Building from source

Build tools

Install a C compiler, a C++23 compiler and a compatible standard library. std::expected, std::format and std::ranges::contains must be available; accepting the -std=c++23 flag alone is not enough.

You also need Meson 1.1 or newer, Ninja, pkg-config/pkgconf, wayland-scanner and recent wayland-protocols. Nix users can enter the supplied environment with nix develop path:. from the client source directory.

Libraries

Install development headers and pkg-config metadata as well as runtime libraries.

Library	pkg-config modules or requirement
Wayland	`wayland-client`, `wayland-egl`, `wayland-protocols`
Graphics	`egl`, `glesv2`
Cairo	`cairo`, `cairo-ft`
Pango	`pango`, `pangocairo`, `pangoft2`
Text and fonts	`freetype2`, `fontconfig`, `harfbuzz`
SVG	`librsvg-2.0`
WebP	`libwebp`, `libwebpdemux`
JPEG XL	`libjxl`, `libjxl_threads`
Animation cache	`libzstd`
Keyboard	`xkbcommon`
Data	`nlohmann_json`, `tomlplusplus`
Desktop services	`gio-2.0`, `libsecret-1`
Network	`libcurl >= 8.16`, with HTTPS, `ws` and `wss`
Markdown	`md4c`
Video	`libavformat`, `libavcodec`, `libavutil`, `libswscale`
Native playback	`mpv >= 2.3` pkg-config API version
Animated stickers	`rlottie`
Image headers	`stb_image_resize2.h`, `stb_image_write.h`

The libmpv requirement refers to its pkg-config API version, not the player application's release number. Old stb packages with only stb_image_resize.h are insufficient. The Nix package pins stb revision f1c79c02822848a9bed4315b12c8c8f3761e1296 as a known reference.

The linked libcurl must support secure WebSockets. A separate curl executable with different features does not fix the library. Native Meson configuration checks the linked library; cross-build packagers must verify their target library.

Wuffs is bundled in the source tree. The project does not download missing dependencies during Meson configuration.

Compile and run

From the client source directory:

meson setup build-debug --buildtype=debug -Dcpp_std=c++23
meson compile -C build-debug -j 4 cressida
./build-debug/cressida --demo

With just installed, just build and just demo provide convenience commands. For a release install, follow Installation.

Run tests

Test fixtures additionally need Python 3, readelf, the ffmpeg executable, dbus-daemon and Wayland server headers/library. Graphics tests need a usable EGL context. Local sockets must be permitted.

meson compile -C build-debug -j 4
meson test -C build-debug --print-errorlogs

Tests use synthetic fixtures, temporary directories, private buses and local network peers. They do not need account credentials or access to a live account.

See Contributing for formatting, lint and headless UI checks, or Packaging for installed runtime requirements.