macOS & linux:

The installer detects your platform, pulls the release binary from GitHub, checks its sha256 checksum, and drops it in ~/.local/bin. If that directory isn't on your PATH, it prints the exact export line for your shell profile. Read the script before piping it to a shell. That's what it's for.

windows powershell:

with a rust toolchain already installed:

The crate is crux-finder because crux was taken on crates.io; the binary it puts on your PATH is still crux.

npm, pnpm, bun or yarn, with npx if you want nothing installed at all:

The npm package ships a small launcher that fetches the platform binary from GitHub Releases on first run, so pnpm & bun work even with install scripts blocked.

package managers:

Scoop needs the bucket added first (scoop bucket add crux https://github.com/Emran-goat/crux); brew taps it on first install. Chocolatey (choco install crux) and AUR (crux-bin) follow once the packages clear review. A deb & rpm attach to every release for distro packaging.

The binary is 2.04mib stripped. Its only dependency is git on PATH, because crux drives git through the same commands you'd type yourself. There's no daemon, no config file, nothing listening. Verify from any repo:

Doctor runs 4 checks: git access, history readability, a test runner manifest on disk, and its own analysis pass. One line each. It exits 1 on failure, so it works as a CI sanity step before longer crux runs.