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Install the Vega Developer Tools

Open Beta Documentation Amazon offers this technical documentation as part of a pre-release, open beta. The features described might change as Amazon receives feedback and iterates on the features. For the most current feature information, see the latest Release Notes.

Vega Developer Tools (VDT) is a suite that includes everything you need to develop Vega OS apps:

Vega SDK: The core framework and APIs for building Vega OS apps
Vega SDK Manager: A tool that manages SDK versions for your development projects. It works like nvm for Node.js or pyenv for Python. For details, see Manage Your SDK Versions.
Vega Studio: An integrated development environment (IDE) for app development, debugging, performance analysis, and optimization
Vega Virtual Device (VVD): A virtual device for running and testing your apps
Libraries and components: Additional tools for app development

Choose your installation scenario

Select the appropriate tab based on whether you're installing VDT for the first time or updating an existing installation.

First-Time Installation
Update Existing Installation

This section covers how to install VDT on your system for the first time.

Prerequisites

Before installing VDT, confirm that your system meets these requirements:

System requirements

Disk space: 20 GB available for VDT installation and development environment

Check your available disk space: df -h ~
Operating system: macOS 10.15+ or Ubuntu 20.04+

Warning: Windows and Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) aren't supported or tested. The Vega SDK requires native macOS or Ubuntu installations only.

Required dependencies

Install these dependencies for your operating system before proceeding:

macOS dependencies

Package manager: Install Homebrew

Development tools: Download and install Node.js (version 18.x or later)

If you have Node.js installed, check your version:

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   node --version

Development utilities: Run this command to install required tools for Vega development (includes Rosetta 2 for Apple Silicon Macs):

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   [[ $(arch) == "arm64" ]] && softwareupdate --install-rosetta --agree-to-license; brew update && brew install binutils coreutils gawk findutils grep jq lz4 gnu-sed watchman

Ubuntu dependencies

Warning: Don't use the Snap version of curl. The Snap version has sandbox limitations that prevent the installation script from working. If you see a message about 'Snap version of curl' during installation, stop the process. Use the native curl commands to switch to the native version.

Install native curl:

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   sudo apt remove curl
   sudo apt install curl

Development tools:

Native debugging: python3.8, lz4 for crash report symbolication
KVM virtualization: See the KVM Hypervisor installation guide
File monitoring: Follow the Watchman for Ubuntu installation guide
Node.js: Download and install Node.js (version 18.x or later)

If you have Node.js installed, check your version:

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   node --version

Development utilities: Run this command to install the lz4 compression tool and Python 3.8 development libraries:

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   (dpkg -l | grep -q lz4 || sudo apt install -y lz4) && \
   sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:deadsnakes/ppa && \
   sudo apt update && \
   (dpkg -l | grep -q libpython3.8-dev || sudo apt install -y libpython3.8-dev)

Install the Vega CLI

If you have Visual Studio (VS) Code running, close it before running the installation script. If VS Code isn't installed, the installer skips the Vega Studio extension installation. You can install VS Code and the Vega Studio extension later.

Note: The installation takes 10–15 minutes, depending on your internet connection and system performance.

Run the installation script:

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   curl -fsSL https://sdk-installer.vega.labcollab.net/get_vvm.sh | bash && source ~/vega/env

The installer verifies your Node.js and VS Code versions are compatible and prompts you to upgrade if needed.

The installer also prompts you to:

Choose an installation directory: Press Enter to use the default (~/vega/sdk) or specify a custom path.
Install the Vega SDK: Press Enter.
Install the Vega Studio extension: Press Enter (or skip if VS Code isn't installed).

Important: The Vega SDK and its packaged tools collect telemetry by default. For details about the types of telemetry collected or instructions on how to opt out, visit Telemetry.

What gets installed:

Vega CLI → ~/vega/bin
Latest SDK version including Vega Virtual Device
Vega Studio extension in VS Code
Shell configuration updates (.bashrc, .zshrc, .bash_profile, .zprofile, and .profile)

Verify installation

Check that the installation completed successfully:

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vega --version

Example output:

Active SDK Version: <version number> 
Vega CLI Version: <version number>

The Active SDK Version indicates which SDK you're using for development. The Vega CLI Version shows the version of the command-line tool that manages your SDK installations.

Important: If the command fails, restart your terminal or run source ~/vega/env to reload your shell configuration.

Next steps

After installing VDT, choose your development approach:

For beginners:

Start with the Build a Hello World App to learn Vega development basics.

For experienced developers:

Vega Studio: If you installed Vega Studio, begin with Build an App With Vega Studio.

If you didn't install Vega Studio, set up the development environment by following the instructions in Set Up Vega Studio.
Vega CLI: For command-line development, see Build an App Using Vega CLI.

This section covers how to update an SDK version, perform clean builds, and verify the update.

Prerequisites

Update the Vega CLI to the latest version: vega update
Review the release notes for breaking changes
Commit all your changes to version control
Remove existing build artifacts (adds about 5–10 minutes)
Verify your app works with the new SDK before deploying

Update an SDK version

Follow these steps to update your SDK:

Step 1: Check available versions

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vega sdk list-remote

Example output:

0.22.5850
0.22.5720
0.21.4890
0.20.2975

Step 2: Install the new SDK version

To install the latest version:

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vega sdk install

To install a specific version:

vega sdk install <version number>

Example:

vega sdk install 0.22.5850

Important: The 'Electron quit unexpectedly' message can occur when VS Code is running during installation. It can also occur when installing over an existing Vega version. This message doesn't affect the installation, and you can ignore it. You must restart VS Code afterward.

Step 3: Activate the new SDK version

Set the newly installed version as active:

vega sdk use <version number>

Example:

vega sdk use 0.22.5850

Step 4: Reload your environment

For the SDK version change to take full effect, reload your shell environment.

Choose one of the following options:

Option A: Source your shell profile

# For bash users
source ~/.bash_profile
# or
source ~/.bashrc

# For zsh users
source ~/.zshrc

Option B: Open a new terminal

Close your current terminal and open a new terminal window.

Step 5: Verify the active version

Check that the SDK version is active. If the version or path is incorrect, repeat Steps 3–4.

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vega --version

Example output:

Active SDK Version: 0.22.5850
Vega CLI Version: 1.2.0

Step 6 (Optional): Remove old SDK versions

Warning: Before uninstalling an SDK version, make sure it isn't the active version. Use vega sdk use <version> to switch to a different version first.

To free up disk space, you can uninstall SDK versions you no longer need:

vega sdk uninstall <version number>

Example:

vega sdk uninstall 0.21.4890

Switch between installed SDK versions

If you have multiple SDK versions installed, you can switch between them without reinstalling:

Step 1: Check installed versions

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vega sdk list-installed

Example output:

0.22.5850 (active)
0.22.5720
0.21.4890

Step 2: Switch to a different version

vega sdk use <version number>

Example:

vega sdk use 0.21.4890

Step 3: Reload your environment

Choose one of the following options:

Option A: Source your shell profile

# For bash users
source ~/.bash_profile
# or
source ~/.bashrc

# For zsh users
source ~/.zshrc

Option B: Open a new terminal

Close your current terminal and open a new terminal window.

Step 4: Verify the switch

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vega --version

Clean build after update

Warning: Prior build artifacts may be incompatible with the updated SDK. Always perform a clean build after switching SDK versions.

Step 1: Remove existing builds and dependencies

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rm -rf ./build && rm -rf ./node_modules

Step 2: Update and reinstall dependencies

Regular maintenance of your project's dependencies is important for security, performance, and compatibility. Choose the instructions for your package manager (follow only one section below):

NPM (if your project uses package-lock.json):

Pull the latest version of your app's dependencies:
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```
npm update
```
Clear the global package cache:
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```
npm cache clean --force
```
Clear the Metro cache when running your app with the start command:
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```
npm start -- --reset-cache
```
Tip: The npm start -- --reset-cache command starts the Metro bundler with a clean cache. To exit this process, press Ctrl+C. For normal development, use npm start (without the –reset-cache flag).

Yarn (if your project uses yarn.lock):

Pull the latest version of your app's dependencies:
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```
yarn upgrade
```
Clear the global package cache:
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```
yarn cache clean --all
```
Clear the Metro cache when running your app with the start command:
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```
yarn start -- --reset-cache
```

PNPM (if your project uses pnpm-lock.yaml):

Pull the latest version of your app's dependencies:
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```
pnpm update
```
Clear the global package cache:
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```
pnpm cache delete
```
Clear the Metro cache when running your app with the start command:
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```
pnpm start --reset-cache
```

Step 3: Rebuild your app

After updating dependencies, rebuild your app to compile all components with the new SDK version:

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   npm run build:app

Verify the update

Confirm you're running the expected SDK version:
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```
vega --version
```
Example output:
```
Active SDK Version: 0.22.5850
Vega CLI Version: 1.2.0
```
The Active SDK Version indicates which SDK you're using for development. The Vega CLI Version shows the version of the command-line tool that manages your SDK installations.

Run your app on Vega Virtual Device to verify functionality:

vega run-app <vpkg-path> <app-id> -d VirtualDevice

Example output:

vega run-app sampleapp.vpkg com.amazon.sampleapp.main -d VirtualDevice

Reload VS Code

After the update completes, reload VS Code to ensure all Vega Studio components are initialized:

To open the VS Code command palette, press Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Linux).
Type Reload Window in the command palette.
To reload VS Code, press Enter.

Last updated: Feb 17, 2026

Install the Vega Developer Tools

Choose your installation scenario

Prerequisites

System requirements

Required dependencies

macOS dependencies

Ubuntu dependencies

Install the Vega CLI

Verify installation

Next steps

Prerequisites

Update an SDK version

Switch between installed SDK versions

Clean build after update

Verify the update

Reload VS Code

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