Installation

Prerequisites

Before installing RAPID, ensure you have:

Requirement	Version	Notes
Node.js	20+	For RAPID CLI
Docker	Latest	Docker Desktop, Podman, or compatible runtime
1Password CLI	Latest	Recommended for secrets management
direnv	Latest	For automatic environment loading

Install RAPID CLI

npm

bash npm install -g @a3t/rapid

pnpm

bash pnpm add -g @a3t/rapid

yarn

bash yarn global add @a3t/rapid

Verify the installation:

rapid --version

Install direnv

direnv automatically loads environment variables when you enter a project directory.

macOS

brew install direnv

Linux

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install direnv

# Arch
sudo pacman -S direnv

Add the hook to your shell:

bash

echo 'eval "$(direnv hook bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

zsh

echo 'eval "$(direnv hook zsh)"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

fish

echo 'direnv hook fish | source' >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Install 1Password CLI (Recommended)

1Password CLI enables secure secret management without storing API keys in plaintext.

macOS

brew install 1password-cli

Linux

curl -sS https://downloads.1password.com/linux/keys/1password.asc | \
  sudo gpg --dearmor --output /usr/share/keyrings/1password-archive-keyring.gpg

echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/1password-archive-keyring.gpg] https://downloads.1password.com/linux/debian/$(dpkg --print-architecture) stable main" | \
  sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/1password.list

sudo apt update && sudo apt install 1password-cli

Sign in to 1Password:

eval $(op signin)

Tip

If you don’t use 1Password, RAPID also supports HashiCorp Vault or plain environment variables. See Secrets Management for details.

Verify Setup

Run the following to verify everything is installed:

# Check RAPID
rapid --version

# Check Docker
docker --version

# Check direnv
direnv --version

# Check 1Password (optional)
op --version

Next Steps

You’re ready to create your first RAPID project. Head to the Quickstart guide.