Overview

The aim of this document is to explain the steps required to set up a local Lektor development environment suitable for working on Tor Project websites based on the Lektor platform.

We'll be using the Sourcetree git GUI to provide a user-friendly method of working with the various website's git repositories.

Prerequisites

First we'll install a few prerequisite packages, including Sourcetree.

You must have administrator privileges to install these software packages.

First we'll install the Xcode package.

Open the Terminal app and enter:

xcode-select --install

Click Install on the dialog that appears.

Now, we'll install the brew package manager, again via the Terminal:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Now we're ready to install a few more tools:

brew install coreutils git git-lfs python3.8

And lastly we need to download and install Sourcetree. This can be done from the app's website: https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/

Follow the installer prompts, entering name and email address so that the git commits are created with adequate identifying information.

Connect GitLab account

This step is only required if you want to create Merge Requests in GitLab.

Next, we'll create a GitLab token to allow Sourcetree to retrieve and update projects.

• Navigate to https://gitlab.torproject.org/-/profile/personal_access_tokens
• Enter sourcetree under Token name
• Choose an expiration date, ideally not more than a few months
• Check the box next to api
• Click Create personal access token
• Copy the token into your clipboard

Now, open Sourcetree and click the Connect... button on the main windows, then Add..., and fill in the dialog as below. Paste the token in the Password field.

Click the Save button.

The Remote tab on the main window should now show a list of git repositories available on the Tor Project GitLab.

To clone a project, enter its name (eg. tpo or blog) in the Filter repositories input box and click the Clone link next to it.

Depending on the project, a dialog titled Git LFS: install required may then appear. If so, click Yes to ensure all the files in the project are downloaded from GitLab.