Bitcoin core setup how to prune without downloading? I want to play around with code to learn about Bitcoin such as synchronizing the chain locally, verifying the Merkle tree, creating a new wallet programmatically. 

from what i've researched I will need to prune the initial blockchain, but i don't see the option in setup. 



is there some other way i can install it [with prune] given my low available storage? 

update 

i pressed ok, and added the config file afterwards. 

I am not sure if this config is used, and the GUI is giving me an error when i try to open it.
Yes you can run in prune mode, set prune=550 (or a number >=550, which is a size in MB). As blocks are downloaded others will be pruned to free up space as needed so you'll be fine with 17GB.

You can set the prune values in bitcoin.conf or as a startup parameter.

More details here https://coinguides.org/bitcoin-blockchain-pruning/