Installation

How to install the Tree-sitter CLI

The Tree-sitter CLI is required to create and develop Tree-sitter parsers. There are several ways to install it.

Prerequisites

Before installing the Tree-sitter CLI, ensure you have:

• A JavaScript runtime - Tree-sitter grammars are written in JavaScript. The CLI requires Node.js (or another JavaScript runtime) to interpret grammar files. The runtime command (default: node) must be in your PATH.

• A C Compiler - Tree-sitter creates parsers written in C. To compile and test parsers, you need a C/C++ compiler installed. The CLI will look for compilers in the standard platform locations.

Installation Methods

Cargo (Recommended)

Install from crates.io using Rust’s package manager:

cargo install tree-sitter-cli --locked

This method works on all platforms and provides the latest version.

Build from Source

Build the CLI from source using Cargo:

git clone https://github.com/tree-sitter/tree-sitter.git
cd tree-sitter/crates/cli
cargo install --path . --locked

See the contributing docs for more information.

NPM

Install the Node.js module using npm:

npm install -g tree-sitter-cli

This approach is fast but only works on certain platforms as it relies on pre-built binaries.

Pre-built Binaries

Download a binary for your platform from GitHub releases and add it to your PATH.

Verifying Installation

After installation, verify the CLI is available:

tree-sitter --version

You should see output showing the version number.

Next Steps

Once installed, you can:

1. Initialize a new parser project with tree-sitter init
2. Create a config file with tree-sitter init-config
3. Start developing your grammar

Platform-Specific Notes

macOS/iOS

You can set MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET or IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET to define the minimum supported version when building parsers.

Windows

The CLI works on Windows but some safety checks (like symbol validation with nm) are not performed.