Installation

This chapter covers how to install Rendezvous and set up your environment for effective Clarity contract testing.

What's Inside

Prerequisites

Standard Installation

Global Installation

Development/Contribution Installation

Verifying Your Installation

Project Setup

Troubleshooting Installation Issues

Uninstalling Rendezvous

Next Steps

Prerequisites

Before installing Rendezvous, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

  • Node.js: Rendezvous supports Node.js versions 18, 20, and 22. Other versions may work but are untested.
  • Clarinet: You need a Clarinet project to use Rendezvous. If you don't have Clarinet installed, follow the official Clarinet installation guide.

Standard Installation

To install Rendezvous as a dependency in your project, use npm:

npm install @stacks/rendezvous

This will add Rendezvous to your project's node_modules and update your package.json.

Global Installation

If you prefer to install Rendezvous globally so it's available across all your projects, use:

npm install -g @stacks/rendezvous

With a global installation, you can run the rv command from any directory without prefixing it with npx.

Development/Contribution Installation

If you want to contribute to Rendezvous or run it from source:

  1. Clone the repository:

    git clone https://github.com/stacks-network/rendezvous.git

  2. Navigate to the project directory:

    cd rendezvous

  3. Install dependencies:

    npm install

  4. Build the project:

    npm run build

  5. Link the package globally (optional):

    npm link

Verifying Your Installation

After installing Rendezvous, verify that it's working correctly:

npx rv --help

Or if installed globally:

rv --help

You should see the current version of Rendezvous displayed.

Project Setup

For Rendezvous to work properly, your Clarinet project should have the following structure:

my-project/
├── Clarinet.toml
├── contracts/
│   ├── my-contract.clar       # Your contract implementation.
│   ├── my-contract.tests.clar # Tests for your contract.
└── settings/
    └── Devnet.toml

Key points to note:

  1. The test file (my-contract.tests.clar) must be in the same directory as the contract it tests.
  2. The test file name must match the pattern {contract-name}.tests.clar.
  3. A valid Clarinet.toml file must exist at the project root.

Troubleshooting Installation Issues

Common Issues and Solutions

Node.js Version Conflicts

If you encounter errors related to Node.js versions, ensure you're using a supported version (18, 20, or 22).

node --version

Package Not Found

If the rv command isn't found after installation:

  1. For local installation, use npx rv instead of just rv.
  2. For global installation, ensure your npm global binaries directory is in your PATH.

Clarinet Project Not Recognized

If Rendezvous cannot find your Clarinet project:

  1. Ensure you're running the command from the correct directory.
  2. Verify that your Clarinet.toml file exists and is properly formatted.
  3. Check that your contract and test files are correctly named and located.

Permission Issues

If you encounter permission errors when installing globally, consider using a solution like nvm to manage Node.js installations without requiring elevated permissions.

Uninstalling Rendezvous

If you need to uninstall Rendezvous, the process depends on how you initially installed it.

Removing a Local Installation

To remove Rendezvous from a specific project:

npm uninstall @stacks/rendezvous

This will remove the package from your project's node_modules directory and update your package.json.

Removing a Global Installation

To remove a globally installed version of Rendezvous:

npm uninstall -g @stacks/rendezvous

Removing a Development Installation

If you installed from source:

  1. If you linked the package globally, unlink it first:

    npm unlink -g @stacks/rendezvous

  2. You can then remove the cloned repository directory:

    rm -rf path/to/rendezvous

Next Steps

Now that you have Rendezvous installed, you're ready to start testing your Clarity contracts. In the next chapter, we'll cover how to use Rendezvous effectively with detailed usage examples.