Install protostar

The CLI ships as a self-contained binary, so there is no .NET runtime to set up first. The fastest way to install is a one-line script that downloads the right binary for your platform and puts it on your PATH.

Prerequisites

• A supported platform with a prebuilt binary: Windows (x64, arm64), Linux (x64), or macOS (Apple Silicon / arm64). Intel macOS and ARM Linux have no prebuilt release yet — build from source for those.
• Nothing else. The binary bundles its own runtime.

Install with the one-liner

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/voidprojectssoftware/protostar/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

Linux / macOS

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/voidprojectssoftware/protostar/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

The script downloads the latest GitHub release for your OS and CPU, then runs protostar install — which copies the binary into a per-user directory (no admin rights needed) and adds that directory to your PATH:

OS	Default install directory
Windows	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\protostar
Linux / macOS	~/.local/bin

Choose a different location with protostar install --dir <DIR>.

Releases vs source

The install scripts and binaries are published to the public voidprojectssoftware/protostar release repo. The CLI source (and these docs) live in voidprojectssoftware/protostar-cli — which is where the "Edit this page" link sends you.

Restart your shell

PATH changes only take effect in new shell sessions. Close and reopen your terminal (or open a new tab) before running protostar for the first time.

Verify the install

Open a fresh terminal and run:

$ protostar --version
0.1.0

$ protostar
protostar v0.1.0
Live, continuous refinement of agent skills.

Run protostar --help to see available commands.

If you see a version number, you are done. Next, head to Connect your harness.

📷 Screenshot slot — img/install-verify.png

A terminal window showing protostar --version and the protostar banner right after a successful install. Drop the image into docs/img/ and replace this admonition with: ![protostar version output](../img/install-verify.png)

Already downloaded the binary?

If you grabbed protostar from a release page directly, it installs itself — same install step the one-liner runs for you:

$ protostar install              # copy into a per-user dir + add to PATH
$ protostar install --dir <DIR>  # install to a custom location
$ protostar install --no-modify-path   # skip the PATH edit (you manage it)

To remove it later, see Manage your installation.

A note on versions

Versions are stamped from git tags at build time, never hardcoded. A stable release reports a plain version like 0.1.0; an edge build reports a prerelease like 0.2.0-alpha.0.7. If you build the CLI yourself, see Releasing for the full version story.

Startup performance

Startup is currently JIT (self-contained, untrimmed). Making the binary lean and fast is tracked as a separate performance unit of work, so expect a noticeable first-run delay for now.