Install Arbor

Official release binaries#

Prebuilt binaries are the most direct way to get the GitHub release without a Rust toolchain. Download the archive for your operating system and processor from GitHub Releases, extract it, and place the executable in a directory on your PATH.

macOS · Apple silicon

arbor-macos-aarch64.tar.gz

macOS · Intel

arbor-macos-x86_64.tar.gz

Linux · ARM64

arbor-linux-aarch64.tar.gz

Linux · x86-64

arbor-linux-x86_64.tar.gz

Windows · x86-64

arbor-windows-x86_64.zip

Open a new terminal after changing PATH. On macOS and Linux, the extracted arbor file must have execute permission. The Windows executable is arbor.exe.

Package manager alternatives#

Cargo

If you already have a Rust toolchain and your platform's build tools, install the published crate. Cargo builds the CLI locally.

cargo install arbor-graph-cli

npm

The official npm wrapper requires Node.js 18 or newer and downloads a platform binary. You can invoke it through npx:

npx @anandb71/arbor-cli@3.1.1 --version

The wrapper's install script downloads that binary, and by default npm 12 skips install scripts it isn't told to allow. From v3.1.1, the first arbor run then downloads it instead, from the GitHub release that matches the package version, and checks it against that release's SHA256SUMS before using it. The version in the command keeps npx from running an older copy installed earlier. With v3.1.0 or older on npm 12, add --allow-scripts=@anandb71/arbor-cli, or the wrapper reports that the binary is not installed.

Using npx does not make arbor a global command. Keep the same prefix for subsequent commands, or use the release binary for an MCP client that launches arbor directly.

The upstream installation guide also covers install scripts and pinned releases. For reproducible environments, select an available version in the channel you use.

Verify and start#

arbor --version
arbor --help
arbor doctor

doctor runs environment diagnostics. It may report missing optional components such as the visualizer or inactive services; inspect the specific message rather than assuming every warning prevents CLI use.

Once the command is available, follow the quickstart from the root of a project you want to index.

When updating#

Read the release notes, update using your chosen channel, and run arbor --version again. If it still reports the old version, an older arbor comes first on PATH. Since v3.0.4, arbor doctor checks every arbor on PATH, fails when an older one runs ahead of a newer install, and says how to remove it.

From v3.0.3 on, a graph built by an older version refreshes automatically on first use, and v3.0.4 and v3.0.5 each rebuild saved graphs once. Run arbor index --no-cache for a full rebuild before comparing results across versions.

Graph resolution and ranking have changed between releases. Node identities, edges, and centrality scores are not a stable basis for comparisons across versions without rebuilding the graph.