| title | Install |
|---|---|
| description | Install Caveman Code on macOS, Linux, Windows, or in Docker. |
npm is the primary install path. Native binaries via Homebrew / Docker / direct download are also available.
Requires Node.js 20+:
npm install -g @juliusbrussee/caveman-codeThe package installs two binaries — caveman (primary) and caveman-code (alias). Either works.
caveman --version
cavemanWorks on macOS, Linux, Windows (PowerShell + WSL). Same package on every platform.
::: tip Faster installs pnpm, yarn, and bun all work too:
pnpm add -g @juliusbrussee/caveman-code
yarn global add @juliusbrussee/caveman-code
bun add -g @juliusbrussee/caveman-code:::
::: details Homebrew (macOS, Linux)
brew tap juliusbrussee/caveman-code https://github.com/JuliusBrussee/caveman-cli
brew install caveman-codeThe tap is auto-updated by the release pipeline.
:::
::: details Docker
docker run --rm -it -v "$PWD:/work" ghcr.io/juliusbrussee/caveman-cli:latestMounts your working directory into /work. The image runs as a non-root user.
:::
::: details Windows
npm install -g @juliusbrussee/caveman-codeThe npm package works on Windows PowerShell and WSL. WSL is the supported terminal path.
:::
::: details Manual download
Grab the platform-specific tarball from the GitHub releases page and extract to a directory on your PATH.
:::
caveman --version
caveman doctorcaveman doctor reports:
- Kernel and terminal capabilities
- Sandbox availability (Seatbelt / Landlock / Restricted Tokens)
- MCP servers reachable
- Missing tooling (git, ripgrep, fzf — used optionally for fuzzy file pickers)
Caveman Code checks the GitHub releases API once per 24 hours and prompts before applying. To pin a channel:
caveman update --channel stable # default
caveman update --channel beta
caveman update --channel canaryTo update on demand:
caveman updateTo roll back to the previous version:
caveman update --rollbackrm -rf ~/.cave
# remove the caveman-code symlink from your PATH (~/.local/bin/cave or /usr/local/bin/cave)Sessions live in ~/.cave/sessions/. Memory (cavemem) lives in ~/.cavemem/ and is not removed by the above — clean it explicitly if needed.
npm install -g @juliusbrussee/caveman-code@0.65.2 # pin a version for reproducible CISee caveman exec mode for using caveman inside GitHub Actions.