Installation Guide¶

This guide walks you through installing SQA and all its dependencies.

System Requirements¶

Ruby: 3.2 or higher
Operating System: Linux, macOS, or Windows (with WSL)
Disk Space: ~100MB for gem and dependencies
Internet: Required for downloading stock data

Step 1: Install TA-Lib¶

SQA requires the TA-Lib C library for technical analysis calculations.

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)¶

# Download and extract TA-Lib source
cd /tmp
wget http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/ta-lib/ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz
tar -xzf ta-lib-0.4.0-src.tar.gz

# Compile and install
cd ta-lib
./configure --prefix=/usr/local
make
sudo make install

# Create symlink for compatibility
cd /usr/local/lib
sudo ln -s libta_lib.so libta-lib.so
sudo ldconfig

# Set library path (add to ~/.bashrc for persistence)
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

macOS¶

# Using Homebrew
brew install ta-lib

Verify Installation¶

# Check that TA-Lib is installed
ls -la /usr/local/lib/libta_lib.*

# Should show files like:
# libta_lib.a
# libta_lib.so
# libta_lib.so.0
# libta_lib.so.0.0.0

Step 2: Install SQA Gem¶

From RubyGems (Recommended)¶

gem install sqa

From Source¶

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/madbomber/sqa.git
cd sqa

# Install dependencies
bundle install

# Install the gem locally
rake install

Step 3: Verify Installation¶

Test that SQA is installed correctly:

# Launch the SQA console
sqa-console

# In the console, try:
SQA::VERSION  # Should display the version number
SQAI.methods.grep(/^[a-z]/).sort  # List available indicators

Expected output:

=> "0.0.31"  # Version number

=> [:acos, :ad, :add, :adosc, :adx, :adxr, ...]  # 150+ indicators

Step 4: Configure API Access (Optional)¶

To download live stock data, you'll need an Alpha Vantage API key.

Get API Key¶

Visit Alpha Vantage
Sign up for a free API key
Copy your API key

Set Environment Variable¶

# Temporary (current session)
export AV_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"

# Permanent (add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc)
echo 'export AV_API_KEY="your_api_key_here"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Alternative: Configuration File¶

Create ~/.sqa.yml:

data_dir: ~/sqa_data
debug: false
verbose: false

The API key is read from environment variables, not the config file.

Troubleshooting¶

TA-Lib Not Found¶

Error: cannot load such file -- sqa/tai (LoadError)

Solution: Make sure TA-Lib is installed and LD_LIBRARY_PATH is set:

export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

Permission Denied During Installation¶

Error: Permission denied @ dir_s_mkdir

Solution: Use sudo for system-wide installation:

sudo gem install sqa

Or install to user directory:

gem install --user-install sqa

Ruby Version Too Old¶

Error: Required Ruby version is >= 3.2.0

Solution: Update Ruby using rbenv or rvm:

# Using rbenv
rbenv install 3.3.6
rbenv global 3.3.6

# Using rvm
rvm install 3.3.6
rvm use 3.3.6 --default

Bundle Install Fails¶

Error: Various dependency errors

Solution: Update bundler and try again:

gem update --system
gem install bundler
bundle install

Next Steps¶

Now that you have SQA installed:

Quick Start Guide - Run your first analysis
Core Concepts - Understand SQA's architecture
Trading Strategies - Explore built-in strategies

Additional Dependencies¶

SQA automatically installs these dependencies:

polars-df - High-performance DataFrames
sqa-tai - TA-Lib wrapper for indicators
faraday - HTTP client for API calls
hashie - Enhanced hash objects
tty-table - Terminal table formatting
kbs - Knowledge-based strategy framework
toml-rb - TOML configuration support

For development, you may also want:

amazing_print - Pretty printing
debug_me - Debugging utilities
minitest - Testing framework
simplecov - Code coverage

Supported Platforms¶

SQA has been tested on:

✅ Ubuntu 20.04+
✅ Debian 11+
✅ macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)
✅ Fedora 35+
⚠️ Windows (via WSL recommended)

Having issues? Check our GitHub Issues or create a new one.