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Prerequisites

Before installing RC VCF Generator, ensure you have:
1

Rust Toolchain

Install Rust 1.70 or later. The easiest way is using rustup:
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
Verify your installation:
rustc --version
cargo --version
2

Recurse Center Account

You’ll need an active Recurse Center account to access the API. If you’re a Recurser, you already have one!
3

Personal Access Token

Generate a personal access token from your RC account:
  1. Log in to recurse.com
  2. Navigate to Settings → API
  3. Click “Create new token”
  4. Give it a descriptive name (e.g., “VCF Generator”)
  5. Copy the token - you’ll need it for the RECURSE_PAT environment variable
Store your token securely! It grants access to your RC account and profile data.

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Installation Methods

This method is not yet available as the package hasn’t been published to crates.io. Use Option 2 for now.
Once published, installation will be as simple as: 
cargo install rc-vcf

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Option 2: Build from Source

Clone the repository and build the project: 
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/roobscoob/rcvcf.git
cd rcvcf

# Build the release binary
cargo build --release

# The binary will be at target/release/rc-vcf
# Optionally, copy it to your PATH
sudo cp target/release/rc-vcf /usr/local/bin/
Building from source requires the Rust toolchain and may take a few minutes to compile all dependencies.

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Option 3: Development Installation

For contributors or those who want to modify the code: 
# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/roobscoob/rcvcf.git
cd rcvcf

# Run directly with cargo
cargo run

# Or build in debug mode
cargo build

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Dependencies

The project uses the following key dependencies (from Cargo.toml):
Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
reqwest = { version = "0.12", features = ["json", "blocking"] }
serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
serde_json = "1.0"
chrono = { version = "0.4", features = ["serde"] }
thiserror = "2.0"
base64 = "0.22"
urlencoding = "2.1"
dotenv = "0.15.0"
phonenumber = "0.3"
These will be automatically installed when you build the project.

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Verify Installation

After installation, verify that the tool is available: 
rc-vcf
The CLI will start running immediately and fetch profiles from the Recurse Center API. Make sure you have set the RECURSE_PAT environment variable first. The current version is 0.1.0 as specified in Cargo.toml.

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Platform-Specific Notes

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macOS

No additional setup required. The tool works out of the box after Rust installation.

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Linux

You may need to install OpenSSL development libraries: 
# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install pkg-config libssl-dev

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf install pkgconfig openssl-devel

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S openssl pkg-config

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Windows

The tool should work on Windows with the Rust toolchain, but has been primarily tested on Unix-like systems. If you encounter issues, please report them on GitHub.

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Troubleshooting

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Compilation Errors

If you encounter compilation errors:
  1. Ensure you’re using Rust 1.70 or later
  2. Update your Rust toolchain: rustup update
  3. Clean the build cache: cargo clean && cargo build --release

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Missing OpenSSL

If you see errors about OpenSSL:
  • On macOS: Install via Homebrew: brew install openssl
  • On Linux: See platform-specific notes above

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Permission Denied

If you can’t copy the binary to /usr/local/bin/:
  • Use sudo for the copy command
  • Or add the binary to your PATH without copying: 
    export PATH="$PATH:$(pwd)/target/release"

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Next Steps

Now that you’ve installed RC VCF Generator, head over to the Quickstart guide to generate your first VCF file!

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