Build from Source

Build Barn from source when developing a change or auditing a release tag. For prebuilt CLI binaries and the native Barn.app included in the Apple Silicon release, see Install Barn.

Check out the source

Clone tag v1.2.0 to reproduce the documented release (or omit --branch v1.2.0 to work on main), and record git log -1 --oneline and git status --short alongside any build report:

git clone --branch v1.2.0 https://github.com/pgsty/barn.git
cd barn

Tag v1.2.0 reproduces the published release described in the Barn 1.2.0 release notes. Leave BARN_VERSION unset for a development build.

Build the CLI

Barn 1.2.0 pins Go 1.27.4 in go.mod and packaging/toolchain.env, and requires Git, Make, Bash, and standard C/POSIX build tools (compiling the CLI does not require QEMU or host-network setup):

BARN_VERSION=1.2.0 make build
export PATH="$PWD/bin:$PATH"
barn version

make build compiles both barn and barn-hosts-helper into bin/.barn-releases/, embeds the helper’s SHA-256 digest into the CLI, and creates entry-point symlinks under bin/. Always use make build rather than a bare go build ./cmd/barn, and keep bin/.barn-releases/ alongside the bin/ links if you move the build output.

Without BARN_VERSION, development builds report dev, and the commit field marks modified working trees as uncommitted.

To cross-compile the Go CLI and helper for all four supported targets (darwin_amd64, darwin_arm64, linux_amd64, and linux_arm64), run make cross. Keep build artifacts (bin/, dist/, .goreleaser-*/) and lab inventories out of version control; check ignore rules before generating them in the working tree.

Run the contributor checks below against the exact checkout you intend to use. Earlier dated acceptance records are kept in Validation History.

Follow packaging/toolchain.env in the checkout being built. Formal assets use the signed and notarized release procedure.

Build the Mac component

Before rebuilding a local Mac bundle, stop any running Mac VMs that use it.

On an Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 27+ with Xcode 27+ selected for xcrun (providing the macOS 27 SDK and Swift compiler), run:

BARN_VERSION=1.2.0 make mac-build
export PATH="$PWD/bin/mac:$PATH"
barn mac doctor

make mac-build produces a matched bundle under bin/mac (barn, barn-hosts-helper, standalone barn-mac-runner, and Barn.app) as well as bin/barn-mac-darwin-arm64.tar.gz. Run make mac-native-test to execute the Swift component test suite, and follow the macOS VM guide to provision a guest.

The current CLI discovers both Barn.app and legacy Barn Mac.app bundles, whereas the 0.9.0 CLI only looks for Barn Mac.app—always use the barn CLI and native app built together in bin/mac.

Code signing and notarization

When signing environment variables are unset, make mac-build applies an ad-hoc signature for local development. For signed or notarized builds:

• Set BARN_CODESIGN_IDENTITY to sign Barn.app with a Developer ID certificate.
• Set BARN_NOTARY_PROFILE and BARN_MAC_REQUIRE_NOTARIZATION=1 to submit Barn.app for Apple notarization, staple the ticket, and verify Gatekeeper acceptance.
• With BARN_CODESIGN_IDENTITY set, make mac-build also signs the Go helper before embedding its final SHA-256 in the CLI, then signs the CLI. The Mac release handbook adds joint notarization of the CLI/helper/app and verification of the exported release payload.

Run contributor checks

Running the full make check suite requires Python 3, jq, a C compiler (for -race), and the linter/scanner versions pinned in packaging/toolchain.env:

go install honnef.co/go/tools/cmd/staticcheck@v0.8.2
go install golang.org/x/tools/cmd/deadcode@v0.52.0
go install github.com/golangci/golangci-lint/v2/cmd/golangci-lint@v2.15.0
go install golang.org/x/vuln/cmd/govulncheck@v1.9.0

Ensure GOBIN (or $(go env GOPATH)/bin) is on your PATH, then run:

make test
make check

make check verifies go.mod, shell scripts, repository maintenance rules, unit and race tests, go vet, staticcheck, deadcode, golangci-lint, govulncheck, four-target cross-builds, image-pipeline and installer tests, and dependency licenses. See Contributing and Release Engineering for packaging snapshot checks.