📖 5 min🎯Difficulty:

The Problem

Before you can build anything, you need Quickshell installed. The installation steps vary by distribution, and there are some additional Qt packages you'll want for the best experience.

Installing Quickshell

Quickshell v0.3.0 is packaged for most major distributions. Choose your distro below.

Arch Linux

sudo pacman -S quickshell

For the latest development version:

yay -S quickshell-git

Fedora

sudo dnf install quickshell

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install quickshell

Ubuntu users can also install from the DankLinux PPA for newer releases:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:avengemedia/danklinux
sudo apt update
sudo apt install quickshell

NixOS

nix shell nixpkgs#quickshell

Or add quickshell to your environment.systemPackages.

Gentoo

emerge gui-apps/quickshell

Guix

guix install quickshell

Additional Qt Packages

Quickshell depends on Qt 6.6+. Most distro packages handle base dependencies automatically, but you'll want these optional packages for full functionality:

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install qml6-module-qt-labs-platform qml6-module-qt-labs-settings qml6-module-qt5compat-graphicaleffects qml6-module-qtquick-effects qt6-image-formats-plugins

# Arch
sudo pacman -S qt6-svg qt6-imageformats qt6-multimedia qt6-5compat

# Fedora
sudo dnf install qt6-qt5compat qt6-qtimageformats qt6-qtmultimedia qt6-qtsvg

Verifying the Installation

Once installed, verify Quickshell is available:

quickshell --version

You should see output like Quickshell 0.3.0.

Installing QML Language Support

For editor support, install the QML Language Server (qmlls). It comes bundled with Qt's development packages:

Arch: sudo pacman -S qt6-tools
Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install qt6-tools-dev
Fedora: sudo dnf install qt6-qtdeclarative-devel

To enable LSP for your Quickshell config, create an empty .qmlls.ini file next to your shell.qml. Quickshell will populate it with the correct configuration.

Next Steps

With Quickshell installed, the next chapter covers setting up your development environment — editor, syntax highlighting, and tools for productive QML development.

✅What You've Learned

• Install Quickshell from your distro package manager
• Optional Qt packages add SVG, image format, and visual effect support
• Verify with quickshell --version
• Install qmlls for LSP support in your editor
• Create an empty .qmlls.ini file next to shell.qml to enable LSP