Installation

Installation

Note: The Kairo compiler is currently in alpha. It is written in C++ and is not yet feature-complete. We’re actively working on a self-hosted compiler written in Kairo itself.

For Users

Download a pre-built binary from GitHub Releases.

macOS / Linux

# Download and extract
curl -L https://github.com/kairolang/kairo-lang/releases/latest/download/kairo-linux.tar.gz | tar xz

# Add to PATH
export PATH=$PATH:~/kairo/bin

Or use the installer script:

curl -fsSL https://kairolang.org/install.sh | bash

Windows

Download kairo-windows.zip from releases, extract to C:\Kairo, and add C:\Kairo\bin to your PATH environment variable.

Or via PowerShell:

irm https://kairolang.org/install.ps1 | iex

Verify Installation

kairo --version
# Kairo version 0.1.0-alpha

For Contributors (Build from Source)

Prerequisites

  • GCC 11+ / Clang 12+ / MSVC 19.29+
  • Xmake build tool
  • Python 3.x (for build scripts)
  • Git

Build

git clone https://github.com/kairolang/kairo-lang.git
cd kairo-lang
xmake build -j8 -v

Build time is approximately 20–30 minutes on an 8-core machine.

Run Tests

xmake run tests
xmake run helix -h

Install Locally

xmake install -o ~/.local

Editor Support

VS Code

Install the Kairo Language Extension from the marketplace for syntax highlighting and LSP integration.

Neovim / Vim

Use the kairo.vim syntax plugin, available at kairolang/kairo.vim.

Other Editors

The Kairo LSP (kairo-lsp) ships with the compiler and works with any editor that supports the Language Server Protocol.

Troubleshooting

Command not found after install?

Make sure ~/.kairo/bin (or your install directory) is in your PATH.

Build fails?

Ensure you have a recent C++ compiler. Check the GitHub Issues for known build problems.