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Prerequisites for C3 AI Application development

You can develop applications on the C3 Agentic AI Platform using the C3 AI VS Code Extension and C3 AI Studio. Before developing a basic application, complete the following steps:

  1. Ensure your development environment meets the system requirements.
  2. Set up the C3 AI VS Code Extension.
  3. Set up a workspace for your package.
  4. Create a single node environment.

System requirements

Application development on the platform has the following system requirements:

  • C3 Agentic AI Platform version 8.4.0 or higher
  • Visual Studio Code version of 1.81.2 or higher
  • Mac, Windows, or Linux operating system
  • Minimum 32 GB of RAM
  • Google Chrome browser
  • Full read/write permissions for your workspace

You might have to update your system and software to meet the minimum requirements necessary for developing applications with the C3 Agentic AI Platform. For more information, see the Supported Versions per Release page.

Workspace permissions

You might need to enable certain permissions in your specific workspace to use C3 AI VS Code Extension features, especially if you are using a virtual desktop where permissions are not enabled by default. For example, if you want to sync your application with the C3 AI VS Code Extension, you need read or write permissions for your package.

To view permissions, you can right-click package folders and select your OS's version of the "Properties" or "Get Info".

Alternatively, use command line to view permissions for your package:

  1. Navigate to your workspace folder in your system's command line.
  2. Determine the permissions for your workspace packages. For Mac and Linux, the command is ls -l. For Windows, the command is icacls <Directory>.

Reach out to your system administrator to enable permissions for your workspace.

Set up the C3 AI VS Code Extension

Complete the following steps to set up the C3 AI VS Code Extension:

  1. Install or upgrade to the latest version of the C3 AI VS Code Extension. The minimum version requirement is C3 AI VS Code Extension version 1.98.
  2. Quit VS Code after installing or upgrading the C3 AI VS Code Extension.
  3. Install or upgrade Node.js.
    • To verify your Node.js version, navigate to the folder from which you plan to develop your package in your terminal and run node -v.
    • Use the 8.7 Upgrade Requirements or 8.8 Upgrade Requirements page to find the updated node version for your software.
  4. If you're using Mac OS, install XCode by running xcode-select --install.

For more information on minimum version requirements, see the C3 AI VS Code Extension and Supported Platform Versions.

Set up your workspace for your package

Your workspace contains your application package code. Set up a directory for your workspace on the local file system of your client device where you can store your application package code.

Do not use any special characters, spaces, or periods in the workspace path. You can create a directory that contains the basic package folders by selecting the Create a new Package icon in the C3 AI VS Code Extension.

To learn more about packages in the C3 Agentic AI Platform, see Package Management Overview.

The following example demonstrates a package called packageA in a repository base:

Text
LocalWorkspace/
├── packageA/
└── packageB/

The directory path for packageA is base/LocalWorkspace/packageA.

C3 AI applications require a .c3pkg.json file that contains the application metadata. Inside the packageA folder, create a packageA.c3pkg.json file with the following specifications:

  • The value of the name field must be packageA
  • The file prefix is the same name as the folder name

Here's an example packageA.c3pkg.json file for packageA:

JSON
{
  "author" : "user",
  "name" : "packageA",
  "description" : "describe the purpose of this package",
  "dependencies": {
    "uiDemo": "8.6",
    "uiComponentLibraryReact": "8.6"
  }
}

See the Package Management Overview to learn more about the application and package relationship.

A working package does not require the uiDemo or uiComponentLibraryReact dependencies. However, if your package uses C3 AI UI Component Types, it must include the uiComponentLibraryReact dependency.

Create a single node environment

Create a single node environment for your application development. For a walkthrough, see Create an Environment in C3 AI Studio.

Develop an application

After you set up the VS Code Extension, configure your package workspace, and create a single-node environment, you can start developing your C3 AI application. To begin, see Develop a C3 AI Application.

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