Getting started (≈10 minutes)

Write backends in .atl. Install only the atlantus binary.

You do not need Rust, Cargo, or the framework monorepo.

0. Prerequisites

• A shell (Linux recommended for the current binary)
• curl or GitHub CLI (gh)
• A directory on your PATH (e.g. ~/.local/bin)

Optional later: Docker for container deploy.

1. Install atlantus

Full options: Install. Short path:

gh release download v0.2.1 \
  --repo atlantus-network/atlantuslanguage \
  --pattern 'atlantus-*' \
  --dir /tmp

chmod +x /tmp/atlantus-v0.2.1-linux-x86_64
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
mv /tmp/atlantus-v0.2.1-linux-x86_64 ~/.local/bin/atlantus
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

atlantus --version   # → atlantus 0.2.1

2. Create a project

atlantus new my-api
cd my-api

Optional auth stubs:

atlantus new my-api --with-auth

Everything you ship lives under app/**/*.atl (plus app/views/**/*.html for HTML). There is no main.rs in the product path.

3. Check

atlantus check --path .
# often also:  atlantus check

4. Dev server

atlantus dev --path . --host 127.0.0.1 --port 3000
# hot reload when editing .atl:
atlantus dev --path . --watch

curl -sS http://127.0.0.1:3000/health

5. Database (when you need it)

Scaffolded apps use SQL migrations under db/migrations/:

export ATL_DATABASE_URL="sqlite:./tmp/app.db?mode=rwc"
atlantus db migrate --path .
atlantus dev --path .

6. Production-shaped start

export ATL_ENV=production
export ATL_AUTH_SECRET='replace-with-a-long-random-secret'   # if using auth
export ATL_DATABASE_URL='…'
atlantus start --path . --host 0.0.0.0 --port 3000

Done when

• atlantus --version prints a semver
• atlantus new created a project
• atlantus check is green
• curl hits your local server

Next

• Your first API
• Syntax
• Built-in API

Troubleshooting (app developers)

Contributors only

Building the CLI from source needs Rust — see Install → Build from source. App authors should never need that section.