Developing with RF Swift

This section is for people who want to go beyond the official toolboxes: compile the rfswift binary yourself, build your own images, or contribute to the project.

What you can do

1. Compile the binary from source, for your machine or another architecture.
2. Build your own images with a short YAML recipe, or with a Dockerfile.
3. Contribute new features or fixes to the project.

Your own image in two steps

A YAML recipe lists the base image, the packages and a few commands. For example:

# my-custom-image.yaml
base_image: "ubuntu:24.04"
tag: "my-custom-sdr:latest"
packages:
 - rtl-sdr
 - hackrf
 - gqrx-sdr
python_packages:
 - numpy
 - scipy
run_commands:
 - "echo 'Custom image ready!'"

Build it with one command:

rfswift image build -r my-custom-image.yaml

Recipes are quick to prototype, easy to share and to keep in version control, and you do not need to know how to write a Dockerfile. The YAML recipe guide covers every field and has complete examples.

What you need

• Go 1.27 or later, to compile the RF Swift binary and the Workbench.
• Docker or Podman, to build and test container images (the Nix engine needs Nix instead).
• BuildX, for cross-platform image builds.
• Git, for the source code.

Building for several platforms

RF Swift runs on several operating systems and architectures. When you develop for it:

• test on more than one operating system when you can;
• use BuildX for cross-platform container builds; the YAML build system handles multi-architecture builds once BuildX is configured;
• keep ARM64 and RISC-V in mind when you tune a build.

Getting help

• Discord: join the server to ask questions.
• GitHub issues: report a bug or request a feature.
• API reference: planned on the project wiki.