Setup the DevKit

Use this guide to install the Thru CLI, configure the RPC endpoint, and verify everything works with a live request.

Prerequisites

Recommended install: Install Node.js 18 or newer from nodejs.org.
Linux package install: Use an x86_64 or arm64 Linux VM with curl and sudo access.
Linux C toolchain: The prebuilt toolchain from thru dev toolchain install supports x86_64 only and requires glibc 2.38 or newer. Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 13, and Fedora 39 meet this requirement. It also needs the GMP, MPFR, MPC, and zlib runtime libraries.

Check your glibc version:
Terminal window
```
getconf GNU_LIBC_VERSION
```
Install the runtime libraries on Debian or Ubuntu:
Terminal window
```
sudo apt install libgmp10 libmpfr6 libmpc3 zlib1g
```
On Fedora or RHEL:
Terminal window
```
sudo dnf install gmp mpfr libmpc zlib
```
On older glibc versions, installation fails with Toolchain verification failed: gcc not executable.

Setup

Install the CLI

Install the Thru CLI globally using npm:
Terminal window
```
npm i -g thru
```
The npm package installs a prebuilt binary for macOS, Windows, and Linux; no Rust toolchain is required.

More installation methods:
Debian or Ubuntu (.deb)
Install the Debian package for your architecture:
Terminal window
```
# x86_64
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/Unto-Labs/thru/releases/latest/download/thru_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./thru_amd64.deb
```
Terminal window
```
# arm64
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/Unto-Labs/thru/releases/latest/download/thru_arm64.deb
sudo apt install ./thru_arm64.deb
```
RHEL-compatible Linux (.rpm)
Install the RPM package for your architecture (dnf accepts a URL directly):
Terminal window
```
# x86_64
sudo dnf install https://github.com/Unto-Labs/thru/releases/latest/download/thru-x86_64.rpm
```
Terminal window
```
# aarch64
sudo dnf install https://github.com/Unto-Labs/thru/releases/latest/download/thru-aarch64.rpm
```
To build from source instead, cargo install thru is still available. It requires the Rust toolchain (rustup.rs) and the Buf CLI (buf.build/docs/cli/installation).

Verify the install:
Terminal window
```
thru --help
```
Install the SDKs

Install the Thru toolchain and C SDK using the CLI:
Terminal window
```
# Install RISC-V toolchain
thru dev toolchain install

# Install C SDK
thru dev sdk install c
```
The SDK will be installed to ~/.thru/sdk/c/ by default. The toolchain will be installed to ~/.thru/sdk/toolchain/.
Keep your C projects under your home directory. make finds the toolchain by searching up from the project directory for .thru/sdk/toolchain. For a project outside $HOME, set RISCV_TOOLCHAIN_ROOT=$HOME/.thru/sdk/toolchain.
Make an initial call

Try a simple command:
Terminal window
```
thru getversion
```
The default RPC endpoint is https://rpc.alphanet.thru.org. You may change this to access other nodes.
Configure RPC endpoint

Edit your CLI configuration file at ~/.thru/cli/config.yaml

Set the base URL:
```
rpc_base_url: https://rpc.alphanet.thru.org
```
Verify with getversion

Run again:
Terminal window
```
thru --json getversion
```
If you can see the thru-node version your CLI can reach the alphanet endpoint.
Check your keypair

The first thru command that loads the config, thru dev toolchain install in this guide, already created a keypair named default in ~/.thru/cli/config.yaml. The rest of this guide uses that keypair. Confirm it is listed:
Terminal window
```
thru keys list
```
To add another keypair, use a new name for $NAME:
Terminal window
```
thru keys generate $NAME
```
The CLI generated a private key. Never share your private key with anyone. It’s stored locally as plaintext hex in ~/.thru/cli/config.yaml. Keep your files safe.

This keypair will be stored locally and used to sign transactions. You may replace this key later with thru keys generate --overwrite default

Create your first account

Create an account on-chain using your keypair:

thru account create $NAME

For example, to create an account named default:

thru account create default

You’ll see output similar to this:

Info: Creating account with fee payer proof...
Info: Account public key: tayzC11YgWrPpXBon_hBxI_Szh3eUqsHxEelsHxFroPsAB
Info: Using slot: 776
Info: Calling makeStateProof RPC method...
Success: State proof created successfully
Info: Building transaction with fee payer proof...
Info: Signing transaction...
Info: Submitting transaction...
Account Creation
  Key Name: default
  Public Key: tayzC11YgWrPpXBon_hBxI_Szh3eUqsHxEelsHxFroPsAB
  Signature: tsRIKKU4-Hu9nqzwlaZxcHjv7etbguo6g1AUMt5q9ga96dXxvqnTRTm8w6XH9C6OGSgcPc94TMmKzczNg8qqMTCyXX
  Status: success
Success: Account creation transaction completed. Signature: tsRIKKU4-Hu9nqzwlaZxcHjv7etbguo6g1AUMt5q9ga96dXxvqnTRTm8w6XH9C6OGSgcPc94TMmKzczNg8qqMTCyXX

Updating the CLI

When the CLI changes, update it with the same install method you used. For npm installs, run:

npm i -g thru@latest

For Debian, Ubuntu, or RHEL-compatible installs, re-run the install command you used above. The releases/latest/download/ URLs always resolve to the newest release, so the command does not change between versions:

curl -fsSLO https://github.com/Unto-Labs/thru/releases/latest/download/thru_amd64.deb
sudo apt install ./thru_amd64.deb