# Installation
> Prerequisites and the full build, from clone to a verified binary.
[Source](https://open.nxtsoft.io/docs/cgraph/installation)

CGraph builds from source with CMake and vcpkg. There is no prebuilt binary yet;
this page covers the full build.

## Prerequisites

CGraph is a C++20 project. You need a recent toolchain and vcpkg for its
dependencies.

- **CMake** 3.25 or newer
- **Ninja**
- A **C++20 compiler** — recent Clang or GCC, or Apple Clang from the Xcode
  Command Line Tools
- **Git**
- **vcpkg**, providing `curl`, `igraph`, `nlohmann-json`, and `utf8proc`

Tree-sitter is vendored under `vendor/tree-sitter`, so you do not install it
separately.

## Get vcpkg

Point `VCPKG_ROOT` at an existing vcpkg, or bootstrap one inside the checkout.

  #### existing vcpkg

```bash
export VCPKG_ROOT="/path/to/your/vcpkg"
```

  
  #### bootstrap locally

```bash
git clone https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg .vcpkg
./.vcpkg/bootstrap-vcpkg.sh
export VCPKG_ROOT="$PWD/.vcpkg"
```

  

## Build

**configure, build, test**

```bash
git clone https://github.com/taylor009/CGraph.git
cd CGraph
cmake --preset default
cmake --build --preset default
ctest --preset default
```

## Verify

Extract a graph of the CGraph repository itself:

**smoke test**

```bash
build/default/src/cli/cgraph --root . --out cgraph-out
```

The binaries land under `build/default/src/`: the `cgraph` CLI, the `graphd`
daemon, the `cgraph-client` thin client, and the `cgraph-mcp` server.

## Next

Head to the [Quick Start](/docs/cgraph/quick-start) to run the daemon and register
CGraph with a coding agent.