Skip to main content

Installation

Prerequisites​

  • Git
  • Rust toolchain (for building from source)

Install from Source​

Build the lean onboarding wrapper first if your goal is the first-contract local flow:

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/modality-org/modality.git
cd modality/rust

# Build the first-contract onboarding CLI
cargo build --release -p modal --no-default-features --features contract-onboarding

# Add to path
export PATH="$PATH:$(pwd)/target/release"

# Verify installation
modal --help

The lean wrapper includes modal contract and modal id commands without the network, hub, node, predicate, or program surfaces.

Build the full wrapper when you need those broader command groups:

# Clone the repo
git clone https://github.com/modality-org/modality.git
cd modality/rust

# Build the full CLI
cargo build --release -p modal

# Add to path
export PATH="$PATH:$(pwd)/target/release"

# Verify installation
modal --version

Development Builds​

The Modal CLI is split into domain crates for faster incremental builds. When working on a specific area, build only that crate:

cd modality/rust

# Hub server work
cargo build -p modal-cli-hub

# Contract commands (lean default: no libp2p, wasmtime, or modality-lang)
cargo build -p modal-cli-contract

# Contract commands with all optional deps (P2P push/pull, model status, WASM upload)
cargo build -p modal-cli-contract --features full

# Program commands with WASM validation
cargo build -p modal-cli-program --features full

# Network info only (very lean: modal-networks + clap)
cargo build -p modal-cli-net

# Node management
cargo build -p modal-cli-node

# Predicate, program, chain, or network commands
cargo build -p modal-cli-predicate
cargo build -p modal-cli-program
cargo build -p modal-cli-chain
cargo build -p modal-cli-net

# Lean first-contract wrapper
cargo build -p modal --no-default-features --features contract-onboarding

# Full CLI (for integration testing)
cargo build -p modal

Verify Installation​

modal --help

For the lean onboarding wrapper, you should see the first-contract command surface, including:

contract   Contract related commands
id         ID and key related commands
passfile   Passfile related commands
status     Show status
commit     Commit changes
set        Set a state file value

You should not see the full runtime command groups such as hub, node, predicate, program, or chain unless you built the full wrapper.

For the full wrapper, modal --help should also include broader runtime commands such as:

modal - Modality CLI

USAGE:
    modal <COMMAND>

COMMANDS:
    contract   Contract management
    id         Identity management
    predicate  Predicate operations
    node       Network node operations
    hub        Contract hub operations
    help       Print help