Use a Fable library

Introduction#

We often use libraries using NuGet, which is the defacto .NET package manager.

So we do need libraries. And Fable proposes a great variety of libraries ready for you to use like:

• Fable.Core, which is required for every Fable project
• Fable.Browser.Dom, for all your DOM needs (window, document)
• Fable.Elmish.React, to write web apps using the Elm architecture and React as the render engine
• Thoth.Json, for JSON serialization

Please note that not all Nuget libraries will work with Fable. Refer to the library documentation to check if it's Fable-compatible.

There are 2 ways to call Fable libraries:

1. Reference them directly in your project file
2. Use Paket

Install a Fable library#

Fable libraries are usually published on Nuget, which is the defacto .NET package manager.

You can use you favorite Nuget package manager to install them, like Nuget CLI, Paket, Visual Studio, Rider, etc.

Nuget CLI:

dotnet add package <package name>

Paket:

dotnet paket add <package name>

Please, refer to your Nuget package manager documentation to learn more about how to use it.

Depending on the type of library, it can happen that you also need to install a native dependency.

For example, if you are using a project that use React, you will need to install the react and react-dom from NPM packages.

You need to refer to your library documentation to know if you need to install a native dependency.

Femto#

Femto is a tool that can help you install native dependencies if the library contains Femto metadata.

Use dotnet femto yourProject.fsproj to check if your Fable dependencies requirements are met.

Use dotnet femto --resolve yourProject.fsproj to let Femto try to install the native dependencies for you.

At the time of writing, Femto supports:

• JavaScript/TypeScript
  • npm (default)
  • yarn when yarn.lock is found
  • pnpm when pnpm-lock.yaml is detected
• Python
  • poetry when pyproject.toml is detected