Installation

This guide covers installing the Raven ecosystem.

System Dependencies

Raven requires OCaml and opam. Individual libraries may have additional dependencies:

Core Dependencies

All platforms need: 

# OCaml package manager
opam

Additional Dependencies for Hugin (Plotting)

If you plan to use Hugin for visualization, you'll also need Cairo and SDL2:

macOS 

brew install cairo sdl2

Ubuntu/Debian 

sudo apt update
sudo apt install libcairo2-dev libsdl2-dev

Other Platforms

Raven is developed primarily on macOS and Linux. Windows support requires WSL2.

OCaml and Opam Setup

Initialize opam and create a switch with the required OCaml version: 

# Initialize opam (if not already done)
opam init

# Create a new switch for Raven
opam switch create raven 5.2.0
eval $(opam env)

Installing Raven

From Opam

Once released, you'll be able to install Raven directly from opam: 

# Install the entire ecosystem
opam install raven

# Or install individual libraries
opam install nx hugin rune kaun sowilo quill

Using Raven in Your Project

After installation, add Raven libraries to your Dune project: 

; dune-project
(lang dune 3.0)
(package
 (name my_project)
 (depends
  ocaml
  dune
  nx
  hugin
  rune))

In your dune files: 

; lib/dune
(library
 (name my_lib)
 (libraries nx hugin rune))

; bin/dune  
(executable
 (public_name my_app)
 (libraries my_lib nx))

Setting up Your Editor

For the best development experience, we recommend using VS Code with the OCaml Platform extension.

VS Code Setup

  1. Install Visual Studio Code
  2. Install the OCaml Platform extension
  3. The extension will automatically detect your opam switch

Other Editors

  • Emacs: Use ocaml-eglot for modern LSP support with Eglot
  • Vim/Neovim: Use ocaml-lsp with your LSP client

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Missing system libraries: Ensure Cairo and SDL2 are installed with development headers.

Opam switch issues: Always run eval $(opam env) after creating or switching opam switches.

Build failures: Check that you're using OCaml 5.2.0 or later with ocaml --version (or dune exec -- ocaml --version with Dune).

Getting Help