Development Setup
This guide covers establishing a local development environment for CoW Protocol Services, a Rust-based project requiring multiple tools and dependencies.
Prerequisites
- Rust 2024 Edition - Install via rustup
- Docker/Docker Compose - For PostgreSQL and other services
- Foundry’s
anvil - For network testing
cargo-nextest - For running tests
Do not use cargo test - always use cargo nextest run due to CI compatibility differences.
- Just - Convenient command shortcuts (
just test-unit, just fmt, etc.)
- Tombi - TOML formatting tool
Setup Steps
1. Clone the Repository
git clone https://github.com/cowprotocol/services.git
cd services
2. Build Dependencies
Dependencies are automatically resolved via Cargo:
3. Configure PostgreSQL
Start PostgreSQL using Docker Compose, which handles migrations automatically:
4. Set Environment Variables
For forked network testing, configure RPC endpoints:
export FORK_URL_MAINNET="https://eth.llamarpc.com"
export FORK_URL_GNOSIS="https://rpc.gnosischain.com"
IDE Configuration
VS Code
Recommended extensions:
- rust-analyzer
- Even Better TOML
- CodeLLDB (for debugging)
JetBrains IDEs
- Official Rust plugin
- Configure nightly rustfmt in settings
Zed
- Built-in Rust support
- Tombi extension for TOML
Verification
Validate your setup by running:
# Unit tests
just test-unit
# Database tests (requires PostgreSQL)
just test-db
# Formatting check
cargo +nightly fmt --check
# Clippy linter
cargo clippy --all-targets --all-features
Troubleshooting
Linker Errors
- Linux: Install
build-essential packages
- macOS: Install Xcode command line tools (
xcode-select --install)
Memory Constraints
Compilation can be memory-intensive. Ensure you have at least 8GB RAM available.
Port Conflicts
If PostgreSQL fails to start, check for existing instances on port 5432:
