Skip to content
Jac Docs

Installation

Installation

Section titled “Installation”

Get Jac installed and ready to use in under 2 minutes.

Requirements

Section titled “Requirements”
  • Python 3.12+ (check with python --version)

Quick Install

Section titled “Quick Install”
pip install jaseci

The jaseci package is a meta-package that bundles all Jac ecosystem packages together. This installs:

  • jaclang - The Jac language and compiler
  • byllm - AI/LLM integration
  • jac-client - Full-stack web development
  • jac-scale - Production deployment
  • jac-super - Enhanced console output

Verify the installation:

jac --version

This also warms the cache, making subsequent commands faster.

Installation Options

Section titled “Installation Options”

Minimal Install (Language Only)

Section titled “Minimal Install (Language Only)”

If you only need the core language:

pip install jaclang

Individual Plugins

Section titled “Individual Plugins”

Install plugins as needed:

# AI/LLM integration
pip install byllm


# Full-stack web development
pip install jac-client


# Production deployment & scaling
pip install jac-scale


# Enhanced console output
pip install jac-super
Section titled “Virtual Environment (Recommended)”
# Create environment
python -m venv jac-env


# Activate it
source jac-env/bin/activate   # Linux/Mac
jac-env\Scripts\activate      # Windows


# Install Jac
pip install jaseci

IDE Setup

Section titled “IDE Setup”
Section titled “VS Code (Recommended)”

Install the official Jac extension for the best development experience:

Option 1: From Marketplace

  1. Open VS Code
  2. Click Extensions in the sidebar (or press Ctrl+Shift+X / Cmd+Shift+X)
  3. Search for “Jac”
  4. Click Install on “Jac Language Support” by Jaseci Labs

Or install directly: Open in VS Code Marketplace

Option 2: Quick Install

Press Ctrl+P / Cmd+P and paste:

ext install jaseci-labs.jaclang-extension

Features:

  • Syntax highlighting for .jac files
  • Intelligent autocomplete
  • Real-time error detection
  • Hover documentation
  • Go to definition
  • Graph visualization

Cursor

Section titled “Cursor”
  1. Download the latest .vsix from GitHub releases
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P
  3. Select “Extensions: Install from VSIX”
  4. Choose the downloaded file

Verify Installation

Section titled “Verify Installation”
jac --version

Expected output:

   _
  (_) __ _  ___     Jac Language
  | |/ _` |/ __|
  | | (_| | (__     Version:  0.X.X
 _/ |\__,_|\___|    Python 3.12.3
|__/                Platform: Linux x86_64


📚 Documentation: https://docs.jaseci.org
💬 Community:     https://discord.gg/6j3QNdtcN6
🐛 Issues:        https://github.com/Jaseci-Labs/jaseci/issues

Upgrading Jac

Section titled “Upgrading Jac”

When upgrading to a new version of Jaseci packages, clear the bytecode cache to avoid compatibility issues:

# Upgrade packages
pip install --upgrade jaseci


# Clear the global bytecode cache
jac purge

⚠️ Important: After upgrading, always run jac purge to clear stale bytecode. Skipping this step can cause errors like “No module named ‘jaclang.pycore’”, “NodeAnchor is not a valid reference”, or the setup hanging during compilation.

If you encounter issues during first-time setup or after upgrading, jac purge is your first troubleshooting step.

For Contributors

Section titled “For Contributors”

See the Contributing Guide for development setup.

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”