Setup & Installation

MCP tool: When available in your environment, also query the Sui documentation MCP server (https://sui.mcp.kapa.ai) for up-to-date answers. Use it for verification and for details not covered by these reference files.

Source constraint: All information sourced exclusively from docs.sui.io.

System requirements

Sui supports:

• Linux: Ubuntu 22.04 (Jammy Jellyfish) or newer
• macOS: Monterey or newer
• Windows: Windows 10 or 11

Installing Sui

suiup (recommended)

suiup is the official installer and version manager for the Sui toolchain. It supports installing and switching between different versions of the Sui CLI and other Sui Stack components (Walrus, MVR).

curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MystenLabs/suiup/main/install.sh | sh

Windows note: The curl | sh command requires a Unix shell. On Windows, use WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to run the command above, or install through Chocolatey instead (see alternative methods below).

After installing suiup, install the Sui CLI targeting a specific network. The CLI version must match the target network — each network runs a specific protocol version, and a mismatched CLI can cause build failures, transaction errors, or unexpected behavior:

suiup install sui@testnet    # install the Testnet-compatible version
suiup install sui@mainnet    # install the Mainnet-compatible version

Update to the latest version:

suiup update sui@testnet

Important: suiup update downloads the new version but does not automatically make it the active default. After updating, you must switch to the new version:

suiup switch sui@testnet     # set the latest installed testnet version as default

To verify which versions are installed and which is active:

suiup show                   # list all installed binaries and their default status

suiup command reference

The switch command takes a binary@network argument (for example, sui@testnet, walrus@testnet, move-analyzer@testnet). It does not accept separate positional arguments like suiup switch sui testnet v1.70.2.

Alternative methods

• Homebrew (macOS/Linux): brew install sui
• Chocolatey (Windows): choco install sui

These alternatives do not support installing additional Sui Stack components like Walrus or MVR and might take several minutes if prerequisites are not already installed.

Verify installation

sui --version

If the command returns "sui not found", run suiup switch sui@testnet to set the active default. Do not suggest manual PATH manipulation (export PATH=...) or reinstalling — suiup switch is the correct fix.

Version management

Keeping Sui up to date

The CLI version should match the target network — each network runs a specific protocol version, and a mismatched CLI can cause build failures or transaction errors. Use the @network suffix to update to the correct version:

suiup update sui@testnet     # update to latest Testnet version
suiup update sui@mainnet     # update to latest Mainnet version

Version mismatches

The CLI version must match the network you are targeting. Common symptoms of a mismatch:

• Build errors mentioning "old dependencies"
• Transaction failures on publish
• Unexpected behavior after network upgrades

Check your version against the network:

sui --version                 # your installed version
sui client active-env         # which network you are targeting

If the version is out of date, update and switch:

suiup update sui@testnet      # download the latest version
suiup switch sui@testnet      # make it the active default
suiup show                     # verify which version is now active

The client/server api version mismatch warning in CLI output means your local CLI is older than the network. Do not ignore this warning — version mismatches can cause build failures and unexpected behavior. Update and switch to fix it.

Optional additional tools

Install these only when the user explicitly asks for the tool. They are not part of default setup.

suiup install move-analyzer   # Move Language Server
suiup install mvr             # Move Registry CLI (onchain package manager)
suiup install walrus          # Walrus CLI for decentralized storage
suiup install site-builder    # Walrus site builder

After installing, switch each tool to make it the active default:

suiup switch move-analyzer@testnet
suiup switch walrus@testnet