18  Building JASP from Source

Most module developers do not need to build JASP desktop itself — installing your module into a JASP nightly build is sufficient (see Chapter 2). This chapter is for developers who need to modify JASP’s core or debug integration issues.

18.1 Prerequisites (All Platforms)

  • Git: clone the repository and manage submodules.
  • GITHUB_PAT: a GitHub personal access token (no special scopes needed) to avoid API rate limits during the build.
  • Qt 6.7+ with Qt Creator 13: the GUI framework.

18.1.1 Setting GITHUB_PAT

Create a token at GitHub → Settings → Developer Settings → Personal Access Tokens → Tokens (classic). Then set it:

# macOS / Linux — add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile
export GITHUB_PAT="ghp_your_token_here"
:: Windows — set via System Properties → Environment Variables
set GITHUB_PAT=ghp_your_token_here

Project Settings → Build → Environment → Add: GITHUB_PAT = ghp_your_token_here

Preferences → Advanced → GitHub PAT

18.1.2 Clone and Initialise

git clone https://github.com/jasp-stats/jasp-desktop.git
cd jasp-desktop
git submodule update --init

18.2 Platform-Specific Instructions

Tools required:

  • Visual Studio 2022 Community (Desktop C++ workload: MSVC v144, Windows 10 SDK, CMake tools)
  • Qt 6.7 with MSVC 2019 64-bit, Qt Compatibility Module, Qt WebEngine, Qt WebChannel, Qt Positioning
  • Qt Creator 13
  • RTools45 (default path C:\rtools45)
  • Conan ≥ 2.0.0
  • WiX Toolset (for building the installer)

RTools setup:

  1. Install RTools45 to C:\rtools45.

  2. Open the ucrt64 console and install dependencies:

    pacman -Syu
pacman -S mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-toolchain mingw-w64-ucrt-x86_64-cmake

  3. Build ReadStat and librdata manually (see platform-specific build guide for commands).

  4. Add C:\rtools45\ucrt64\bin to your PATH. Ensure the Qt path comes before the RTools path.

Conan setup:

pip install conan
conan profile detect --name default

Build: in Qt Creator, select the “Desktop Qt 6.7 MSVC2019 64bit” kit, set GITHUB_PAT in the build environment, and click Build.

Tools required:

  • Xcode (from the Mac App Store)
  • Qt 6.7 with Desktop kit, Qt Compatibility Module, Qt WebEngine, Qt WebChannel, Qt Positioning
  • Qt Creator 13
  • Homebrew packages: conan cmake bison flex pkg-config automake autoconf create-dmg parallel ninja
  • R.framework (from CRAN)
  • GNU Fortran (universal binary from the CRAN R tools page)

Install Homebrew dependencies:

brew install conan cmake bison flex pkg-config automake autoconf create-dmg parallel ninja

Code signing: for local development, create a self-signed certificate (see the self-signing guide in the development docs). For distribution, use an official Apple Developer certificate.

Build: open jasp-desktop in Qt Creator, configure with CMake, set GITHUB_PAT, and build.

Tools required:

  • CMake > 3.21, GCC, gfortran

  • Qt 6.7 with Desktop kit, Qt Compatibility Module, Qt WebEngine, Qt WebChannel, Qt Positioning

  • Qt Creator 13

  • System packages (Ubuntu example):

    sudo apt install build-essential gfortran libboost-all-dev \
  libjags-dev libsqlite3-dev libssl-dev libarchive-dev \
  libjsoncpp-dev zlib1g-dev pkg-config

Custom R path: if R is not in the default location:

cmake -DCUSTOM_R_PATH=/path/to/R ...

Local library install: add -DLINUX_LOCAL_BUILD=ON to install module libraries locally instead of system-wide.

Dev Container: a VS Code Dev Container configuration is available with all dependencies pre-installed. Install the Dev Containers extension, open the repo, and select “Reopen in Container”. Set GITHUB_PAT as an environment variable before opening.

18.3 Building Modules

After building JASP, build the default modules:

# From the jasp-desktop/Tools directory
./buildAllDefaultJaspModules.sh
# or for module bundles:
./buildModuleBundlesLocally.sh

18.4 Qt Installation Notes

When downloading Qt from the Qt open-source page:

  • In the installer, select Qt 6.7 (or newer), the Desktop target, and these additional components:
    • Qt Compatibility Module
    • Qt WebEngine
    • Qt WebChannel
    • Qt Positioning
  • Also install Qt Creator 13 (or newer).