Installation

The Archgate CLI is the execution engine behind the entire platform — it scaffolds governance, runs checks, imports ADR packs, and installs editor plugins. Install it first; everything else builds on top of it.

This page covers the fastest paths to a working CLI. For the complete install matrix (pip, dotnet, Go, RubyGems, jbang, dev-dependency installs, version pinning, and platform artifacts), see the authoritative Installation reference at cli.archgate.dev.

Install with the one-line installer (recommended)

The fastest way to install Archgate — no Node.js or package manager required. It downloads a pre-built binary for your platform, installs it to ~/.archgate/bin/, and offers to add that directory to your PATH.

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://cli.archgate.dev/install-unix | sh

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://cli.archgate.dev/install-windows | iex

Windows (Git Bash)

curl -fsSL https://cli.archgate.dev/install-unix | sh

Install with proto

If you use proto, moonrepo’s toolchain manager, you can install Archgate as a proto plugin — no Node.js or npm required. This is a clean fit if your team already pins tool versions with proto.

Add the plugin to your .prototools:

[plugins.tools]
archgate = "github://archgate/proto-plugin"

Then install and use it like any other proto tool:

proto install archgate
archgate check

Proto manages the binary for you, including version pinning and auto-installation.

Using npm globals with proto?

If you prefer npm install -g archgate instead of the proto plugin, configure proto to expose global npm binaries. See the proto notes in the CLI installation reference for the exact ~/.proto/config.toml settings.

Install with npm

If you already manage tooling through a Node.js package manager, install Archgate globally:

npm install -g archgate

This installs a lightweight wrapper that downloads and delegates to a platform-specific binary. The CLI itself is a standalone binary compiled with Bun — Node.js is only needed for the wrapper. Bun, Yarn, and pnpm work too; see the CLI installation reference for those and for installing Archgate as a project dev dependency.

Verify the install

archgate --version

You should see the installed version printed to stdout. If the command is not found, the install directory is not on your PATH yet — re-run the installer (it offers to configure PATH) or open a new shell.

Next steps

1. Install the CLI using one of the options above.

2. Run archgate init in your project to scaffold governance — walked through in the Quick Start.

3. Add an editor plugin so your AI agent reads ADRs before coding and validates after.

Quick Start Run the full loop: init, check, add a plugin, and run the reviewer.

Full install reference Every install method, version pinning, and platform artifacts.