Setup & Prerequisites

Welcome! This guide covers the essential setup required to start building with LearnCard. Following these steps will get your environment ready for our Quick Start and tutorials.

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1. 🧭 Introduction

This guide will help you:

• Set up your development environment

• Install core SDKs and tools

• Verify everything is working before your first credential issuance

Assumed Knowledge: You should be familiar with:

• Basic terminal/command line use

• JavaScript or TypeScript

• Package managers like npm, yarn, or pnpm

All examples use modern JavaScript and run on Node.js.

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2. 🖥️ System Requirements

✅ Supported OS

• macOS (M1/M2/M3+ supported)

• Windows (Use WSL for best results)

• Linux (Ubuntu LTS recommended)

🔧 Node.js + npm/yarn

• Required version: Node.js v18.x or v20.x

• Node.js includes npm by default.

📥 Download Node.js

🔎 Verify:

node -v
npm -v
# or if using yarn
yarn -v

🔧 Git

Git is required for cloning repositories and managing code.

📥 Download Git

🔎 Verify:

git --version

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3. 👤 Account Setup (Optional)

Developer Account

You do not need a developer account to complete the Quick Start.

You'll be using local/demo network capabilities for your first integration. For live network use later, you can create a developer profile.

API Keys

Not required for Quick Start.

You’ll need them later for:

• Live network integrations

• Custom signing authorities

• Auth-granted service access

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4. 📦 Install the Wallet SDK

To get started with the LearnCard Wallet SDK:

# Using npm
npm install @learncard/init 

# Using yarn
yarn add @learncard/init 

# Using pnpm
pnpm add @learncard/init 

This installs the essential module to initialize LearnCard

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5. 🔧 Install Essential Tools (Optional for Quick Start)

LearnCard CLI (Optional)

If you want to interactively explore wallet actions via terminal:

npx @learncard/cli

This launches an interactive REPL where you can issue credentials, verify them, and explore the SDK.

→ See CLI Documentation

Seed Phrases

You don’t need an external wallet for Quick Start. LearnCard uses secure, deterministic wallets derived from seed phrases. You’ll use an environment variable (SECURE_SEED) for your first script.

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6. 💡 Recommended Tools

Code Editor

We recommend Visual Studio Code

Helpful Extensions:

• ESLint – Code quality

• Prettier – Auto-formatting

• dotenv – Recognizes environment variables in .env files

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7. ✅ Check Your Setup

Run the following commands to confirm everything is ready:

# Verify Node + package manager
node -v
npm -v
# or yarn -v / pnpm -v

# Verify Git
git --version

# (Optional) Launch CLI
npx @learncard/cli

Need help? Visit our Troubleshooting Guide or join the Community for support.

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8. 🚀 Next Steps

You’re ready to go!

👉 Proceed to the Quick Start: Issue Your First Digital Badge →