What you need

Install these once, before the Quickstart. Each entry says what the tool is, why apistock needs it, how to install it on macOS and Linux, and how to check it works.

The Minimal preset only needs Go. Everything else is for the Full preset.

Go#

What it is: the programming language your API is written in, with its compiler and tools.

Why you need it: aps is a Go program, and your app is built with go build and go run. There is no other runtime.

Version: Go 1.26 or later. Use the latest patch release (such as 1.26.8 rather than 1.26.0): early patch releases have known security fixes missing.

Install on macOS: download the installer from go.dev/dl and open it, or with Homebrew:

brew install go

Install on Linux: download the archive for your processor from go.dev/dl, then follow the official instructions: remove any old /usr/local/go, extract the archive there, and add /usr/local/go/bin to your PATH. Distribution packages (apt install golang) are often too old.

Check it:

go version

go version go1.26.8 darwin/arm64

Then make sure programs installed with go install can be found. Add this line to ~/.zshrc (macOS) or ~/.bashrc (Linux), and open a new terminal:

export PATH="$(go env GOPATH)/bin:$PATH"

Docker#

What it is: software that runs other programs in isolated containers, from ready-made images, without installing them on your computer.

Why you need it: a Full app needs PostgreSQL (its database) and Mailpit (a local inbox for its emails). aps dev runs both in Docker from your app's compose.yaml. apistock never installs PostgreSQL on your computer, so every developer and every test uses the same version.

Version: a current Docker Desktop, or Docker Engine with the Compose v2 plugin (the docker compose command, with a space).

Install on macOS: download Docker Desktop and open it. OrbStack and Colima also work.

Install on Linux: follow Install Docker Engine for your distribution, which includes the Compose plugin. Then let your user run Docker without sudo (post-installation steps).

Check it: Docker must be running (on macOS, open Docker Desktop first), then:

docker version
docker compose version
docker run --rm hello-world

docker compose version should print Docker Compose version v2.…. If docker version shows a client but says it can't connect to the daemon, Docker isn't running.

git#

What it is: version control.

Why you need it: to download apistock, and because aps gen, aps add and aps upgrade refuse to run on uncommitted changes, so every generated change is a diff you can review.

Install on macOS: xcode-select --install, or brew install git. On Linux: sudo apt install git, sudo dnf install git, or your distribution's equivalent.

Check it:

git --version

An authenticator app#

What it is: an app that shows 6-digit codes that change every 30 seconds, such as Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator, 1Password, Bitwarden or Authy.

Why you need it: your app's administrator role requires two-factor authentication. The first aps dev prints the administrator's 2FA key; you add it to the app to get codes.

curl and jq#

What they are: curl sends HTTP requests from a terminal; jq reads values out of JSON.

Why: the guides show API calls with curl and pick values like tokens out of replies with jq. You can use your app's /docs page instead, which has a Try it button on every endpoint.

Install: curl is already on macOS and most Linux systems. jq: brew install jq on macOS, sudo apt install jq on Debian and Ubuntu.

Check them: curl --version and jq --version.

openssl#

What it is: a toolkit for cryptography.

Why: the command that generates a production encryption key uses it: openssl rand -base64 32. On your computer, aps dev generates the development key for you.

Check it: openssl version. It's part of macOS and nearly every Linux system.

Ports#

aps dev uses these ports on your computer. Something else already using one is the most common first-run problem; the Quickstart shows how to move each.

To see what's using a port on macOS or Linux:

lsof -nP -iTCP:5432 -sTCP:LISTEN