DEV Community: NEEDTOCODEH24

JADE: NEW ON JADE ? How to get JADE up and running on your machine PART 1.

NEEDTOCODEH24 — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 08:03:17 +0000

level : Noob/New
Version : Windows 10/11
language : java 17.0.10 (jade Framework 4.6.0)

Download and install JADE:

Before moving to anything else, just so you can create any agent you like, keep in mind that building one purely in code is 100% possible, but it's not exactly "time-friendly". You'll be coding everything from scratch and you'll quickly realize it'll eat up your whole week. Unless you're at a hackathon where the challenge is to build the best agent using only raw code... people like that are just built different, haha!

GET TO THE POINT NOW !

Now that you're here, we're going to take it step-by-step. I'll show you how to download and install the JADE framework so you can start building any agent you want. You can always check PART2: Visit part 2

1: First, just hop onto whatever browser you use and search for "JADE Framework: Jade Site.", That's their official spot.

This is the official site where you can download and install it:"https://jade.tilab.com"

2: Click on the first link.

3: Just scroll down until you see the Download link in the bottom right corner "Download Jade version 4.6.0".

4: Once you click that, it'll take you to another page where they ask you to accept the license terms. Just look for "Continue" and you're good to go.

5: The license pops up next, and you've got two choices, haha: either you actually read the whole thing, or you just scroll straight to the bottom and hit "Yes, I agree." Honestly, scrolling is the ultimate time-saver, but hey, maybe we should read these things sometimes!

6: Then it'll redirect you to a bunch of tables, but the only one we actually care about is the "JADEbin" one.

7: Go the second one "JADEBin", and click on it.

8: The download should kick off now. Once it's done, just grab it from your browser's download folder and open it up.

9: Now, click the folder icon next to the file, that'll take you straight to the exact location, which we're gonna need later..

10: Now there are two ways to unzip this archive file.
a. The easiest way is just to right click it, hit "Extract All", pick where you want your folder to live, and hit on "Extract" button.

b. Since the official site recommends us to use "jar xvf" by using the cmd, open the CMD line, then make sure java is installed :

`java -version`

Normally, it should show you the version you're working with.

Then, copy the file path of that archive. In our case, it should look something like this, just make sure you use your own actual location

cd C:\Program Files\JADE-examples-4.6.0.zip

Once you hit enter, let's get to actually unzipping the file.

jar xvf JADE-examples-4.6.0.zip

You will see many files scrolling in the terminal.

Once it's finished, your archive turns into a regular folder. The name should be something like "jade" or "Jade-BIN-4.6.0" in my case, it was just "jade".

Personally, I way prefer the first method, but it's totally up to you.

11: Now that everything's set up, just follow this file structure:

yourfolderUnzipped --> jadeFolder -->libFolder

12: Now, just click the address bar and copy the path.

13: Open a new CMD
.
14: Now, you just need to hop into that directory using the "cd" command and the path you just copied. It should look something like this:

cd C:\folders\JADE-bin-4.6.0\jade\lib

15: Once you're in, you need to check if JADE is actually working. Just run this command:

java -cp jade.jar jade.Boot -gui

Hit enter and you'll see a bunch of files scrolling by. Once it stops, a window will pop up, that's your RMA GUI. If your firewall asks for permission, just hit "Allow" and you're good to go.

END

Now that everything's set up, CONGRATS!! You're all set to build any agent you want. If you're ready for the next step, go check out Part 2:
https://dev.to/needtoknow694/jade-new-on-jade-create-your-first-agent-while-using-your-cmd-part-2-56n5

if this Tutorial was helpful, don't forget to share it with your friends!

Thank you!

Note: don't forget to use your actual file path!.

rma: Remote Monitoring Agent.
-cp : Class Path.
jade.Boot: the main class to start JADE.
jade.jar: the core JADE framework packaged as a Java library.
jar xvf: to extract verbosely from this File.

JADE: NEW ON JADE ? Create your FIRST agent while using your cmd PART 2.

NEEDTOCODEH24 — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:06:51 +0000

level : Noob/New
Version : Windows 10
language : java 17.0.10 (jade Framework 4.6.0)

CREATING MY FIRST AGENT:

So, if you're new to the world of Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), we’ve got you. In this article, we’re going to take it step-by-step—and I mean CLEAR steps. Ugh, I know the struggle of doing something for the first time: repeating the same lines of code, scrolling through Google, jumping to ChatGPT... only to end up in what we call 'Event Spaghetti.' Tons of info, but none of it actually works (or at least not the way it should). It’s draining, and as developers, we’ve all been there.

GET TO THE POINT NOW, lets follow these steps one by one :

1: Open File Explorer on your computer.
2: In the address bar, go to the folder where your jade-bin-[version] is located.
3: Click on it
4: You'll see "lib folder" and normally in it you'll find jade (jar extension).
5: back to the jade folder.
6: Create a folder called "src" if it's not already there.
7: Click on it.
8: Create another folder dedicated for the package, name it whatever you want in our case "Modeles".
9: Click on it.
10: Create a .txt file and name it whatever you want this one is dedicated to your class.
11: Now, this is where things start to get interesting: head over to your CMD.
12: HIT

cd c:\Tools\JADE-bin-4.6.0\jade\src\modeles

13: the path will change to this one
14: Remember, we created the class with a .txt extension earlier. Don’t forget to change it to .java in your CMD now, so it's ready to go!

ren NameOfYourClass.txt NameOfYourClass.java

15: To make sure your class extension matches exactly what we need:

dir

You should see the contents of your current folder. Check the extensions if everything went well, you'll see your file there: NameOfYourClass.java.

16: Now, before doing anything else go back to your NameOfYourClass.java and lets start writing a small code, simple one for the test:

package modeles;
import jade.core.Agent;

plublic class NameOfYourClass extends Agent{
   protected void setup(){
      System.out.println("hi! My name is " + getLocalName());
                         }
}

17: Once evrything is setup, you need to compile your java class:

cd .. 
javac -cp "..\lib\jade.jar" modeles\NameOFYourClass.java

18: Once the compiling is done and a new command line appears, you're ready to create your first agents in the Main Container (the 'brain' of the platform). Since agents are all about being dynamic, you'll need to open another CMD window in parallel to host your simple container (second container in our case).

19: in your current CMD window, you'll create your first agents in the "mainContainer":

cd .. 
java -cp "lib\jade.jar;src" jade.Boot -gui -agents "NameOfYourAgent:modeles.NameOfYourClass"

To create a bunch of them (3 agents in our case), use a ';' between each agent to separate them and avoid errors:

java -cp "lib\jade.jar;src" jade.Boot -gui -agents "Agent1:modeles.NameOfYouClass;Agent2:modeles.NameOfYouClass;Agent3:modeles.NameOfYouClass"

Now, HIT Enter. You should see the messages from your agents popping up in the CMD window (the ones we wrote earlier in the class, like 'Hi, my name is agent1...). At the same time, the JADE RMA GUI (Remote Monitoring Agent) will appear.
Click on the 'AgentPlatform' folder, then on the key icon, and follow the hierarchy until you see your 3 agents sitting right next to the 3 main ones (df, ams, and rma).

20: Now, let’s head over to the next CMD window so we can create another simple container to hold our new agents:

cd c:\Tools\JADE-bin-4.6.0\jade 
java -cp "lib\jade.jar;src" jade.Boot -gui -container "Agent4:modeles.YourClassName"

Hit Enter and you’ll see a message from your agent! Check the GUI and you'll see a new container popping up—that’s your second one, holding your 4th agent. CONGRATS, YOU MADE IT!

NOTE: Once you close your CMD windows, the GUI is gone too. If you want to jump back in, just pick your class and repeat steps 19 and 20, just make sure you're in the right path!:

cd c:\Tools\JADE-bin-4.6.0\jade

Now, you’re an expert at creating agents right from your CMD. HAVE FUN with your exam!

jade.Boot: the main class to start JADE.
-gui: opens the main jade GUI , including the rma (Remote Monitoring Agent).
-cp: class Path (tells where libraries are).