SafeC
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Install SafeC

One command installs a prebuilt safec (the compiler), safeguard (the package manager and build tool) and sc-lsp (the language server) from the newest GitHub release, together with the standard library — sources plus prebuilt archives for your platform.

Quick install

macOS

bash
brew install llvm          # clang 21+; Apple's Xcode clang is too old
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/safec-org/SafeC/main/install.sh | bash

Binaries for Apple silicon (arm64), macOS 11 Big Sur or newer.

Linux

bash
# Debian / Ubuntu: clang 21 from apt.llvm.org, if you don't have it yet
wget https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh && sudo bash llvm.sh 21
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/safec-org/SafeC/main/install.sh | bash

x86_64 binaries for glibc 2.25 or newer: Debian 10, Ubuntu 18.04, RHEL 8 and later. Musl-based distributions (Alpine) aren't supported by the release binaries — build from source there.

Windows

powershell
winget install LLVM.LLVM     # clang 21+
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/safec-org/SafeC/main/install.ps1 | iex

x86_64 binaries, from PowerShell.

From source

bash
git clone https://github.com/safec-org/SafeC && cd SafeC
cmake -G Ninja -S compiler -B compiler/build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
      -DLLVM_DIR=/usr/lib/llvm-21/lib/cmake/llvm
cmake --build compiler/build
cmake -G Ninja -S safeguard -B safeguard/build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build safeguard/build
export SAFEC_HOME=$PWD PATH=$PWD/compiler/build:$PWD/safeguard/build:$PATH

Needs CMake, Ninja, a C++17 compiler and LLVM 21 development files. sc-lsp lives in the sibling sc-language-server repository.

The script installs into ~/safec by default, sets SAFEC_HOME and adds its bin/ to your PATH in your shell's rc file (bash, zsh or fish; the user environment on Windows). Restart the shell, or source the rc file, then check:

bash
safec --version       # safec 1.0.0-beta-7
safeguard --version   # safeguard 1.0.0-beta-7

Requirements

clang 21 or newer. safec emits LLVM IR, and safec --emit-bin and safeguard hand it to clang to compile and link (clang also imports C headers). The install scripts find a suitable clang — including versioned names like clang-21, apt.llvm.org's /usr/lib/llvm-21 and Homebrew's llvm — and set SAFEC_CLANG / SAFEC_CLANGXX when it isn't the plain clang on your PATH. If there is none they print how to install one:

Platform Install clang
macOS brew install llvm
Debian / Ubuntu wget https://apt.llvm.org/llvm.sh && sudo bash llvm.sh 21
Windows winget install LLVM.LLVM
Other LLVM releases

Options

install.sh install.ps1
--prefix=<path> -Prefix <path> Install directory (default ~/safec)
--version=<tag> -Version <tag> A specific release, e.g. v1.0.0-beta-7 (default: the newest, pre-releases included)
--std=<sections> -Std <sections> Prebuilt std sections to install, e.g. core,collections,gui (default all)
--std=+<sections> -Std +<sections> Add sections to an existing install later
--skip-env -SkipEnv Don't touch the shell environment

Pass options to the piped script with bash -s --:

bash
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/safec-org/SafeC/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --version=v1.0.0-beta-7 --std=core,collections

The standard library's sources are always installed. Its prebuilt archives come in sections — std's top-level directories (core, collections, gui, ml, http, audio, async, ...); safeguard links the sections a project uses and compiles any section you left out from source when a build needs it. See Prebuilt std.

Your first program

bash
safeguard new hello && cd hello
safeguard run

safeguard new writes a Package.toml and src/main.sc; safeguard run builds and runs it. From here:

Updating and removing

Run the install command again to update to the newest release (or pass --version to pick one). The newest is 1.0.0-beta-7; its release notes list what changed, how to migrate and the known issues. To remove SafeC, delete the install directory (~/safec by default) and the # SafeC block the installer added to your shell rc file.