02 · Setting Up Your Dev Environment

Install Node.js, @sap/cds-dk, VS Code with CAP extensions, and explore SAP Business Application Studio.

Lesson 2 — Setting Up Your Dev Environment

What you'll build

A fully working CAP development environment on your local machine with Node.js, the CAP CLI, VS Code extensions, and a verified installation you can rely on for the entire course.

Prerequisites

A computer running macOS, Windows, or Linux
Internet access
Basic terminal / command-line comfort

Step 1 — Install Node.js

CAP requires Node.js 18 or 20 (LTS versions). Do not use Node 21+ for CAP — some dependencies are not yet verified.

Option A — Direct download (simplest)

Go to https://nodejs.org and download the LTS version.

Option B — nvm (recommended for developers)

# Install nvm (macOS/Linux)
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.7/install.sh | bash

# Restart terminal, then:
nvm install 20
nvm use 20
nvm alias default 20

Verify:

node --version   # Should print v20.x.x
npm --version    # Should print 10.x.x

Step 2 — Install the CAP CLI

The @sap/cds-dk package gives you the cds command-line tool.

npm install -g @sap/cds-dk

Why -g? The -g flag installs it globally so cds is available in any folder, not just one project.

Verify:

cds --version
# Should print: @sap/cds: 8.x.x  @sap/cds-dk: 8.x.x

Step 3 — Install VS Code + CAP Extensions

Download VS Code from https://code.visualstudio.com.

Then install these extensions (Ctrl+Shift+X → search by name):

Extension	Purpose
SAP CDS Language Support	Syntax highlighting, autocomplete, error checking for `.cds` files
REST Client	Send HTTP requests directly from VS Code to test your service
SQLite Viewer	Inspect your local SQLite database visually

Extensions to install:
- SAPSE.vscode-cds
- humao.rest-client
- qwtel.sqlite-viewer

Step 4 — Install SQLite (for local development)

CAP uses SQLite as the local database during development. It's usually pre-installed on macOS and Linux.

# Check if already installed
sqlite3 --version

# If not installed — macOS
brew install sqlite

# Windows: download from https://www.sqlite.org/download.html

Step 5 — Optional: SAP Business Application Studio (BAS)

If you're working in a BTP Trial environment, you can use SAP Business Application Studio instead of VS Code. BAS is a browser-based IDE with all CAP tools pre-installed.

To access BAS:
1. Log in to your BTP Trial cockpit
2. Go to Services → Service Marketplace
3. Search for SAP Business Application Studio → Subscribe
4. Open the application → Create a Dev Space (type: Full Stack Cloud Application)

For this course, local VS Code is recommended — it's faster and you can work offline.

Step 6 — Verify everything works

Run this complete verification:

node --version     # v18.x or v20.x
npm --version      # 9.x or 10.x
cds --version      # 8.x.x
sqlite3 --version  # 3.x.x
git --version      # any recent version

All green? You're ready for Lesson 3.

Common setup issues

cds: command not found after install
Your PATH doesn't include npm global binaries. Run:

# macOS/Linux
echo 'export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc && source ~/.zshrc

# Windows — restart the terminal after npm install

Node version mismatch errors later
Always use Node 18 or 20. If you installed a different version, use nvm use 20 before working on CAP projects.

BAS Dev Space stuck "starting"
Refresh the browser after 2 minutes. If still stuck, delete the dev space and create a new one.

Checkpoint ✓

Run cds --version — if it prints a version number, you're done. In Lesson 3, you'll use this setup to create your first real CAP project.