Install

Skep runs on Linux, macOS, and WSL2. It is distributed as a single static binary — nothing to configure, no runtime to install.

One-line install (recommended)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ChaitanyaPinapaka/skep/main/install.sh | sh

The script detects your OS and architecture, downloads the matching binary from the latest GitHub release, and installs it to /usr/local/bin/skep. Re-run it any time to upgrade.

Manual download

Grab the archive for your platform from the releases page, extract it, and put the skep binary somewhere on your PATH:

tar -xzf skep_<version>_linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv skep /usr/local/bin/
skep --version

go install

If you already have Go 1.21+:

go install github.com/ChaitanyaPinapaka/skep/cmd/skep@latest

This compiles from source. No extra flags required — Skep uses pure-Go SQLite (modernc.org/sqlite) and tree-sitter bindings that bundle their own C code.

Verify with skep doctor

After installing, run the built-in health check:

skep doctor

doctor inspects your environment and reports on each dependency:

• skep binary version
• claude (Claude Code CLI — the currently supported LLM backend; see Changelog)
• tmux version (needed for the cockpit and task panes)
• git (optional — enables fast git ls-files indexing)
• Workspace registry + daemon status for the current repo

If any required piece is missing, doctor tells you exactly what to install and where.

Common issues

tmux: command not found — install it with sudo apt install tmux on Debian/Ubuntu/WSL2, or brew install tmux on macOS. The cockpit, daemon, and task execution all require tmux.

claude: command not found — install Claude Code. Claude Code is the currently supported LLM backend; see Changelog for planned additions.

permission denied: /usr/local/bin/skep — the install script uses sudo only if the target directory is not writable. Re-run with sudo sh or install to ~/.local/bin instead.

Uninstall

Skep stores per-repo state in .skep/ and per-workspace state in .skep-workspace/. Global state lives in ~/.skep/ (the trusted-repos store). The binary itself is a single file.

# 1. Stop any running daemons
for repo in $(skep workspace list --json | jq -r '.agents[].path'); do
  (cd "$repo" && skep daemon stop 2>/dev/null || true)
done

# 2. Remove the cockpit tmux config
skep cockpit reset

# 3. Remove the binary
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/skep          # or wherever you installed it

# 4. Remove global skep state (trusted-repos store)
rm -rf ~/.skep

# 5. (optional) Remove per-repo state — only if you're done with Skep
find ~/code -type d -name '.skep' -prune -exec rm -rf {} +
find ~/code -type d -name '.skep-workspace' -prune -exec rm -rf {} +

Per-repo .skep/ directories are safe to leave in place — they’re just SQLite databases and config files. Deleting them only destroys Skep’s memory of that repo’s tasks and index. Your source code, git history, and branches are untouched.