Build from Source

Building Nothing Browser from source requires Qt6 WebEngine, CMake, and a C++ compiler. Java 17 is needed for the YouTube bridge.

Requirements

Platform	Dependencies
Linux	Qt6 WebEngine, CMake 3.20+, GCC or Clang, Java 17
macOS	Qt6 via Homebrew, CMake, Xcode CLT, Java 17
Windows	Qt6 via Qt Installer, CMake, Visual Studio 2022, Java 17

All Platforms

Requirement	Version	Notes
Git	Latest	For cloning repository
CMake	3.20+	Build system
C++ Compiler	C++17 compatible	GCC, Clang, or MSVC
Java	17+	For YouTube tab (NewPipe Extractor)
Qt6	6.4+	Qt6 WebEngine required

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Install Dependencies

bash

# Install Qt6 WebEngine and build tools
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
    build-essential \
    cmake \
    git \
    openjdk-17-jre \
    qt6-base-dev \
    qt6-webengine-dev \
    libqt6webenginewidgets6 \
    libqt6webenginecore6

# Verify installations
cmake --version
qmake6 --version
java -version

Clone and Build

bash

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/BunElysiaReact/nothing-browser.git
cd nothing-browser

# Create build directory
mkdir build && cd build

# Configure with CMake
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# Build (use all CPU cores)
make -j$(nproc)

# Run the built browser
./nothing-browser

Install System-Wide

bash

# After building, install
sudo make install

# Run from anywhere
nothing-browser

Build .deb Package

bash

# From the build directory
cpack -G DEB

# Install the generated .deb
sudo dpkg -i nothing-browser_*.deb

Arch Linux

Install Dependencies

bash

# Install required packages
sudo pacman -S \
    base-devel \
    cmake \
    git \
    java-openjdk \
    qt6-base \
    qt6-webengine

# Or install via AUR (recommended)
yay -S nothing-browser

Build from Source

bash

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/BunElysiaReact/nothing-browser.git
cd nothing-browser
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)
./nothing-browser

Fedora

Install Dependencies

bash

sudo dnf install \
    cmake \
    gcc-c++ \
    git \
    java-17-openjdk \
    qt6-qtbase-devel \
    qt6-qtwebengine-devel

Build

bash

git clone https://github.com/BunElysiaReact/nothing-browser.git
cd nothing-browser
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make -j$(nproc)
./nothing-browser

macOS

Install Dependencies

bash

# Install Homebrew if not already installed
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Qt6 and dependencies
brew install qt6 cmake git openjdk@17

# Add Qt6 to PATH
echo 'export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/qt6/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

# Verify
cmake --version
qmake --version
java -version

Build

bash

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/BunElysiaReact/nothing-browser.git
cd nothing-browser

# Create build directory
mkdir build && cd build

# Configure (adjust Qt path if needed)
cmake .. \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/opt/homebrew/opt/qt6

# Build
make -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

# Run
./nothing-browser.app/Contents/MacOS/nothing-browser

Create .dmg Package

bash

# From build directory
cpack -G DragNDrop

# Output: nothing-browser-*.dmg

Windows

Install Dependencies

Visual Studio 2022
- Download from visualstudio.microsoft.com
- Select "Desktop development with C++" workload
Qt6
- Download from qt.io/download
- Select "Qt 6.4.0 or later"
- Select "MSVC 2022 64-bit" component
- Select "Qt WebEngine" component
CMake
- Download from cmake.org/download
- Add to system PATH during installation
Java 17
- Download from adoptium.net
- Add to system PATH
Git
- Download from git-scm.com

Set Environment Variables

powershell

# Set Qt6 path (adjust to your installation)
setx QT6_DIR "C:\Qt\6.4.0\msvc2022_64"

# Verify
echo %QT6_DIR%

Build Using Script

Open Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022:

batch

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/BunElysiaReact/nothing-browser.git
cd nothing-browser

# Edit QT6_DIR in scripts/build-windows.bat first
scripts\build-windows.bat

Manual Build

batch

# Create build directory
mkdir build
cd build

# Configure
cmake .. -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

# Build
cmake --build . --config Release --parallel

# Run
.\Release\nothing-browser.exe

Project Structure

nothing-browser/
├── core/
│   ├── app/                  # MainWindow
│   ├── engine/               # Interceptor, FingerprintSpoofer,
│   │                         # NetworkCapture, UpdateChecker
│   ├── tabs/                 # BrowserTab, DevToolsPanel,
│   │                         # NewsTab, YoutubeTab, PluginsTab
│   └── main.cpp
├── assets/
│   └── icons/logo.svg
├── scripts/
│   ├── build-deb.sh          # Build .deb package
│   ├── build-windows.bat     # Build Windows release
│   └── PKGBUILD              # Arch AUR package
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── build-release.yml # CI — builds all platforms on tag push
├── install.sh                # Universal Linux installer
└── CMakeLists.txt

Build Options

CMake Options

Option	Default	Description
`-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE`	`Debug`	`Release` for production
`-DBUILD_TESTS`	`ON`	Build unit tests
`-DBUILD_NEWPIPE_BRIDGE`	`ON`	Build YouTube Java bridge
`-DUSE_SYSTEM_QT`	`ON`	Use system Qt6 libraries

Example with Options

bash

cmake .. \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -DBUILD_TESTS=OFF \
    -DBUILD_NEWPIPE_BRIDGE=ON

CI / Releasing

Nothing Browser uses GitHub Actions to build all platforms automatically on tag push.

Ship a New Release

bash

git add .
git commit -m "feat: what changed"
git push
git tag v0.1.4
git push origin v0.1.4

What Happens

GitHub Actions automatically:

Step	Output
1. Builds Linux	`.deb`, `.tar.gz`
2. Builds Windows	`.zip`, `.exe`
3. Builds macOS	`.dmg`, `.tar.gz`
4. Creates Release	All assets attached
5. Updates "latest"	Tag points to new release

Update Notification

The in-app update checker picks up the new release within 6 hours.

Troubleshooting

Qt6 WebEngine Not Found

Error:

Could not find a package configuration file provided by "Qt6WebEngine"

Solution:

bash

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install qt6-webengine-dev

# Arch
sudo pacman -S qt6-webengine

# macOS
brew install qt6

# Windows
# Ensure Qt6 path is set correctly

Java Not Found

Error:

Could not find Java. Please install Java 17+

Solution:

bash

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt install openjdk-17-jre

# Arch
sudo pacman -S jdk17-openjdk

# macOS
brew install openjdk@17

# Windows
# Download from adoptium.net and add to PATH

CMake Version Too Old

Error:

CMake 3.20 or higher is required

Solution:

bash

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt remove cmake
wget -qO- "https://github.com/Kitware/CMake/releases/download/v3.27.0/cmake-3.27.0-linux-x86_64.tar.gz" | sudo tar --strip-components=1 -xz -C /usr/local

# macOS
brew upgrade cmake

# Windows
# Download latest from cmake.org

Build Fails with Missing Headers

Solution:

bash

# Clean build directory and retry
rm -rf build
mkdir build && cd build
cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
make clean
make -j$(nproc)

Docker Build

dockerfile

# Dockerfile
FROM ubuntu:22.04

RUN apt update && apt install -y \
    build-essential \
    cmake \
    git \
    openjdk-17-jre \
    qt6-base-dev \
    qt6-webengine-dev \
    libgl1-mesa-dev \
    libxkbcommon-x11-0

WORKDIR /app
RUN git clone https://github.com/BunElysiaReact/nothing-browser.git .

RUN mkdir build && cd build && \
    cmake .. -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release && \
    make -j$(nproc)

CMD ["./build/nothing-browser"]

bash

# Build Docker image
docker build -t nothing-browser .

# Run
docker run --rm -it nothing-browser

Build Outputs

Platform	Binary Location	Package Output
Linux	`build/nothing-browser`	`.deb` or `.tar.gz`
macOS	`build/nothing-browser.app`	`.dmg` or `.tar.gz`
Windows	`build/Release/nothing-browser.exe`	`.zip` or `.exe`

Next Steps

Limitations — Known limitations
TLS Fingerprint Report — Technical deep dive
Contributing — How to contribute

Nothing Ecosystem · Ernest Tech House · Kenya · 2026

Build from Source ​

Requirements ​

All Platforms ​

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) ​

Install Dependencies ​

Clone and Build ​

Install System-Wide ​

Build .deb Package ​

Arch Linux ​

Install Dependencies ​

Build from Source ​

Fedora ​

Install Dependencies ​

Build ​

macOS ​

Install Dependencies ​

Build ​

Create .dmg Package ​

Windows ​

Install Dependencies ​

Set Environment Variables ​

Build Using Script ​

Manual Build ​

Project Structure ​

Build Options ​

CMake Options ​

Example with Options ​

CI / Releasing ​

Ship a New Release ​

What Happens ​

Update Notification ​

Troubleshooting ​

Qt6 WebEngine Not Found ​

Java Not Found ​

CMake Version Too Old ​

Build Fails with Missing Headers ​

Docker Build ​

Build Outputs ​

Next Steps ​

Build from Source

Requirements

All Platforms

Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

Install Dependencies

Clone and Build

Install System-Wide

Build .deb Package

Arch Linux

Install Dependencies

Build from Source

Fedora

Install Dependencies

Build

macOS

Install Dependencies

Build

Create .dmg Package

Windows

Install Dependencies

Set Environment Variables

Build Using Script

Manual Build

Project Structure

Build Options

CMake Options

Example with Options

CI / Releasing

Ship a New Release

What Happens

Update Notification

Troubleshooting

Qt6 WebEngine Not Found

Java Not Found

CMake Version Too Old

Build Fails with Missing Headers

Docker Build

Build Outputs

Next Steps