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Installation

Install Knowns through package managers or from source.

Source filed7beb0aUpdated Aug 12, 2026
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Install the knowns CLI first. Installation only makes the command available; you still need to run knowns init inside each repository where you want Knowns-managed project context.

Requirements

  • a supported terminal environment on macOS, Linux, or Windows
  • Git if you want repository-aware init/setup behavior
  • optional local model downloads if you plan to use semantic search

Platform support

PlatformCLI artifactBundled local ONNX
macOS Apple Silicondarwin-arm64Yes
macOS Intel (x86_64)darwin-x64No
Linux x64linux-x64Yes
Linux ARM64linux-arm64Yes
Windows x64win32-x64Yes

On macOS Intel, the full CLI and keyword/BM25 search remain available. Local ONNX controls are disabled because ONNX Runtime no longer provides a compatible prebuilt macOS x86_64 library. For semantic search, use Ollama or an OpenAI-compatible API provider.

Advanced users can explicitly set KNOWN_ORT_LIB to a compatible x86_64 libonnxruntime.dylib; Knowns will then enable the local ONNX provider.

Homebrew

bash
brew install knowns-dev/tap/knowns

Recommended on macOS and Linux when you want a packaged install.

npm

bash
npm install -g knowns

Useful when your environment already uses Node tooling.

Shell installer (macOS/Linux)

bash
curl -fsSL https://knowns.sh/script/install | sh

PowerShell installer (Windows)

PowerShell
irm https://knowns.sh/script/install.ps1 | iex

Build from source

bash
go build -o ./bin/knowns ./cmd/knowns

Best option when developing Knowns itself.

Verify

bash
knowns --version

If the command prints a version, the CLI is installed. Next, move into the repository you want to manage and run the quick start.

No-global-install option

If you do not want a global install, you can still run Knowns through npm:

bash
npx knowns init

Uninstall

See Uninstall for Homebrew, npm, shell installer, PowerShell, Go install, runtime adapter cleanup, and what project files are intentionally left behind.

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