> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Build Dependencies

> Complete overview of Bitcoin Core build dependencies and requirements

Bitcoin Core has several required and optional dependencies that you'll need to install before building. You can either install these dependencies using your system's package manager or self-compile them using the depends system in the source repository.

## Compiler Requirements

Bitcoin Core requires one of the following compilers:

| Compiler                        | Minimum Version |
| ------------------------------- | --------------- |
| [Clang](https://clang.llvm.org) | 17.0            |
| [GCC](https://gcc.gnu.org)      | 12.1            |

## Required Dependencies

### Build Dependencies

These dependencies are required for all builds:

| Dependency                                                | Minimum Version | Purpose            |
| --------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------ |
| [Boost](https://www.boost.org/users/download/)            | 1.74.0          | C++ libraries      |
| CMake                                                     | 3.22            | Build system       |
| [libevent](https://github.com/libevent/libevent/releases) | 2.1.8           | Event notification |

### Runtime Dependencies

| Dependency | Minimum Version | Purpose               |
| ---------- | --------------- | --------------------- |
| glibc      | 2.31            | GNU C Library (Linux) |

## Optional Dependencies

### Build Dependencies

| Dependency                                          | Minimum Version | Purpose                  |
| --------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------ |
| [Cap'n Proto](https://capnproto.org)                | 0.7.1           | IPC functionality        |
| Python                                              | 3.10            | Scripts and tests        |
| [Qt](https://download.qt.io/archive/qt/)            | 6.2             | GUI                      |
| [qrencode](https://fukuchi.org/works/qrencode/)     | N/A             | QR code generation (GUI) |
| [SQLite](https://sqlite.org)                        | 3.7.17          | Wallet functionality     |
| [systemtap](https://sourceware.org/systemtap/)      | N/A             | USDT tracing             |
| [ZeroMQ](https://github.com/zeromq/libzmq/releases) | 4.0.0           | Notifications            |

### Runtime Dependencies

| Dependency                                                          | Minimum Version | Purpose                  |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------- | ------------------------ |
| [Fontconfig](https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/fontconfig/) | 2.6             | Font configuration (GUI) |
| [FreeType](https://freetype.org)                                    | 2.3.0           | Font rendering (GUI)     |

## Dependency Installation

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Linux/Unix" icon="linux" href="/building/unix">
    Install dependencies on Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, Alpine, and other Linux distributions
  </Card>

  <Card title="macOS" icon="apple" href="/building/macos">
    Install dependencies using Homebrew on macOS
  </Card>

  <Card title="Windows" icon="windows" href="/building/windows">
    Cross-compile on Linux/WSL using MinGW-w64
  </Card>

  <Card title="BSD" icon="freebsd" href="/building/bsd">
    Install dependencies on FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Using the Depends System

If you prefer to self-compile dependencies instead of using system packages, Bitcoin Core includes a depends system that can build all required dependencies from source. See the README.md in the `depends/` directory of the source code for more information.