developer-setup.md

Developer Setup

This project is still under active development, so the app is not ready for normal use yet.

Prerequisites

• JBR 25 / JDK 25 — the ui module is configured to use Java 25.
• Rust toolchain — install Rust with rustup so rustc and cargo are available on your PATH.
• Cargo — used to build the native core-native module.
• Visual Studio Build Tools — install the C++ workload and Windows SDK for native Rust builds on Windows.
• Git — for cloning the repository.

Suggested Windows install steps

• Install JBR 25 through JetBrains Toolbox or another JDK 25 distribution, then point IntelliJ IDEA's Gradle JVM to it.
• Install Rust with rustup, then make sure the MSVC toolchain is selected:

rustup default stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
rustup target add x86_64-pc-windows-msvc

• In Visual Studio Installer, add Desktop development with C++ and the Windows 10/11 SDK.

Recommended local tooling

• Use the Gradle wrapper that ships with the repo (gradlew.bat on Windows).
• In IntelliJ IDEA, point the project/Gradle JVM to JBR 25 so the toolchain matches the build.

Credentials

Gradle can read GitHub Packages credentials from any of these sources:

1. Environment variables: GITHUB_USERNAME and GITHUB_TOKEN
2. Gradle properties: gpr.user and gpr.key
3. A local .env file copied from .env.example

The .env file is optional, but it is the easiest local fallback.

Verify your install

Run these commands in PowerShell:

rustc --version
cargo --version
java -version

If you are using IntelliJ IDEA, confirm that the Gradle JVM is set to JBR 25.

First-time setup

git clone <repo-url>
cd ArkAscendedServerManager
Copy-Item .env.example .env
# Edit .env if you need GitHub Packages credentials

Build

.\gradlew.bat build

The core-native module will invoke Cargo automatically during the build.

Notes

• If Cargo cannot find the native toolchain, make sure the MSVC C++ build tools are installed.
• If dependency resolution fails for GitHubPackages, check that both credential values are set.