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This guide will help you build and run Ladybird Browser on your machine. For detailed build options, see the complete build instructions.
Ladybird is in pre-alpha state and only suitable for developers. You’ll need to build from source.

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Prerequisites

Before building Ladybird, ensure you have:
  • C++23-capable compiler: gcc-14 or clang-21 (see build instructions for minimum versions)
  • CMake 3.30 or newer
  • Rust toolchain (install via rustup)
  • Qt6 development packages
  • Build tools: nasm, ninja, git
sudo apt install autoconf autoconf-archive automake build-essential ccache cmake curl \
  fonts-liberation2 git libdrm-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libtool nasm ninja-build pkg-config \
  python3-venv qt6-base-dev qt6-tools-dev-tools qt6-wayland tar unzip zip

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Build and run

1

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/LadybirdBrowser/ladybird
cd ladybird
2

Build with the helper script

The ladybird.py script automates the build process:
# Build with default options
./ladybird.py build

# Build and run
./ladybird.py run ladybird
By default, this builds a debug configuration. For better performance, use ./ladybird.py build --release.
3

Launch Ladybird

After building, run the browser:
./ladybird.py run ladybird
Or directly execute the binary:
./Build/release/bin/Ladybird

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Build configurations

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Debug vs Release

# Debug build (default) - includes debugging symbols
./ladybird.py build

# Release build - optimized for performance
./ladybird.py build --release

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User interface options

Ladybird supports multiple UI backends: 
./ladybird.py build

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Next steps

Build instructions

Detailed build options and platform-specific instructions

Architecture

Learn about Ladybird’s multi-process architecture

Contributing

Start contributing to the project

Troubleshooting

Resolve common build issues

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Troubleshooting

Install CMake 3.30 or newer. On Ubuntu, use Kitware’s apt repository.
Ladybird requires gcc-14 or clang-21 minimum. See the build instructions for installation.
Ensure Qt6 development packages are installed. On macOS, you may need to install Qt6 via Homebrew.
For more troubleshooting help, see the troubleshooting guide or ask in the Discord server.

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