Installation

This guide covers installing the JACS Rust CLI and library.

Requirements

Rust: Version 1.93 or later (Edition 2024)
Cargo: Included with Rust installation

Verify Rust Version

rustc --version
# Should show rustc 1.93.0 or later

If you need to update Rust:

rustup update stable

Installing the CLI

From crates.io (Recommended)

cargo install jacs --features cli

From Source

git clone https://github.com/HumanAssisted/JACS
cd JACS/jacs
cargo install --path . --features cli

Verify Installation

jacs --help

Using as a Library

Add JACS to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
jacs = "0.3"

With Optional Features

JACS supports several optional features for observability and integrations:

[dependencies]
# Basic library usage
jacs = "0.3"

# With OpenTelemetry logging
jacs = { version = "0.3", features = ["otlp-logs"] }

# With OpenTelemetry metrics
jacs = { version = "0.3", features = ["otlp-metrics"] }

# With OpenTelemetry tracing
jacs = { version = "0.3", features = ["otlp-tracing"] }

# With all observability features
jacs = { version = "0.3", features = ["otlp-logs", "otlp-metrics", "otlp-tracing"] }

Available Features

Feature	Description
`cli`	Enables CLI binary build with clap and ratatui
`otlp-logs`	OpenTelemetry Protocol logging backend
`otlp-metrics`	OpenTelemetry Protocol metrics backend
`otlp-tracing`	OpenTelemetry Protocol distributed tracing
`observability-convenience`	Helper wrappers for metrics and logging
`mcp-server`	Model Context Protocol server integration surface

Platform Support

JACS supports the following platforms:

Platform	Architecture	Support
Linux	x86_64, aarch64	Full support
macOS	x86_64, aarch64	Full support
Windows	x86_64	Full support
WebAssembly	wasm32	Partial (no post-quantum crypto, limited storage)

WebAssembly Notes

When targeting WebAssembly, some features are unavailable:

Post-quantum cryptographic algorithms (pq-dilithium)
File system storage backend
HTTP-based remote operations

Configuration

After installation, initialize JACS:

# Create configuration and agent in one step
jacs init

This creates:

~/.jacs/jacs.config.json - Configuration file
Cryptographic keys for your agent
Initial agent document

Manual Configuration

Alternatively, create configuration and agent separately:

# Create configuration only
jacs config create

# Create agent with keys
jacs agent create --create-keys true

Environment Variables

JACS respects the following environment variables:

Variable	Description	Default
`JACS_CONFIG_PATH`	Path to configuration file	`./jacs.config.json`
`JACS_USE_SECURITY`	Enable/disable security features	`true`
`JACS_DATA_DIRECTORY`	Directory for document storage	`./jacs_data`
`JACS_KEY_DIRECTORY`	Directory for cryptographic keys	`./jacs_keys`
`JACS_DEFAULT_STORAGE`	Storage backend (`fs`, `memory`)	`fs`
`JACS_AGENT_KEY_ALGORITHM`	Key algorithm (`ring-Ed25519`, `RSA-PSS`, `pq-dilithium`)	`ring-Ed25519`

Troubleshooting

Build Errors

"edition 2024 is required" Update Rust to version 1.93 or later:

rustup update stable

Missing dependencies on Linux Install build essentials:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config libssl-dev

# Fedora
sudo dnf install gcc openssl-devel

Runtime Errors

"Configuration file not found" Run jacs init or set JACS_CONFIG_PATH environment variable.

"Key directory does not exist" Create the key directory or run jacs init:

mkdir -p ./jacs_keys

"Permission denied" Ensure you have write permissions to the data and key directories.

Next Steps

CLI Usage - Learn CLI commands
Creating an Agent - Create your first agent
Rust Library API - Use JACS as a library

JACS Usage Documentation