> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://rive.app/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Getting Started

> Install the Rive CLI and build your first project.

Install the Rive CLI, create a project, and open the live preview. By the end of this guide, you'll have a `.riv` file you can load with the Rive Runtimes.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Install the CLI">
    The CLI runs on macOS with Apple Silicon, on Linux x86\_64, and on Windows.

    <Tabs>
      <Tab title="Installer">
        ```bash theme={null}
        curl -fsSL https://releases.rive.app/cli/install.sh | sh
        ```

        Add the CLI to your `PATH` so the `rive` command is available in every new
        shell, then reload your current shell to pick it up:

        ```bash theme={null}
        echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.rive/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
        source ~/.zshrc
        ```
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Windows">
        ```powershell theme={null}
        irm https://releases.rive.app/cli/install.ps1 | iex
        ```
      </Tab>

      <Tab title="Homebrew">
        ```bash theme={null}
        brew install --cask rive-app/tap/rive-cli
        ```

        `rive update`, `rive switch` and `rive uninstall` need the installer build
        under `~/.rive`, so they do not work with a Homebrew install. Manage a
        Homebrew install with `brew` instead, using `brew upgrade` and
        `brew uninstall --cask rive-cli`.
      </Tab>
    </Tabs>

    Run `rive doctor` to check your install.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Create a project">
    ```bash theme={null}
    rive create myproject
    ```

    That writes a `rive.yaml`, an `AGENTS.md` for coding agents, a `.gitignore`, and
    a `scene.rml` holding the same frame the Editor gives a new file: an artboard, a
    timeline, and a state machine that plays it on load. A shape you add and key
    starts animating without any further setup.

    Everything else you drop in the folder is picked up by extension: `.luau`
    scripts, `.wgsl` shaders, images and fonts. The generated `rive.yaml` sets `name`
    and turns the build logs on; everything else in
    [rive.yaml](/docs/cli/reference/project-config) is optional.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the preview window">
    ```bash theme={null}
    rive myproject
    ```

    This opens a window showing the scene and watches the directory. Save any file
    and it rebuilds and reloads, writing `myproject/build/myproject.riv`, the file
    you can load with a [runtime](/docs/runtimes/getting-started).

    A new project has nothing drawn in it yet, so you get a dark rectangle. Keep this
    running in one terminal while you edit in another.
  </Step>
</Steps>

To build without opening a window, use `rive myproject --once`. To check that the
project compiles without writing anything, use `--verify`.

## Starting from an existing Rive file

If the work already exists in the Rive Editor, convert it into a CLI-ready project rather than
starting over. Export a `.rev` from the Editor, then point `rive create` at it:

```bash theme={null}
rive create myproject --from-rev=myfile.rev # --from-rev takes a path to the .rev
rive myproject
```

The scene comes out as `scene.rml`, and every script, shader and asset is written as
its own file, laid out the way the Editor's **Assets** panel had them. You also get
the usual `rive.yaml`, `AGENTS.md` and `.gitignore`, so it is an ordinary project
from that point on.

The project name has to be empty or new. Omit it and the `.rev`'s own name is used, so
`myfile.rev` becomes `myfile/`.

## Signing in

You don't need to sign in to create, preview, or build projects locally. Sign in when you need to publish a file or export a `.rev` to open in the Rive Editor:

```bash id="bmt6er" theme={null}
rive login
```

An account is required for `--publish`, which signs the file through Rive's API, and `--rev`, which exports a `.rev`. Everything else runs locally and works signed out and offline.

<Warning>
  A file containing scripts that is destined for the web must be built with
  `--publish`. Unsigned scripts are rejected by the CDN and the web runtimes. A file with no scripts is unaffected.
</Warning>

`--publish` watermarks what it writes until the project is bound to a Rive file in
your account. Binding is done by `rive push`, which is coming soon. Until then, every
published file carries the watermark, and `--once` writes an unwatermarked build for
local use.

## More resources

* [RML](/docs/runtimes/advanced-topic/rml) - the markup that describes a scene
* [AI Agents](/docs/cli/agents) - hand the project to Claude Code or Cursor
* [Examples](/docs/cli/examples) - sample projects to start from, rendering without a window, and CI
* [Commands](/docs/cli/reference/commands) - every command and flag