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Installation Methods

Kuva can be installed as a Rust library (for use in your code) or as a standalone CLI binary (for command-line plotting). Both methods support optional PNG and PDF backends.

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Library Installation

1

Add Kuva to Cargo.toml

Add the dependency to your Cargo.toml file:
[dependencies]
kuva = "0.1"
The default installation includes only SVG output. Enable optional features for PNG (via resvg) or PDF (via svg2pdf) support.
2

Import the prelude

Import all commonly used types with a single line:
use kuva::prelude::*;
This brings into scope:
  • All 25 plot structs (ScatterPlot, LinePlot, VolcanoPlot, etc.)
  • The Plot enum
  • Layout and Figure for composition
  • Theme and Palette for styling
  • Render functions (render_to_svg, render_to_png, render_to_pdf)
  • Backend types (SvgBackend, PngBackend, PdfBackend, TerminalBackend)
3

Verify installation

Create a simple test program to verify the installation:
use kuva::prelude::*;

fn main() {
    let plot = ScatterPlot::new()
        .with_data(vec![(1.0_f64, 2.0), (3.0, 4.0)])
        .with_color("steelblue");

    let plots: Vec<Plot> = vec![plot.into()];
    let layout = Layout::auto_from_plots(&plots);
    
    let svg = render_to_svg(plots, layout);
    println!("Generated {} bytes of SVG", svg.len());
}
Run with cargo run. You should see output confirming SVG generation.

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CLI Installation

The CLI binary provides command-line access to all plot types without writing Rust code.
1

Install from crates.io

cargo install kuva --features cli
This installs the kuva binary to ~/.cargo/bin/ (ensure it’s in your PATH).
Installation may take several minutes as dependencies are compiled. The full feature requires additional system libraries for PDF/PNG rendering.
2

Install from source

Clone the repository and build locally:
git clone https://github.com/Psy-Fer/kuva.git
cd kuva
cargo build --release --bin kuva --features cli
The binary will be at target/release/kuva. Copy it to a location in your PATH.
3

Verify CLI installation

Check that the CLI is installed and accessible:
kuva --version
List available plot types:
kuva --help
You should see all 25 subcommands listed (scatter, line, bar, volcano, manhattan, etc.).

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Feature Flags Reference

Kuva uses Cargo feature flags to control optional functionality:
FeatureDescriptionDependencies
(default)SVG output onlyNone (uses built-in SVG renderer)
pngEnable PNG rasterization via resvgresvg = "0.44"
pdfEnable PDF vector output via svg2pdfsvg2pdf = "0.13"
cliBuild the kuva CLI binaryclap = "4", clap_mangen = "0.2"
fullEnable both PNG and PDF (png + pdf)All of the above

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System Requirements

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Minimum Rust Version

Kuva requires Rust 2021 edition or later. The MSRV (Minimum Supported Rust Version) is currently 1.70.0.

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Platform Support

Kuva is tested on:
  • Linux — Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 35+
  • macOS — macOS 11+ (Intel and Apple Silicon)
  • Windows — Windows 10+ (x86_64)

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Optional Dependencies

If using the png feature, ensure you have:
  • Standard C/C++ compiler toolchain
  • System libraries that resvg depends on (typically already present)
If using the pdf feature:
  • No additional system dependencies required

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Troubleshooting

This typically happens with the png feature on systems missing development libraries.On Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config
On Fedora/RHEL:
sudo dnf install gcc gcc-c++ pkg-config
On macOS:
xcode-select --install
Ensure ~/.cargo/bin is in your PATH:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc
Or for zsh:
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
Enable parallel compilation and increase optimization:
# Use more CPU cores
export CARGO_BUILD_JOBS=8

# Or install with cargo-binstall for pre-compiled binaries
cargo install cargo-binstall
cargo binstall kuva --features cli,full
If you see dependency resolution errors, try:
cargo update
cargo clean
cargo build
Or pin specific dependency versions in your Cargo.toml.

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Next Steps

Quick Start

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API Reference

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