# Quickstart

These instructions will walk you through setting up Lean using the "basic" setup and VS Code as the editor.
See [Setup](./setup.md) for other ways and more details on setting up Lean.

1. Install the latest Lean 4 nightly through [`elan`](https://github.com/leanprover/elan): in any bash-compatible shell, run
    ```sh
    curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leanprover/elan/master/elan-init.sh -sSf | sh -s -- --default-toolchain leanprover/lean4:nightly
    ```
    On Windows, instead run in `cmd`
    ```sh
    curl -O --location https://raw.githubusercontent.com/leanprover/elan/master/elan-init.ps1
    powershell -f elan-init.ps1 --default-toolchain leanprover/lean4:nightly
    del elan-init.ps1
    ```
    See the [elan repo](https://github.com/leanprover/elan) for other installation options and details.
    
1. Install [VS Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/).

1. Open VS Code and install the `lean4` extension.

    ![installing the vscode-lean4 extension](images/code-ext.png)

1. Create a new file with the extension `.lean` and add the following code:
    ```lean
    #eval Lean.versionString
    ```
    You should get a syntax-highlighted file with a "Lean Infoview" on the right that tells you the installed Lean version when placing your cursor on the last line.

    ![successful setup](images/code-success.png)

1. You are set up! You can now also run `lake init foo` from the command line to create a package, followed by `lake build` to get an executable version of your Lean program.

Note: Packages **have** to be opened using "File > Open Folder..." for imports to work.
Saved changes are visible in other files after running "Lean 4: Refresh File Dependencies" (`Ctrl+Shift+X`).