2.app/Contents/Developer

Windows

Nix is not available on Windows, so the required tools have to be installed manually:

Note

Windows is used for development only and is not recommended for production.

Clang-tidy

clang-tidy is required to run static analysis checks locally (see CONTRIBUTING.md). It is not required to build the project. This project currently uses clang-tidy version 22.

On Linux and macOS, the Nix development shell provides clang-tidy 22 out of the box — run it via run-clang-tidy. No separate installation is needed.