svm-rs

You can install the svm-rs Solidity compiler version manager using cargo-binstall, via crates.io, or directly from the GitHub repository.

Using cargo-binstall (Recommended)

cargo binstall svm-rs

Using cargo install

From crates.io:

cargo install svm-rs

From the repository:

cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/alloy-rs/svm-rs/

The svm CLI tool allows you to install, list, remove, and switch between different Solidity compiler (solc) versions.

Available Commands

Global Options

• -h, --help: Print help
• -V, --version: Print version

svm <COMMAND>

The svm-rs installer automatically handles NixOS compatibility for specific Solidity versions.

Versions between 0.7.6 and 0.8.28 (inclusive) are not fully static and require an interpreter patch to work on NixOS. When install is called on a NixOS system for these versions, the library:

1. Downloads the binary.
2. Uses patchelf via nix-shell to set the correct dynamic linker.
3. Adds a persistent gcroot via nix-store --add-root to ensure the dynamic linker is not garbage collected by Nix.

Versions outside this range (e.g., 0.8.29 and later) are fully static and do not require patching.

The svm (Solidity Version Manager) CLI provides commands to install, list, switch between, and remove different versions of the solc compiler.

Available commands:

• list (alias: ls): List installed Solidity compiler versions.
• install (alias: i): Install a specific Solidity compiler version.
• use: Set a specific Solidity compiler version as the active version.
• which: Determine the path of the currently active solc compiler.
• remove (alias: rm): Remove an installed Solidity compiler version.

# Example usage patterns
svm ls
svm i 0.8.20
svm use 0.8.20
svm which
svm rm 0.8.20

The solc wrapper may exit with an error in the following scenarios:

• Invalid Version Format: If the version specifier following the + prefix cannot be parsed as a valid semantic version, or if it contains pre-release/build metadata.
• Version Not Installed: If the requested version is not found in the svm managed directories.
• Global Version Not Set: If no version specifier is provided and no global version has been configured via svm.

Errors are printed to stderr with the prefix svm: error: .

The data_dir() function returns a static reference to the path used by SVM to store Solc versions and configuration.

The resolution logic follows this priority:

1. If ~/.svm exists, it uses that.
2. Otherwise, it uses $XDG_DATA_HOME/svm (via the system's data directory provider).

Note: In test environments, this returns a temporary directory.

use svm_rs::paths::data_dir;

let path = data_dir();
println!("SVM data directory is at: {}", path.display());

The version_binary(version: &str) function returns the absolute path to the actual solc executable for a given version.

The path follows the pattern: {data_dir}/{version}/solc-{version}.

use svm_rs::paths::version_binary;

let version = "0.8.26";
let binary_path = version_binary(version);
// Result: data_dir / "0.8.26" / "solc-0.8.26"

Use the asynchronous install function to download and install a specific Solidity compiler (solc) version. If the version is already installed and the checksum matches, the existing binary is reused. The function handles platform-specific requirements, including NixOS patching and Windows .zip extraction.

Returns the PathBuf to the installed solc binary.

use semver::Version;
// Assuming svm-rs is in your dependencies
use svm_rs::install;

#[tokio::main]
async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let version = Version::parse("0.8.25")?;
    let solc_path = install(&version).await?;
    println!("Solc installed at: {:?}", solc_path);
    Ok(())
}

Use setup_data_dir() to prepare the SVM environment. This function performs the following actions:

1. Identifies the appropriate data directory (based on $XDG_DATA_HOME or ~/.svm).
2. Creates the directory if it does not exist.
3. Verifies that the path is a directory and not a file.
4. Creates an empty .global-version file in the data directory if it is missing.

This is typically called during the initial setup or installation of SVM.

use svm_rs::paths::setup_data_dir;

// Initialize the SVM environment
setup_data_dir().expect("Failed to setup SVM data directory");

Use remove_version(&Version) to delete a specific version of Solc from the machine. This removes the entire version directory.

Warning: Removing a version that is currently being installed or is actively being executed is racy. This operation also removes the version's install lock file, which may cause concurrent installations to fail or trigger a re-installation.

use semver::Version;

let version = Version::parse("0.8.10").unwrap();
remove_version(&version)?;

The platform() function detects the current operating system and architecture to return a Platform enum variant. This is useful for determining which Solidity compiler binaries are compatible with the host machine.

use svm_rs::platform::{platform, Platform};

let current_platform = platform();
match current_platform {
    Platform::LinuxAmd64 => println!("Running on Linux x86_64"),
    Platform::MacOsAarch64 => println!("Running on Apple Silicon"),
    Platform::Unsupported => println!("Platform not supported"),
    _ => println!("Other platform detected"),
}