Installation Guide

Before you start

You need three things. Everything else is optional.

• Java 17 or later — the platform runs on the JVM. If you are not sure whether Java is installed, open a terminal and run java -version. The first number after version " must be 17 or higher. If it is not, the Quick Install script will tell you — or follow Install Java below.
• An Anthropic or OpenAI API key — the platform calls an LLM to generate plans and code. Get an Anthropic key at console.anthropic.com (starts with sk-ant-) or an OpenAI key at platform.openai.com/api-keys. Keep it private — do not commit it to source control.
• A software project on your machine — Spring Boot (Maven or Gradle), Node.js, or Python. You run the pipeline against a real project directory. Any project with a standard build file works.

Quick Install — Recommended

One command. The script checks Java, downloads the JAR, creates the wrapper, and adds it to your PATH.

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://bakalarsoftware.com/dl/install.sh | bash

After the script finishes, activate in your current terminal (or open a new one):

export PATH="${HOME}/.sdlc/bin:${PATH}"

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://bakalarsoftware.com/dl/install.ps1 | iex

Restart your terminal after the script finishes. The sdlc command will be available in new windows.

Verify the install worked:

sdlc --version

You should see SDLC Execution Platform vX.Y.Z. If you see "command not found", the PATH change hasn't taken effect — open a new terminal or run the export command above.

Done? Jump to First Run ↓

Install Java

Skip this section if java -version already shows 17 or higher.

The recommended distribution is Eclipse Temurin — free, open-source, widely used in production.

brew install --cask temurin@21

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y default-jdk-headless

sudo dnf install java-21-openjdk-headless

After installing, close your terminal, open a new one, and confirm with java -version. Do not proceed until you see 17 or higher.

Manual Install

If you prefer to control each step yourself, or if the install script failed.

https://bakalarsoftware.com/dl/sdlc-orchestrator.jar

java -jar sdlc-orchestrator.jar --help

# macOS / Linux
mkdir -p ~/.sdlc

# Windows (PowerShell)
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc"

# macOS / Linux
nano ~/.sdlc/sdlc-local.properties

# Windows (PowerShell)
notepad "$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc\sdlc-local.properties"

# Anthropic (recommended):
llm.anthropicApiKey=sk-ant-YOUR-KEY-HERE

# OpenAI (alternative):
# llm.openAiApiKey=sk-YOUR-KEY-HERE

# macOS / Linux
cat ~/.sdlc/sdlc-local.properties

# Windows
type "$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc\sdlc-local.properties"

mkdir -p ~/.sdlc/bin
cp sdlc-orchestrator.jar ~/.sdlc/
cat > ~/.sdlc/bin/sdlc <<'EOF'
#!/bin/sh
exec java -jar "$HOME/.sdlc/sdlc-orchestrator.jar" "$@"
EOF
chmod +x ~/.sdlc/bin/sdlc
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.sdlc/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc   # or: source ~/.zshrc

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc\bin"
Copy-Item sdlc-orchestrator.jar "$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc\"
Set-Content -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc\bin\sdlc.bat" `
  -Value "@echo off`r`njava -jar `"%USERPROFILE%\.sdlc\sdlc-orchestrator.jar`" %*"
$p = [Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PATH","User")
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("PATH","$p;$env:USERPROFILE\.sdlc\bin","User")

First Run — Test It

Run the platform against a real project with an inline ticket. No Jira or Linear required.

You need a project with a standard build file: pom.xml (Spring Boot / Maven), build.gradle, package.json, or requirements.txt. Replace /path/to/your/project with the actual path.

macOS / Linux

java -jar sdlc-orchestrator.jar \
  --ticket-id TEST-1 \
  --title "Add a health check endpoint" \
  --description "Add a GET /health endpoint that returns HTTP 200 with body: ok" \
  --project /path/to/your/project

Windows (PowerShell — backtick for line continuation)

java -jar sdlc-orchestrator.jar `
  --ticket-id TEST-1 `
  --title "Add a health check endpoint" `
  --description "Add a GET /health endpoint that returns HTTP 200 with body: ok" `
  --project C:\path\to\your\project

If you set up the sdlc shortcut, use sdlc instead of java -jar sdlc-orchestrator.jar.

What you should see:

Type yes and press Enter. The platform generates code and shows a diff, then asks:

Type yes again. Files are written, your build runs, a git commit is created, and an audit record is saved to ~/.sdlc/audit/.

If something goes wrong:

Next Steps

Once the first run works, here is what to explore next.