Step 2: OS Environment Setup

To participate in the fellowship, you need a local shell and Node development environment. We support Windows (WSL), macOS, and Linux.

🎯 Step Objectives

Configure a Unix terminal shell (Bash/Zsh).
Install NVM (Node Version Manager) and Node.js.
Configure Git and SSH keys for secure authentication with GitHub.

🏃‍♂️ Action Guide

Refer to our complete Operating System Setup Guide for specific installation steps tailored to your environment. Here is a summary of the terminal commands you’ll need:

1. Unix Terminal Setup

Windows: Windows Command Prompt and PowerShell are not supported. You must install and use WSL 2 (Ubuntu).
Terminal window
```
wsl --install
```

macOS: Install Homebrew to manage packages:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

2. Node.js & NVM Installation

We manage Node versions using NVM (Node Version Manager). Install NVM by running:

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

Restart your shell and install Node.js (LTS):

nvm install --lts
nvm use --lts

Verify the installation by running node -v (should print v20.x or v22.x or newer) and npm -v.

3. Generate & Configure SSH

SSH keys are required to authenticate securely with GitHub without typing your password each time you push code.

Generate a new SSH key:
Terminal window
```
ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"
```
Press Enter to accept default locations.
Start the ssh-agent and add your key:
Terminal window
```
eval "$(ssh-agent -s)"
ssh-add ~/.ssh/id_ed25519
```
Copy your public key:
Terminal window
```
cat ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
```
Paste the copied key into your GitHub account:
- Go to GitHub Settings -> SSH and GPG keys -> New SSH key.
- Give it a title (e.g. “My Laptop”) and paste your key.
Test the connection:
Terminal window
```
ssh -T git@github.com
```
(You should see a message: “Hi [your-username]! You’ve successfully authenticated…”)