From 37a393053725dc3f0275a833b1930f7a0c0cd104 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ygd58 <buraysandro9@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2026 22:50:43 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] docs: document required git submodule init step

A fresh clone can't build without psy-genesis, since psy_config's
build.rs reads psy-genesis/config.json at build time. Document the
git submodule update --init --recursive step so new contributors
don't hit a confusing build failure.
---
 README.md | 12 ++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7fdc7678..6d5a8b81 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,6 +5,18 @@
 - modern rust version
 - bun
 
+## Getting started
+
+This repo uses git submodules (`psy-genesis`, `psy-contracts`, `psy-dapp`).
+`psy-genesis` in particular is required at build time (`psy_config`'s
+`build.rs` reads `psy-genesis/config.json`), so `cargo build` will fail on a
+fresh clone unless submodules are initialized:
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/PsyProtocol/psy-node.git
+cd psy-node
+git submodule update --init --recursive
+```
 
 ### Spinning up a local development cluster
 ```bash