Agent Skills Logo
Agent Skillsby RanBOT Labs
Back to Skills
antigravityDocument Processing

environment-setup-guide

Guide developers through setting up development environments with proper tools, dependencies, and configurations

View on GitHubView Repository

Documentation

Environment Setup Guide

Overview

Help developers set up complete development environments from scratch. This skill provides step-by-step guidance for installing tools, configuring dependencies, setting up environment variables, and verifying the setup works correctly.

When to Use This Skill

  • Use when starting a new project and need to set up the development environment
  • Use when onboarding new team members to a project
  • Use when switching to a new machine or operating system
  • Use when troubleshooting environment-related issues
  • Use when documenting setup instructions for a project
  • Use when creating development environment documentation

How It Works

Step 1: Identify Requirements

I'll help you determine what needs to be installed:

  • Programming language and version (Node.js, Python, Go, etc.)
  • Package managers (npm, pip, cargo, etc.)
  • Database systems (PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, etc.)
  • Development tools (Git, Docker, IDE extensions, etc.)
  • Environment variables and configuration files

Step 2: Check Current Setup

Before installing anything, I'll help you check what's already installed:

# Check versions of installed tools
node --version
python --version
git --version
docker --version

Step 3: Provide Installation Instructions

I'll give platform-specific installation commands:

  • macOS: Using Homebrew
  • Linux: Using apt, yum, or package manager
  • Windows: Using Chocolatey, Scoop, or direct installers

Step 4: Configure the Environment

Help set up:

  • Environment variables (.env files)
  • Configuration files (.gitconfig, .npmrc, etc.)
  • IDE settings (VS Code, IntelliJ, etc.)
  • Shell configuration (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.)

Step 5: Verify Installation

Provide verification steps to ensure everything works:

  • Run version checks
  • Test basic commands
  • Verify database connections
  • Check environment variables are loaded

Examples

Example 1: Node.js Project Setup

## Setting Up Node.js Development Environment

### Prerequisites
- macOS, Linux, or Windows
- Terminal/Command Prompt access
- Internet connection

### Step 1: Install Node.js

**macOS (using Homebrew):**
\`\`\`bash
# Install Homebrew if not installed
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Node.js
brew install node
\`\`\`

**Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):**
\`\`\`bash
# Update package list
sudo apt update

# Install Node.js and npm
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
\`\`\`

**Windows (using Chocolatey):**
\`\`\`powershell
# Install Chocolatey if not installed
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

# Install Node.js
choco install nodejs
\`\`\`

### Step 2: Verify Installation

\`\`\`bash
node --version  # Should show v20.x.x or higher
npm --version   # Should show 10.x.x or higher
\`\`\`

### Step 3: Install Project Dependencies

\`\`\`bash
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-repo/project.git
cd project

# Install dependencies
npm install
\`\`\`

### Step 4: Set Up Environment Variables

Create a \`.env\` file:
\`\`\`bash
# Copy example environment file
cp .env.example .env

# Edit with your values
nano .env
\`\`\`

Example \`.env\` content:
\`\`\`
NODE_ENV=development
PORT=3000
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://localhost:5432/mydb
API_KEY=your-api-key-here
\`\`\`

### Step 5: Run the Project

\`\`\`bash
# Start development server
npm run dev

# Should see: Server running on http://localhost:3000
\`\`\`

### Troubleshooting

**Problem:** "node: command not found"
**Solution:** Restart your terminal or run \`source ~/.bashrc\` (Linux) or \`source ~/.zshrc\` (macOS)

**Problem:** "Permission denied" errors
**Solution:** Don't use sudo with npm. Fix permissions:
\`\`\`bash
mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
echo 'export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
\`\`\`

Example 2: Python Project Setup

## Setting Up Python Development Environment

### Step 1: Install Python

**macOS:**
\`\`\`bash
brew install python@3.11
\`\`\`

**Linux:**
\`\`\`bash
sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3.11 python3.11-venv python3-pip
\`\`\`

**Windows:**
\`\`\`powershell
choco install python --version=3.11
\`\`\`

### Step 2: Verify Installation

\`\`\`bash
python3 --version  # Should show Python 3.11.x
pip3 --version     # Should show pip 23.x.x
\`\`\`

### Step 3: Create Virtual Environment

\`\`\`bash
# Navigate to project directory
cd my-project

# Create virtual environment
python3 -m venv venv

# Activate virtual environment
# macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

# Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate
\`\`\`

### Step 4: Install Dependencies

\`\`\`bash
# Install fro

Use Cases

  • Use when starting a new project and need to set up the development environment
  • Use when onboarding new team members to a project
  • Use when switching to a new machine or operating system
  • Use when troubleshooting environment-related issues
  • Use when documenting setup instructions for a project

Quick Info

Source
antigravity
Category
Document Processing
Repository
View Repo
Scraped At
Jan 26, 2026

Tags

pythonnodemarkdownapiaitemplatedocumentimagesecuritydocker

Related Skills

ab-test-setup

Structured guide for setting up A/B tests with mandatory gates for hypothesis, metrics, and execution readiness.

airflow-dag-patterns

Build production Apache Airflow DAGs with best practices for operators, sensors, testing, and deployment. Use when creating data pipelines, orchestrating workflows, or scheduling batch jobs.

algorithmic-art

Creating algorithmic art using p5.js with seeded randomness and interactive parameter exploration. Use this when users request creating art using code, generative art, algorithmic art, flow fields, or particle systems. Create original algorithmic art rather than copying existing artists' work to avoid copyright violations.