---
title: Installation
description: Install scripts, per-platform archives, building from source, and staying up to date.
icon: download
sidebar:
  order: 3
---

lawlint is a single native binary with no runtime dependencies. Installing it
puts one file on your machine and nothing else — no account, no daemon, and no
documents leaving your disk.

## Install script

<CodeGroup>

```sh macOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://lawlint.com/install.sh | sh
```

```powershell Windows
irm https://lawlint.com/install.ps1 | iex
```

</CodeGroup>

The script downloads the archive for your platform, verifies it, and places the
`lawlint` binary in a user-local bin directory — no `sudo`, nothing installed
system-wide, and no documents sent anywhere.

If the shell cannot find `lawlint` afterwards, that bin directory is not on your
`PATH`; the installer prints the line to add.

## Direct downloads

Every archive below is pinned to the release version used to build this site
and served from `assets.lawlint.com`. Use these when you'd rather not pipe a
script to a shell, or when you're provisioning a machine that has no
interactive session. The links are immutable; the install scripts track the
latest release through a version pointer and verify its archive checksum.

<Downloads />

Unpack the archive and put `lawlint` somewhere on your `PATH`:

```sh
tar -xzf lawlint-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
mv lawlint ~/.local/bin/
```

:::note[Releases are unsigned]
The archives are not notarized on macOS and carry no Windows publisher
certificate, so both systems may warn on first run. Verify what you're running
by [building from source](#build-from-source) if that matters for your
environment.
:::

## Build from source

Useful for development, or for a platform without a published archive. You need
a Rust toolchain.

```sh
git clone https://github.com/sethtjf/lawlint
cd lawlint
cargo build --release -p lawlint-cli
```

The binary lands at `target/release/lawlint`.

## Staying current

```sh
lawlint self-update --check   # report current and latest; download nothing
lawlint self-update           # install the latest release
```

lawlint also checks for a newer release at most once a day and mentions one if
it exists. `--no-update-check` skips that on any command — worth setting in CI.

| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
| - | - | - | - |
| `--check?` | `flag` | - | Report current and latest version and whether an update is available. Downloads nothing. |
| `--force?` | `flag` | - | Reinstall even when already on the latest version. |
| `--version?` | `string` | - | Install a specific version instead of the latest. |

## What gets installed where

<Tree>
  <Tree.Folder name="user-local bin" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.File name="lawlint" />
  </Tree.Folder>
  <Tree.Folder name="~/.lawlint" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.File name="credentials — API keys, mode 0600" />
    <Tree.File name="config.json — user-level settings (optional)" />
  </Tree.Folder>
  <Tree.Folder name="<your project>/.lawlint" defaultOpen>
    <Tree.File name="config.json — written by lawlint init" />
    <Tree.Folder name="rules">
      <Tree.File name="personal — written by lawlint learn" />
    </Tree.Folder>
  </Tree.Folder>
</Tree>

Nothing under `.lawlint/` is created until you run [`lawlint
init`](/docs/guides/ai-setup) or [`lawlint learn`](/docs/guides/learn). API keys
are never written into the project.