Installation

Install the patcharc CLI on macOS, Linux, or Windows, check the environment, and keep it updated.

validated against patcharc 0.2.0 · 2026-08-22

PatchArc is a single Go binary called patcharc. It has no daemon to run and no dependencies beyond git on your PATH.

Requirements

Git 2.20 or newer on your PATH (the observer reads Git plumbing; it never installs hooks).
A Git repository to work in. patcharc walks up from the current directory until it finds .git or .patcharc.
No account. You only sign in when you run patcharc share.

macOS

$ brew install patcharc

Or with the install script, which places a signed universal binary (Apple silicon and Intel) in ~/.local/bin:

$ curl -fsSL https://patcharc.dev/install.sh | sh

Linux

$ curl -fsSL https://patcharc.dev/install.sh | sh

The script installs a static binary for amd64 or arm64 into ~/.local/bin. Make sure that directory is on your PATH. Homebrew on Linux also works: brew install patcharc.

Windows

$ winget install PatchArc.PatchArc

Scoop is an alternative: scoop install patcharc. Both amd64 and arm64 builds are published.

From source

$ go install github.com/patcharc/patcharc/cmd/patcharc@latest

You need Go 1.25 or newer. This builds the same binary the installers ship. The repository's make build target writes it to ./bin/patcharc with the version string set from git describe.

Check the install

$ patcharc --version
patcharc 0.2.0
$ cd your-repo && patcharc doctor
✓ git binary found
✓ .git directory found

patcharc doctor checks four things: that git resolves, that .git exists, that .patcharc/config.yaml is present, and that the signing key is present. Before patcharc init the last two lines do not print; after init you see all four. It does not check network access or login state.

Note

The command is a plain binary: patcharc has no global flags beyond --help and --version. There is no --json, --repo, or --config flag in 0.2.0.

Updating

patcharc update prints a message but does not self-update in 0.2.0. Update through the channel you installed from: brew upgrade patcharc, re-run the install script, winget upgrade PatchArc.PatchArc, or go install ...@latest.

Uninstalling

Remove the binary with your package manager, then delete ~/.patcharc/ (cloud credentials) if you ever ran patcharc login. Each repository keeps its own .patcharc/ directory; delete it to remove the local session store, capsules, and signing key for that repo.

Next: Quickstart.