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Installation

This guide will walk you through installing the RISC Zero toolchain, which includes everything you need to build, prove, and verify zkVM applications.

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Prerequisites

1

Install Rust

First, you’ll need Rust installed on your system. If you don’t have it already, install it using rustup:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
See the official Rust installation guide for more details.

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Install rzup

The RISC Zero toolchain is managed by rzup, our toolchain installer. To install rzup, run the following command and follow the instructions: 
curl -L https://risczero.com/install | bash
This will download and install rzup to your system.

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Install the RISC Zero toolchain

Once rzup is installed, you can install the complete RISC Zero toolchain: 
rzup install
This command installs:
  • The RISC Zero Rust toolchain for compiling guest programs
  • cargo-risczero CLI tool for managing projects
  • The necessary components to build and prove zkVM applications
The following pre-built host targets are available:
  • aarch64-apple-darwin (Apple Silicon macOS)
  • x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu (Linux x86_64)
If you need to install on a different platform, you can use the cargo risczero build-toolchain command to build the toolchain locally.

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Verify the installation

Verify that the installation was successful by checking the version: 
cargo risczero --version
You can also verify the Rust toolchain was installed correctly: 
rustup toolchain list --verbose | grep risc0

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Docker (optional)

The cargo risczero build command requires Docker to be available in your PATH for deterministic builds.
If you plan to use the deterministic build feature (which ensures consistent ImageIDs across different machines), you’ll need Docker installed:
  • Developer machines: Install Docker Desktop
  • CI/CD: Install the Docker CLI for your platform
Deterministic builds are important for security, as they ensure that all builds of your guest code produce the same ImageID regardless of the build environment.

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Installing from source

If you prefer to install cargo-risczero from local source: 
cargo install --path risc0/cargo-risczero
After installation, verify it works: 
cargo risczero --version

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Next steps

Quick start

Build your first zkVM application

cargo risczero

Learn more about the cargo risczero CLI

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