Install Ruk

Ruk ships as a native Go runtime through an npm package and standalone executables. Choose one installation method; both expose the same ruk command and JSON contract.

Package installation

Install Ruk globally with npm:

npm install --global @xenoviz/ruk

You can also use Bun:

bun install --global @xenoviz/ruk

The package manager installs the matching optional native package for the host. When lifecycle scripts are allowed, postinstall places the native binary eagerly. When scripts are blocked, the first ruk invocation finishes that placement and then runs the native command. Node.js or Bun may participate in installation, but neither remains resident as the command supervisor afterward.

Standalone executable

Download the executable for your operating system and architecture from the GitHub Releases page. Standalone executables are native Go binaries and do not require Node.js or Bun on the target machine.

Release assets include SHA-256 checksum files and GitHub build-provenance attestations. Verify the downloaded native Go asset before placing it on your PATH. Linux x64 releases include both glibc and musl assets.

Verify the installation

ruk --version
ruk --help

Ruk also needs Git and the package manager declared by each repository it manages.

Update later

Ruk never checks for updates in the background.

ruk update --check
ruk update

Package installations delegate the exact released version to their package manager. Standalone installations verify the release manifest and checksum before replacement. On Windows, either installation mode schedules replacement of locked native files after the current Ruk process exits. Stable installations stay on stable releases; a current prerelease installation follows newer prereleases on its channel.

Next, create your first assigned workspace.