Development Setup

The following guide outlines to the process for setting up the Linode CLI for development.

Cloning the Repository

The Linode CLI repository can be cloned locally using the following command:

git clone git@github.com:linode/linode-cli.git

If you do not have an SSH key configured, you can alternatively use the following command:

git clone https://github.com/linode/linode-cli.git

Configuring a VirtualEnv (recommended)

A virtual env allows you to create virtual Python environment which can prevent potential Python dependency conflicts.

To create a VirtualEnv, run the following:

python3 -m venv .venv

To enter the VirtualEnv, run the following command (NOTE: This needs to be run every time you open your shell):

source .venv/bin/activate

Installing Project Dependencies

All Linode CLI Python requirements can be installed by running the following command:

make requirements

Building and Installing the Project

The Linode CLI can be built and installed using the make install target:

make install

Alternatively you can build but not install the CLI using the make build target:

make build

Optionally you can validate that you have installed a local version of the CLI using the linode-cli --version command:

linode-cli --version

# Output:
# linode-cli 0.0.0
# Built from spec version 4.173.0
#
# The 0.0.0 implies this is a locally built version of the CLI

Building Using a Custom OpenAPI Specification

In some cases, you may want to build the CLI using a custom or modified OpenAPI specification.

This can be achieved using the SPEC Makefile argument, for example:

# Download the OpenAPI spec
curl -o openapi.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/linode/linode-api-docs/development/openapi.yaml

# Many arbitrary changes to the spec

# Build & install the CLI using the modified spec
make SPEC=$PWD/openapi.yaml install

Next Steps

To continue to the next step of this guide, continue to the Testing page.