Getting Started

asdf installation involves:

  1. Installing dependencies
  2. Downloading asdf core
  3. Installing asdf
  4. Installing a plugin for each tool/runtime you wish to manage
  5. Installing a version of the tool/runtime
  6. Setting global and project versions via .tool-versions config files

1. Install Dependencies

asdf primarily requires git & curl. Here is a non-exhaustive list of commands to run for your package manager (some might automatically install these tools in later steps).

OSPackage ManagerCommand
linuxAptitudeapt install curl git
linuxDNFdnf install curl git
linuxPacmanpacman -S curl git
linuxZypperzypper install curl git
macOSHomebrewbrew install coreutils curl git
macOSSpackspack install coreutils curl git

Note

sudo may be required depending on your system configuration.

2. Download asdf

Official Download

git clone https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf.git ~/.asdf --branch v0.11.3

Community Supported Download Methods

We highly recommend using the official git method.

MethodCommand
Homebrewbrew install asdf
Pacmangit clone https://aur.archlinux.org/asdf-vm.git && cd asdf-vm && makepkg -si or use your preferred AUR helperopen in new window

3. Install asdf

There are many different combinations of Shells, OSs & Installation methods all of which affect the configuration here. Expand the selection below that best matches your system:

Bash & Git

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"

Completions must be configured by adding the following to your .bashrc:

. "$HOME/.asdf/completions/asdf.bash"
Bash & Git (macOS)

If using macOS Catalina or newer, the default shell has changed to ZSH. Unless changing back to Bash, follow the ZSH instructions.

Add the following to ~/.bash_profile:

. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"

Completions must be configured manually with the following entry in your .bash_profile:

. "$HOME/.asdf/completions/asdf.bash"
Bash & Homebrew

Add asdf.sh to your ~/.bashrc with:

echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.sh\"" >> ~/.bashrc

Completions will need to be configured as per Homebrew's instructionsopen in new window or with the following:

echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/etc/bash_completion.d/asdf.bash\"" >> ~/.bashrc
Bash & Homebrew (macOS)

If using macOS Catalina or newer, the default shell has changed to ZSH. Unless changing back to Bash, follow the ZSH instructions.

Add asdf.sh to your ~/.bash_profile with:

echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.sh\"" >> ~/.bash_profile

Completions will need to be configured as per Homebrew's instructionsopen in new window or with the following:

echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/etc/bash_completion.d/asdf.bash\"" >> ~/.bash_profile
Bash & Pacman

Add the following to ~/.bashrc:

. /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.sh

bash-completionopen in new window needs to be installed for the completions to work.

Fish & Git

Add the following to ~/.config/fish/config.fish:

source ~/.asdf/asdf.fish

Completions must be configured manually with the following command:

mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions; and ln -s ~/.asdf/completions/asdf.fish ~/.config/fish/completions
Fish & Homebrew

Add asdf.fish to your ~/.config/fish/config.fish with:

echo -e "\nsource "(brew --prefix asdf)"/libexec/asdf.fish" >> ~/.config/fish/config.fish

Completions are handled by Homebrew for the Fish shellopen in new window. Friendly!

Fish & Pacman

Add the following to ~/.config/fish/config.fish:

source /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.fish

Completions are automatically configured on installation by the AUR package.

Elvish & Git

Add asdf.elv to your ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv with:

mkdir -p ~/.config/elvish/lib; ln -s ~/.asdf/asdf.elv ~/.config/elvish/lib/asdf.elv
echo "\n"'use asdf _asdf; var asdf~ = $_asdf:asdf~' >> ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv
echo "\n"'set edit:completion:arg-completer[asdf] = $_asdf:arg-completer~' >> ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv

Completions are automatically configured.

Elvish & Homebrew

Add asdf.elv to your ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv with:

mkdir -p ~/.config/elvish/lib; ln -s (brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.elv ~/.config/elvish/lib/asdf.elv
echo "\n"'use asdf _asdf; var asdf~ = $_asdf:asdf~' >> ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv
echo "\n"'set edit:completion:arg-completer[asdf] = $_asdf:arg-completer~' >> ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv

Completions are automatically configured.

Elvish & Pacman

Add asdf.elv to your ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv with:

mkdir -p ~/.config/elvish/lib; ln -s /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.elv ~/.config/elvish/lib/asdf.elv
echo "\n"'use asdf _asdf; var asdf~ = $_asdf:asdf~' >> ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv
echo "\n"'set edit:completion:arg-completer[asdf] = $_asdf:arg-completer~' >> ~/.config/elvish/rc.elv

Completions are automatically configured.

ZSH & Git

Add the following to ~/.zshrc:

. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"

OR use a ZSH Framework plugin like asdf for oh-my-zshopen in new window which will source this script and setup completions.

Completions are configured by either a ZSH Framework asdf plugin or by adding the following to your .zshrc:

# append completions to fpath
fpath=(${ASDF_DIR}/completions $fpath)
# initialise completions with ZSH's compinit
autoload -Uz compinit && compinit
  • if you are using a custom compinit setup, ensure compinit is below your sourcing of asdf.sh
  • if you are using a custom compinit setup with a ZSH Framework, ensure compinit is below your sourcing of the framework

Warning

If you are using a ZSH Framework the associated asdf plugin may need to be updated to use the new ZSH completions properly via fpath. The Oh-My-ZSH asdf plugin is yet to be updated, see ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh#8837open in new window.

ZSH & Homebrew

Add asdf.sh to your ~/.zshrc with:

echo -e "\n. $(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.sh" >> ${ZDOTDIR:-~}/.zshrc

OR use a ZSH Framework plugin like asdf for oh-my-zshopen in new window which will source this script and setup completions.

Completions are configured by either a ZSH Framework asdf or will need to be configured as per Homebrew's instructionsopen in new window. If you are using a ZSH Framework the associated plugin for asdf may need to be updated to use the new ZSH completions properly via fpath. The Oh-My-ZSH asdf plugin is yet to be updated, see ohmyzsh/ohmyzsh#8837open in new window.

ZSH & Pacman

Add the following to ~/.zshrc:

. /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.sh

Completions are placed in a ZSH friendly location, but ZSH must be configured to use the autocompletionsopen in new window.

PowerShell Core & Git

Add the following to ~/.config/powershell/profile.ps1:

. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.ps1"
PowerShell Core & Homebrew

Add asdf.sh to your ~/.config/powershell/profile.ps1 with:

echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.ps1\"" >> ~/.config/powershell/profile.ps1
PowerShell Core & Pacman

Add the following to ~/.config/powershell/profile.ps1:

. /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.ps1
Nushell & Git

Add asdf.nu to your ~/.config/nushell/config.nu with:

"\nlet-env ASDF_NU_DIR = ($env.HOME | path join '.asdf')\n source " + ($env.HOME | path join '.asdf/asdf.nu') | save --append $nu.config-path

Completions are automatically configured

Nushell & Homebrew

Add asdf.nu to your ~/.config/nushell/config.nu with:

"\nlet-env ASDF_NU_DIR = (brew --prefix asdf | str trim | into string | path join 'libexec')\n source " +  (brew --prefix asdf | into string | path join 'libexec/asdf.nu') | save --append $nu.config-path

Completions are automatically configured

Nushell & Pacman

Add asdf.nu to your ~/.config/nushell/config.nu with:

"\nlet-env ASDF_NU_DIR = '/opt/asdf-vm/'\n source /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.nu" | save --append $nu.config-path

Completions are automatically configured.

POSIX Shell & Git

Add the following to ~/.profile:

export ASDF_DIR="$HOME/.asdf"
. "$HOME/.asdf/asdf.sh"
POSIX Shell & Homebrew

Add asdf.sh to your ~/.profile with:

echo -e "\nexport ASDF_DIR=\"$(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.sh\"" >> ~/.profile
echo -e "\n. \"$(brew --prefix asdf)/libexec/asdf.sh\"" >> ~/.profile
POSIX Shell & Pacman

Add the following to ~/.profile:

export ASDF_DIR="/opt/asdf-vm"
. /opt/asdf-vm/asdf.sh

asdf scripts need to be sourced after you have set your $PATH and after you have sourced your framework (oh-my-zsh etc).

Restart your shell so that PATH changes take effect. Opening a new terminal tab will usually do it.

Core Installation Complete!

This completes the installation of the asdf core 🎉

asdf is only useful once you install a plugin, install a tool and manage its versions. Continue the guide below to learn how to do this.

4. Install a Plugin

For demonstration purposes we will install & set Node.jsopen in new window via the asdf-nodejsopen in new window plugin.

Plugin Dependencies

Each plugin has dependencies so we need to check the plugin repo where they should be listed. For asdf-nodejs they are:

OSDependency Installation
Debianapt-get install dirmngr gpg curl gawk
CentOS/ Rocky Linux/ AlmaLinuxyum install gnupg2 curl gawk
macOSbrew install gpg gawk

We should install dependencies first as some Plugins have post-install hooks.

Install the Plugin

asdf plugin add nodejs https://github.com/asdf-vm/asdf-nodejs.git

5. Install a Version

Now we have a plugin for Node.js we can install a version of the tool.

We can see which versions are available with asdf list all nodejs or a subset of versions with asdf list all nodejs 14.

We will just install the latest available version:

asdf install nodejs latest

Note

asdf enforces exact versions. latest is a helper throughout asdf that will resolve to the actual version number at the time of execution.

6. Set a Version

asdf performs a version lookup of a tool in all .tool-versions files from the current working directory up to the $HOME directory. The lookup occurs just-in-time when you execute a tool that asdf manages.

WARNING

Without a version listed for a tool execution of the tool will error. asdf current will show you the tool & version resolution, or absence of, from your current directory so you can observe which tools will fail to execute.

Global

Global defaults are managed in $HOME/.tool-versions. Set a global version with:

asdf global nodejs latest

$HOME/.tool-versions will then look like:

nodejs 16.5.0

Some OSs already have tools installed that are managed by the system and not asdf, python is a common example. You need to tell asdf to pass the management back to the system. The Versions reference section will guide you.

Local

Local versions are defined in the $PWD/.tool-versions file (your current working directory). Usually, this will be the Git repository for a project. When in your desired directory execute:

asdf local nodejs latest

$PWD/.tool-versions will then look like:

nodejs 16.5.0

Using Existing Tool Version Files

asdf supports the migration from existing version files from other version managers. Eg: .ruby-version for the case of rbenv. This is supported on a per-plugin basis.

asdf-nodejsopen in new window supports this via both .nvmrc and .node-version files. To enable this, add the following to your asdf configuration file $HOME/.asdfrc:

legacy_version_file = yes

See the configuration reference page for more config options.

Guide Complete!

That completes the Getting Started guide for asdf 🎉 You can now manage nodejs versions for your project. Follow similar steps for each type of tool in your project!

asdf has many more commands to become familiar with, you can see them all by running asdf --help or asdf. The core of the commands are broken into three categories:

Last Updated:
Contributors: Edwin Kofler, James Hegedus, Fer, Trevor Brown, github-actions[bot], Bruno Roque, Dave Nicolson, Devin Rhode, Elijah, Eric Nielsen, Frederick, Greg Myers, Jing, Josh Soref, Kerollos Magdy, Shengzhou Li, ygXXII