The jPipe compiler is the jpipe command-line tool: it parses .jd files, validates them, and renders diagrams. Install it first, whether you plan to live in VS Code or in a terminal: it is what actually turns a model into a picture, and the editor and your CI both call it.

Use a package manager (Homebrew, APT or Scoop, below). Each of our packages declares Java 25 and Graphviz as dependencies and runs the compiler against the exact Java it installed, so one command leaves you with a toolchain that works. The manual JAR route works too, but you install and manage those prerequisites yourself.

🍎 macOS (Homebrew)

We ship jPipe for macOS through Homebrew, in the McSCert tap (jpipe-mcscert/homebrew-mcscert). With Homebrew installed, tap that repository and install:

$ brew tap jpipe-mcscert/mcscert
$ brew install jpipe

🐧 Linux (APT)

We build packages for the Ubuntu releases in active support, following our release-target policy: every LTS from 24.04 (Noble) onward while it stays in standard support, plus any interim release still inside its 9-month support window. Add the McSCert Personal Package Archive (PPA):

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mcscert/ppa
$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install jpipe

Troubleshooting

  • If you see add-apt-repository: command not found, install the prerequisites: 
    $ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt install software-properties-common
  • If you see Depends: openjdk-25-jre but it is not installable, your distribution doesn’t ship Java 25 by default; add the OpenJDK 25 PPA to satisfy the requirement.

🪟 Windows (Scoop)

We ship jPipe for Windows through Scoop, in the McSCert bucket (jpipe-mcscert/scoop-mcscert). With Scoop installed, open a PowerShell prompt and run:

PS> scoop install git
PS> scoop bucket add java
PS> scoop bucket add mcscert https://github.com/jpipe-mcscert/scoop-mcscert
PS> scoop install mcscert/jpipe

All four steps are required:

  • git: scoop bucket add clones the bucket repository, so Scoop refuses to add a bucket without it.
  • the java bucket: jPipe depends on java/temurin25-jre, and Scoop resolves dependencies only against buckets you have already added. It will not add a missing one for you, and the install fails if java is absent. Graphviz comes from main, which Scoop adds by default, so it needs no equivalent step.

Troubleshooting

  • Comfortable with Windows Subsystem for Linux? The APT route above works unchanged inside your WSL distribution, but the resulting jpipe is a Linux binary, visible to WSL only. You will have to configure your IDE to connect to WSL to access the executable.

☕️ Manual installation (JAR)

Prefer not to use a package manager? Run jPipe as a JAR.

Prerequisites (both on your $PATH):

From an official release

  1. Open the jPipe Compiler releases page.

  2. Download jpipe-cli-<VERSION>.jar from the Assets of the latest release.

  3. Move it somewhere on your machine (e.g. ~/bin).
  4. Add an alias to your shell profile (.zshrc or .bashrc): 
    alias jpipe='java -jar ~/bin/jpipe.jar'

From source

$ git clone https://github.com/jpipe-mcscert/jpipe-compiler.git
$ cd jpipe-compiler
jpipe-compiler $ mvn install

The fat JAR is produced at jpipe-cli/target/jpipe-cli-<VERSION>.jar; alias it as above.

🩺 Verify your installation

jpipe doctor confirms the compiler starts and can reach Graphviz:

$ jpipe doctor
McMaster University - McSCert (c) 2023-...
    _   ___ _
   (_) / _ (_)_ __   ___
   | |/ /_)/ | '_ \ / _ \
   | / ___/| | |_) |  __/
  _/ \/    |_| .__/ \___|
 |__/        |_|

jPipe 2.1.0
Checking external tools:
  dot (Graphviz): OK

Next steps

Updated: