Install the CLI and fetch a lens

This chapter gets you from a fresh checkout to a live idiolect record in about five minutes. You need Git, Rust 1.95 or later, and a network connection. You do not need an ATProto account.

Install from the checkout

Clone the repository and install the command-line interface (CLI):

git clone https://github.com/idiolect-dev/idiolect
cd idiolect
cargo install --locked --path crates/idiolect-cli

The first build may take a few minutes. Confirm that the installed binary comes from this checkout:

idiolect version

idiolect 0.12.1

Resolve the project account

A decentralized identifier (DID) names an account. Its DID document identifies the account's personal data server (PDS). Resolve the idiolect project DID:

idiolect resolve did:plc:wdl4nnvxxdy4mc5vddxlm6f3

The JSON response should identify idiolect.dev and include a pds_url. Resolution is a separate step because records move with an account when its PDS changes.

Fetch the tutorial lens

An AT-URI identifies one record by DID, collection, and record key. Fetch the published tutorial lens:

idiolect fetch \
  at://did:plc:wdl4nnvxxdy4mc5vddxlm6f3/dev.panproto.schema.lens/tutorial-rename-sort-string-to-text

The result is a real dev.panproto.schema.lens record. Its sourceSchema and targetSchema fields identify the schemas it connects, while blob contains the Panproto lens definition. Keep the checkout: the next chapter validates a typed record with the same libraries the CLI uses.