Installation#

Quick Install (Linux / macOS)#

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ndy40/cairn/main/install.sh | sh

This downloads the latest release binary for your platform and places it in ~/.local/bin.

Install Options#

# Install to a custom directory
sh install.sh --install-dir /usr/local/bin

# Install a specific version
sh install.sh --version v0.0.1

# Non-interactive (CI/CD environments)
sh install.sh -y

# Non-interactive with Vicinae extension
sh install.sh -y --with-extension

# One-liner with Vicinae extension
curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ndy40/cairn/main/install.sh | sh -s -- -y --with-extension

If Vicinae is installed on your system, the installer will offer to set up the Cairn extension automatically.

Build from Source#

Requires Go 1.22+. The binary is built with CGO_ENABLED=0 for a fully static, dependency-free executable.

git clone https://github.com/ndy40/cairn.git
cd cairn
go build -o cairn ./cmd/cairn/

To cross-compile for another platform:

GOOS=linux GOARCH=arm64 CGO_ENABLED=0 go build -o cairn-linux-arm64 ./cmd/cairn/

Pre-built Binaries#

Pre-built binaries for Linux and macOS (amd64 and arm64) are available on the GitHub Releases page. Each release includes SHA256 checksums.

Supported platforms:

OS	Architectures
Linux	amd64, arm64
macOS	amd64, arm64 (Apple Silicon)
Windows	amd64

Verify Installation#

cairn version

Database Location#

Cairn creates its SQLite database automatically on first run:

OS	Default path
Linux	`$XDG_DATA_HOME/cairn/bookmarks.db` (default: `~/.local/share/cairn/bookmarks.db`)
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/cairn/bookmarks.db`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\cairn\bookmarks.db`

Override the path with --db <path>, the CAIRN_DB_PATH environment variable, or the db_path key in cairn.json.