Skip to main content

Install the SDK

The SDK (Software Development Kit) is what lets you build and preview apps on your own computer. Getting set up takes about 5 minutes.

You'll do everything from a terminal, a text window where you type commands.

How to open a terminal
  • Windows: press the Windows key, type powershell, and press Enter.
  • macOS: press Cmd + Space, type terminal, and press Enter.
  • Linux: open your Terminal app (often Ctrl + Alt + T).

A window opens with a blinking cursor. That's where every command on this page goes, one line at a time, each followed by Enter.

1. Requirements​

  • Python 3.9 or newer
  • Git (or use GitHub's "Download ZIP", shown below)

Installing Python​

Download it from the official site. It's a normal installer:

python.org/downloads

Windows: tick "Add python.exe to PATH"

On the first screen of the Python installer, tick "Add python.exe to PATH" before you click Install:

Add python.exe to PATH

If you miss it, Windows won't find python or gdn, and nothing below will work. (If you already installed without it, just re-run the installer and check the box.)

  • macOS: run the .pkg installer, or brew install python.
  • Linux: usually already installed, otherwise sudo apt install python3 python3-pip.

Open a new terminal window (so it picks up the new PATH) and check it worked:

python --version

You should see Python 3.9 or newer. On macOS/Linux, try python3 --version if python isn't found.

2. Get the code​

Your apps are folders inside the GDN repository, so start by downloading it:

git clone https://github.com/iampluto954/glance-dev-network.git
cd glance-dev-network

No Git? On the GitHub page, click Code, then Download ZIP, unzip it, then open a terminal in that folder.

3. Install gdn​

From the repository folder you just entered, run:

pip install -e .

That single command also downloads everything GDN needs (Pillow, Flask, PyYAML, and a few others) automatically, so there's no separate list of packages to install by hand.

Then check it works:

gdn version

You should see gdn 0.1.0. You now have the toolkit: gdn studio, gdn new, gdn preview, and more. See them all in the CLI commands guide.

Troubleshooting​

  • "pip is not recognized" try python -m pip install -e . (or py -m pip install -e . on Windows).
  • "gdn is not recognized" close and reopen your terminal first. If it still fails, python -m gdn version always works. On Windows this almost always means the "Add python.exe to PATH" checkbox was missed, re-run the Python installer and tick it.
  • "attempted relative import with no known parent package" you typed python studio.py by hand from inside the gdn folder. Open Studio with gdn studio from the project folder instead, or double-click the launcher for your system (studio.bat, studio.command, or studio.sh). See Opening Glance Dev Studio.
  • Permission errors on install add --user, or use a virtual environment:
python -m venv .venv
# Windows:  .venv\Scripts\activate
# macOS/Linux:  source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e .

Next​

Head to Getting started. You'll have a working app on screen in about five minutes.