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
winget install --id 9MSZ1ZDKSW8Z

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

On macOS and Linux, the installer downloads a pre-built binary for your platform and installs it to ~/.archgate/bin/. It detects your shell profiles and offers to add the directory to your PATH.

On Windows, winget installs Archgate from the Microsoft Store. The package is signed by Microsoft and puts archgate on your PATH in every new terminal. Update it with winget upgrade --id 9MSZ1ZDKSW8Z.

Install via PowerShell script (Windows)

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

The script runs the same winget install for you. Where winget is missing or the Microsoft Store is blocked, it downloads the binary from GitHub Releases to ~/.archgate/bin/ and offers to add that directory to your PATH, including in Git Bash shell profiles (.bashrc, .bash_profile, .profile). The downloaded binary is not code-signed.

Both installer scripts read these 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
ARCHGATE_NO_WINGET	Set to 1 to skip winget and download directly (Windows)	Unset

winget installs neither a pinned version nor into a chosen directory, so setting ARCHGATE_VERSION or ARCHGATE_INSTALL_DIR on Windows also selects the direct download.

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 archgate@dev.archgate

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

java -jar archgate-cli-<version>.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 linting and guardrails. 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 guardrails workflow on top of the CLI. Run archgate login to sign in and get started.