Getting started

Before you start your journey building and learning with Akka, there are a few things you need to get set up first. This only takes a minute.

Prerequisites

Before you start exploring all of the samples, let’s make sure that your environment and your local tool chain all work properly.

Configuring your secure repository token

If you haven’t already done so, you will need to get a secure repository token that allows you to use the Akka SDK as a project dependency. If you have a token configured, you can skip to the next section.

When you go to the repository token page, you will be presented with two options:

  • Register - create a new free support account.

  • Current customer - select this if you have already created a free support account.

Remember that this account is an Akka support account and is not the same thing as a paid Akka cloud account. This account is specifically for interacting with support and downloading Akka dependency binaries from the secure Maven repository.

Once registered and authenticated, you will see that a secure token has been generated for you. This token will then be automatically detected and used whenever you use the Akka CLI to create new projects.

Unless your environment has specific needs, selecting the option to have the CLI automatically place the token in your Maven global settings.xml file is the easiest way to proceed.

Creating an empty project

If you’re already using an AI coding assistant and want to build your first apps with Spec-Driven Development, then you can use the akka specify init command instead.

To verify that your environment can compile Akka applications, create a new, empty project by typing akka code init in a terminal window and selecting the empty project template. If this is the first time you’ve run akka code init, then it will ask you to go through authenticating against your free support account in a browser (discussed in the next section). You will then choose whether you want the token for the private repository to be in your Maven settings.xml file or if you want to add it manually to the project’s pom.xml.

Next, cd into the directory that was just created and type mvn compile. If you did not configure the secure repository token properly, then you may get a compile error with authorization failure/access denied messages. If you get Java compilation errors, check to make sure that you have the JDK installed and configured properly.

If you were able to create and build an empty project, then you’re all set and you can continue on to the tutorials.