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Getting Started

Initial Setup

This guide will walk you through initializing your project, deploying an actor, and setting up your client SDK.


Prerequisites

  • Node.js v22 or higher
  • A terminal/command prompt

If you get stuck at any point, you can ask a question on Discord/GitHub Discussion or file a bug report on GitHub Issues.

Install CLI

Run this command to install Rivet on your system:

curl -fsSL https://releases.rivet.gg/rivet/latest/install.sh | sh
Command Line

Initialize project

Once you've installed the Rivet CLI, run this command in your project root to create a new project:

rivet init
Command Line

Follow the instructions to initialize your project.

Deploy project

After initializing your project, will deploy your actor to Rivet's servers:

cd my-app  # Replace "my-app" with your project name
rivet deploy
Command Line

If self-hosting, this will prompt you to input a custom API address.

Once complete, visit the Rivet Hub to see the build you uploaded:

Build list

Create a test actor

Now that you've uploaded a build to Rivet, we need to create an actor. To test the actor can be created & connected to, run:

npx tsx counter_test.ts
Command Line

Once complete, visit the Rivet Hub to see the actor you created:

Actor list

Setup client

Now that you have an actor deployed, integrate the Rivet client SDK with your actor.

Install the Actor client package:

npm add @rivet-gg/actor-client

Once installed, we need to find the endpoint that your actors connect to. Run this command in your project:

rivet manager endpoint
Command Line

Use this code to create & connect to the actor. Replace /* CONNECTION ADDRESS */ with the value from the previous step.

import { Client } from '@rivet-gg/actor-client';
const client = new Client(/* CONNECTION ADDRESS */);

const counter = await client.get({ name: 'counter' }); // Get or create a `counter` actor
const newCount = await counter.increment(5); // Call the method `increment` on the `counter` actor
console.log('New count', newCount);
TypeScript

Visit the Rivet Hub to see the actor you created.


Next steps

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