Installation

Install standalone (recommended)

The fastest way to install Archgate — no Node.js or package manager required:

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

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://cli.archgate.dev/install-windows | iex

# Windows (Git Bash / MSYS2)
curl -fsSL https://cli.archgate.dev/install-unix | sh

This downloads a pre-built binary for your platform and installs it to ~/.archgate/bin/. The installer detects your shell profiles and offers to add the directory to your PATH.

On Windows, the PowerShell installer also detects Git Bash shell profiles (.bashrc, .bash_profile, .profile) and offers to configure PATH there as well.

You can customize the install with environment variables:

| Variable | Description | Default | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------- | ----------------- | | ARCHGATE_VERSION | Install a specific version (e.g. v0.11.2) | Latest release | | ARCHGATE_INSTALL_DIR | Custom install directory | ~/.archgate/bin |

You can also download binaries directly from GitHub Releases.

Install via npm

Install Archgate globally using your preferred Node.js 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

Install via pip (Python)

Install Archgate globally using pip or pipx:

# pip
pip install archgate

# pipx (recommended for CLI tools)
pipx install archgate

This installs a lightweight Python wrapper that delegates to a platform-specific binary. Python 3.8+ is required.

Install via dotnet

Install Archgate as a .NET global tool:

dotnet tool install -g archgate

Requires .NET 8.0+ SDK. The tool downloads the platform binary on first run.

Install via Go

Install Archgate using go install:

go install github.com/archgate/cli/shims/go/cmd/archgate@latest

Requires Go 1.21+. The compiled Go wrapper downloads the platform binary on first run.

Install via RubyGems

Install Archgate as a Ruby gem:

gem install archgate

Requires Ruby 2.7+. The gem downloads the platform binary on first run.

Install via Maven / jbang (Java)

Install Archgate using jbang:

jbang app install [email protected]

Or download the executable JAR from Maven Central (dev.archgate:archgate-cli) and run directly:

java -jar archgate-cli-0.39.0.jar check

Requires Java 11+. The shim downloads the platform binary on first run.

Platform support

Archgate ships pre-built binaries for the following platforms:

| Platform | Architecture | Artifact | | -------- | ------------ | ----------------------- | | macOS | arm64 | archgate-darwin-arm64 | | Linux | x86_64 | archgate-linux-x64 | | Windows | x86_64 | archgate-win32-x64 |

The correct binary is downloaded automatically from GitHub Releases on first run and cached to ~/.archgate/bin/.

Verify installation

archgate --version

You should see the installed version printed to stdout.

Install via proto

If you use proto (moonrepo’s toolchain manager), you can install Archgate directly as a proto plugin — no Node.js or npm required.

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. To pin a specific version, add it at the root of .prototools:

archgate = "0.15.0"

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

You can also list available versions and manage installations with proto commands:

proto list-remote archgate   # list available versions
proto install archgate 0.15.0  # install a specific version
proto pin archgate 0.15.0      # pin version in .prototools

Using npm globals with proto?

If you prefer npm install -g archgate instead of the proto plugin, you need to configure proto to expose global npm binaries. Add shared-globals-dir = true under [tools.npm] in ~/.proto/config.toml, then add $HOME/.proto/tools/node/globals/bin to your shell PATH.

Next steps

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

Editor plugins (beta)

Want your AI agent to read ADRs before coding and validate after? The editor plugins for Claude Code and Cursor add a full governance workflow on top of the CLI. Run archgate login to sign up and get started.