Environment Setup

Setting Up the Development Environment

💡 Key Terms Preview

• Sui CLI: Command-line tool for building, testing, and deploying Move packages.
• VS Code Extension: GUI-based tool for developing and executing Move and PTBs.
• Workspace: Project unit managed by the VS Code Extension.
• Explorer View: VS Code panel for creating and managing Move projects.

1. Install Sui CLI

macOS / Linux / WSL

brew install sui

Windows

choco install sui

Verify installation:

sui --version

⚠️ The Sui CLI is required to build and run Move code. Install it first before continuing.

2. Install VS Code – Sui Extension

The Sui Extension lets you compile, deploy, and test Move smart contracts and visually build and execute PTBs inside VS Code.

Key Features

• Compile & Deploy Move packages
• Upgrade Support via upgrade.toml
• Object Explorer / Package Explorer
• Built-in PTB Builder (Drag & Drop)

Installation Steps

1. Open VS Code → Extensions (⇧⌘X / Ctrl+Shift+X)
2. Search for Sui Extension and install
3. Restart VS Code after installation

⚠️ Requirement: Sui CLI must be installed first.

3. Sui Extension Interface

Click the Sui Extension icon in the left Activity Bar. The Primary Side Bar switches to the Sui Extension interface.

• Workspace: Create, build, test, and deploy Move projects
• Owned Objects Explorer: Inspect objects owned by a specific account
• Object Explorer: Query the state of a specific object
• Package Explorer: Load deployed packages, list entry functions by module, and execute them

4. Workspace in the Sui Extension

Each Move project is managed as a Workspace, bundling your package, configuration, and build outputs.

Component	Description
Move.toml	Defines package name, dependencies, and addresses
sources/	Directory for .move source files
build/	Stores compiled artifacts

💡 A single Workspace can contain multiple packages, and you can switch between them easily in the Extension.

💡 Next, you’ll build and test a Move project using both the Sui CLI and the Extension.