Installation

Install globally

Install Archgate globally using your preferred package manager:

# npm
npm install -g archgate

# Bun
bun install -g archgate

# Yarn
yarn global add archgate

# pnpm
pnpm add -g archgate

This installs a lightweight wrapper that delegates to a platform-specific binary. The CLI itself is a standalone binary compiled with Bun — Node.js is only needed for the npm/yarn/pnpm wrapper.

Install as a dev dependency

You can also add Archgate as a dev dependency in your project and run it through your package manager’s script runner. This is useful for pinning a specific version per project or running checks in CI without a global install.

# npm
npm install -D archgate

# Bun
bun add -d archgate

# Yarn
yarn add -D archgate

# pnpm
pnpm add -D archgate

Then run Archgate via your package manager:

# npm / Yarn / pnpm
npx archgate check

# Bun
bun run archgate check

Or add a script to your package.json:

{
  "scripts": {
    "check:adrs": "archgate check"
  }
}

# Works with any package manager
npm run check:adrs
bun run check:adrs
yarn check:adrs
pnpm check:adrs

Platform support

Archgate ships pre-built binaries for the following platforms:

Platform	Architecture	Package
macOS	arm64	`archgate-darwin-arm64`
Linux	x86_64	`archgate-linux-x64`
Windows	x86_64	`archgate-win32-x64`

The correct binary is installed automatically as an optionalDependency when you install archgate.

Verify installation

archgate --version

You should see the installed version printed to stdout.

Proto toolchain users

If you manage Node.js with proto (moonrepo’s toolchain manager), globally installed npm binaries require an additional setup step.

Add to your proto configuration:

[tools.npm]
shared-globals-dir = true

Then add the globals directory to your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, or equivalent):

export PATH="$HOME/.proto/tools/node/globals/bin:$PATH"

Restart your shell, then run npm install -g archgate again. The archgate command should now be available globally.

Next steps

Once installed, run archgate init in your project to set up governance. See the Quick Start guide for a walkthrough.