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Installing Codewhale

This page covers every supported install path and the most common "it didn't install" failures, including Linux ARM64 and other less common platforms.

If you just want the short version, see the main README or 简体中文 README.

This branch describes the v0.9.6 source candidate. Install commands that use latest resolve to the latest published package or GitHub Release, which may trail the source candidate. A candidate is not a published install until the matching package, tag, checksums, and release assets exist.

On macOS and Linux, the website installer is the shortest install/update path:

curl -fsSL https://codewhale.net/install.sh | sh

It downloads the matching codewhale and codew release binaries, verifies them against codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt, installs to ~/.local/bin by default, and exposes the codew convenience command.

1. Supported platforms

Published Codewhale releases ship matched codewhale and codew prebuilt binaries for their supported platform/architecture combinations. The table below is the intended v0.9.6 candidate matrix; Android/Termux is preview pending real-device QA. Linux ARM64 is available from v0.8.8 onward. Linux RISC-V prebuilts are temporarily paused because the locked rquickjs-sys dependency does not ship riscv64gc-unknown-linux-gnu bindings.

Platform Architecture npm install cargo install GitHub release asset
Linux x64 (x86_64) ✅ ✅ codewhale-linux-x64, codew-linux-x64
Linux arm64 ✅ ✅ codewhale-linux-arm64, codew-linux-arm64
Android / Termux arm64 (aarch64) ⚠️⁴ preview ⚠️⁴ preview codewhale-android-arm64.tar.gz preview archive when published
Linux riscv64 ❌¹ ❌³ temporarily unsupported until upstream bindings land
macOS x64 ✅ ✅ codewhale-macos-x64, codew-macos-x64
macOS arm64 (M-series) ✅ ✅ codewhale-macos-arm64, codew-macos-arm64
Windows x64 ✅ ✅ codewhale-windows-x64.exe, codew-windows-x64.exe
Windows arm64 ✅ ✅ codewhale-windows-arm64.exe, codew-windows-arm64.exe
Linux x64 or arm64 on musl (Alpine) native arch ✅ (static) ✅ matching static Linux asset
Other Linux (musl on other arches) — ❌¹ ✅² build from source
FreeBSD 14+ / OpenBSD x64, arm64 ❌ ✅² cargo install codewhale-cli --locked (no prebuilt; see § FreeBSD)

¹ The npm package will exit with a clear error and point you here. ² Provided your toolchain can compile a recent Rust workspace; see Build from source below. ³ RISC-V source builds currently need upstream rquickjs-sys RISC-V bindings or a bindgen-enabled dependency build. ⁴ The v0.9.6 source-candidate npm wrapper recognizes Android arm64 and resolves the matching codewhale and codew Android assets. npm installation works only for a package version whose GitHub Release publishes those matching assets. The Android/Termux path remains preview-only until the real-device compile, startup, approval, file-tool, and update checks tracked in #4236 and #4242 are complete.

Android / Termux is not the same target as Linux arm64. Do not install the Linux codewhale-linux-arm64 archive in Termux; use the Termux-specific Android archive when a release or release candidate publishes one, or build from source inside Termux.

The Linux x64 and arm64 v0.9.6 candidate assets are static musl builds. The x64 release path has used musl since v0.8.65; v0.9.6 extends the same build and static-launch check to arm64. These binaries have no glibc dependency and run on their matching architecture across Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL/CentOS, and Alpine/musl. SQLite is bundled through rusqlite, so no separate libsqlite3 runtime package is needed.

Linux ARM64 portability

Linux arm64 assets before v0.9.6 were GNU libc builds and could inherit the Ubuntu 24.04 build host's GLIBC_2.39 floor. Ubuntu 22.04 ships glibc 2.35, so those older arm64 binaries can fail with errors such as:

version `GLIBC_2.39' not found

The npm wrapper, codewhale update, and the Unix archive installer retain their GNU-binary preflight for older releases. The v0.9.6 arm64 candidate instead uses aarch64-unknown-linux-musl, so it has no GLIBC_* floor. If you are installing an earlier release on an older arm64 distribution, use:

cargo install codewhale-cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`

Linux ARM64 note (v0.8.7 and earlier). v0.8.7 and earlier do not publish a Linux ARM64 prebuilt; users on HarmonyOS thin-and-light, Asahi Linux, Raspberry Pi, AWS Graviton, etc. saw Unsupported architecture: arm64 from npm i -g codewhale. v0.8.8 publishes codewhale-linux-arm64, so a plain npm i -g codewhale works on any glibc-based ARM64 Linux. If you're stuck on v0.8.7, jump to Build from source — cargo install works fine. For HarmonyOS PC and OpenHarmony cross-build setup, see HarmonyOS and OpenHarmony.

Android / Termux arm64

Termux runs on Android's Bionic libc and uses $PREFIX as its Unix prefix, so it needs a Termux-specific Android arm64 archive. The Linux arm64 release asset targets standard Linux with musl; Android uses a distinct Rust target, so the Linux asset should not be used there.

Install the minimum archive/runtime tools first:

pkg update
pkg install -y ca-certificates curl tar gzip coreutils

When the release includes codewhale-android-arm64.tar.gz, install it with the archive's bundled installer. Passing PREFIX="$PREFIX" matters: the installer defaults to ~/.local, while Termux users normally expect commands under $PREFIX/bin.

cd "$HOME"
curl -L -O https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest/download/codewhale-android-arm64.tar.gz
curl -L -O https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest/download/codewhale-bundles-sha256.txt
sha256sum -c codewhale-bundles-sha256.txt --ignore-missing

tar xzf codewhale-android-arm64.tar.gz
cd codewhale-android-arm64
PREFIX="$PREFIX" ./install.sh
hash -r

If you are validating from source or building a release candidate locally, install the build packages before running Cargo:

pkg install -y rust clang pkg-config make git
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`

The normal first-run setup path is implemented, but its Android interaction is still part of the preview QA above. Prefer provider environment variables for temporary credentials. codewhale auth set is available, but the Termux build has no supported OS keyring integration and falls back to file-backed secrets by writing ~/.codewhale/config.toml and mirroring keys to ~/.codewhale/secrets/secrets.json. Both are plaintext files protected by 0600 permissions and are not encrypted at rest.

codewhale auth set --provider deepseek
codewhale auth status
codewhale doctor

Maintainers should use this repeatable smoke checklist for a Termux / Android arm64 release candidate:

command -v codewhale codew
test -x "$PREFIX/bin/codewhale"
test -x "$PREFIX/bin/codew"

codewhale --version
codewhale doctor
codewhale exec --auto "run pwd"

Known limitations:

  • Commands inherit Android's per-app UID, SELinux, and seccomp protections and any permissions granted to Termux. Codewhale's opt-in bubblewrap child-process sandbox is Linux-only and is not built on Android, so approved commands receive no Codewhale-specific filesystem narrowing.
  • The Termux build has no supported Android Keystore or desktop Secret Service integration. Use codewhale auth status to confirm the active source and prefer provider environment variables when file-backed plaintext storage is not acceptable.
  • Terminal rendering varies by Android terminal app. The TUI always owns the alternate screen. If a terminal app cannot render the full-screen TUI, use codewhale exec for headless runs instead.

2. Download safety and checksums

Official release binaries are published only from https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases and the npm package named codewhale. Do not install release assets from look-alike repositories, archives, or search-result mirrors unless you deliberately trust that mirror.

Every GitHub release includes checksum manifests. Use codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt for bare binaries and codewhale-bundles-sha256.txt for .tar.gz / .zip platform archives. If you download binaries manually, verify them before running:

# Run from the directory containing the downloaded binaries.
curl -L -O https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest/download/codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt
sha256sum -c codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt --ignore-missing

On macOS, use shasum -a 256 -c codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt --ignore-missing instead of sha256sum.

If antivirus software flags an official release binary, treat it as unresolved until the exact artifact is identified. Please include all of the following in the GitHub issue:

  • the release tag, for example v0.8.36
  • the exact download URL
  • the filename, for example codewhale-linux-x64
  • the file SHA-256 from your machine
  • the antivirus product name and detection name

That lets maintainers distinguish a false positive on an official artifact from a download sourced from an impersonating repository or mirror.

3. Install via npm

npm is the recommended install path (Node 18+; wrapper available for v0.8.56 and later). It installs the registry's latest published version, not an unpublished source candidate.

npm install -g codewhale
codewhale --version   # prints the published version that was installed

postinstall downloads the matching codewhale and codew binaries from the GitHub release, verifies a SHA-256 manifest, and exposes codewhale and codew on your PATH.

Useful environment variables:

Variable Purpose
DEEPSEEK_TUI_VERSION Pin which release the wrapper downloads (defaults to codewhaleBinaryVersion)
DEEPSEEK_VERSION Fallback alias, checked after DEEPSEEK_TUI_VERSION
DEEPSEEK_TUI_GITHUB_REPO Point the downloader at a fork (owner/repo)
DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL Override the download root (e.g. an internal mirror or release-asset proxy)
DEEPSEEK_TUI_FORCE_DOWNLOAD=1 Re-download even if a cached binary marker matches
DEEPSEEK_TUI_DISABLE_INSTALL=1 Skip the postinstall download entirely (CI smoke, vendored binaries)
DEEPSEEK_TUI_OPTIONAL_INSTALL=1 Don't fail npm install on download/extract errors — useful in CI matrices

These keep the DEEPSEEK_* spelling because the npm wrapper reads exactly these names and no others (npm/codewhale/scripts/install.js:88-90). There is no CODEWHALE_VERSION — setting it has no effect. (The CODEWHALE_* rename applies to the runtime's own environment variables, not to the installer.)

Slow npm download from mainland China? If npm install itself is slow (not just the postinstall binary download), use an npm registry mirror:

npm config set registry https://registry.npmmirror.com
npm install -g codewhale

See also Section 4 if you prefer Cargo over npm.

4. Install via Cargo (any Tier-1 Rust target)

If GitHub releases are slow, blocked, or you're on an unsupported architecture, install from crates.io directly. One Cargo package is required: codewhale-cli installs the codewhale command. npm and prebuilt releases also expose codew as a convenience name for the same compiled runtime; Cargo does not create that alias, so define a shell alias yourself if you want the shorter name.

# Requires Rust 1.88+ (https://rustup.rs)
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`
codewhale --version

Linux: install build-time dependencies first. cargo install compiles from source, and on Linux the codewhale-cli crate links against libdbus-1 (used by the D-Bus secret-service backend for credential storage). Install the required system packages before running cargo install:

# Debian / Ubuntu
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential pkg-config libdbus-1-dev

# Fedora / RHEL
sudo dnf install -y gcc make pkgconf-pkg-config dbus-devel

If you use the npm wrapper or download GitHub Release binaries, these build-time packages are not required — the prebuilt binary only needs the runtime library (libdbus-1), which is already present on most desktop Linux installs.

China / mirror-friendly install

When installing from mainland China, configure mirrors for both rustup (the Rust toolchain installer) and Cargo (the package registry) to avoid TLS timeouts and download failures.

Step 1: Install Rust via a rustup mirror

# PowerShell
[Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [Net.SecurityProtocolType]::Tls12
(New-Object Net.WebClient).DownloadFile('https://win.rustup.rs/x86_64', 'rustup-init.exe')

# git-bash / msys2
export RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/rustup
export RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/rustup/rustup
./rustup-init.exe -y --default-toolchain stable

# Linux / macOS
export RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/rustup
export RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/rustup/rustup
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable

If the TUNA mirror is slow from your network, rsproxy.cn is another rustup mirror option for Linux/macOS:

export RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER=https://rsproxy.cn
export RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT=https://rsproxy.cn/rustup
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable

The RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER and RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT environment variables must be set before running rustup-init; the toolchain download otherwise hits the same TLS handshake problem as the installer.

Step 2: Configure Cargo registry mirror

# ~/.cargo/config.toml
[source.crates-io]
replace-with = "tuna"

[source.tuna]
registry = "sparse+https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/crates.io-index/"

rsproxy, Tencent COS, and Aliyun OSS mirrors work the same way; pick whichever is fastest from your network.

5. Install via Nix

Try it

If you already have Nix with flake support, run:

nix run github:Hmbown/CodeWhale

Nix builds codewhale (single binary) and then starts the dispatcher. Pass arguments after --, for example:

nix run github:Hmbown/CodeWhale -- --help

Flake

Add inputs to flake.nix:

{
  inputs = {
    nixpkgs.url = "github:NixOS/nixpkgs/nixos-unstable";

    codewhale.url = "github:Hmbown/CodeWhale";
    codewhale.inputs.nixpkgs.follows = "nixpkgs";
  };
}

Install into a NixOS module:

{
  outputs = { self, nixpkgs, codewhale }:
  let
    # replace system "x86_64-linux" with your system
    system = "x86_64-linux";
  in
  {
    # change `yourhostname` to your actual hostname
    nixosConfigurations.yourhostname = nixpkgs.lib.nixosSystem {
      inherit system;
      modules = [
        # ...
        {
          environment.systemPackages = [ codewhale.packages.${system}.default ];
        }
      ];
    };
  };
}

Homebrew (legacy tap)

Homebrew currently ships only the legacy deepseek-tui tap, kept for compatibility while the formula is renamed to codewhale. It installs the same current-release binaries:

brew tap Hmbown/deepseek-tui
brew install deepseek-tui

Update with brew upgrade deepseek-tui. There is no codewhale formula yet; once the rename lands, this section will switch to it.

6. Manual download from GitHub Releases

Each platform appears on the Releases page in two forms (this is intentional — see #3208): the bare binaries (codewhale-<platform> and codew-<platform>, no extension) and a .tar.gz / .zip archive (codewhale-<platform>.tar.gz) that bundles the same commands plus an install.sh. The npm wrapper and the in-app codewhale update download the matched runtime binaries; the archive is the easiest manual install (see §5). The steps below use the bare binaries directly.

Grab the matching command set for your platform from the Releases page and drop them side by side into a directory on your PATH (e.g. ~/.local/bin):

# Linux ARM64 example
mkdir -p ~/.local/bin
curl -L -o ~/.local/bin/codewhale      \
    https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest/download/codewhale-linux-arm64
curl -L -o ~/.local/bin/codew          \
    https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest/download/codew-linux-arm64
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/codewhale ~/.local/bin/codew
codewhale --version

macOS Gatekeeper note. If you downloaded the binaries with a browser, macOS may block them with "Apple cannot verify" warnings. Clear the quarantine attribute on both binaries and retry:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ~/.local/bin/codewhale ~/.local/bin/codew 2>/dev/null || true

Verify integrity against the per-release SHA-256 manifest:

curl -L -o /tmp/codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt \
    https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/latest/download/codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt
( cd ~/.local/bin && sha256sum -c /tmp/codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt --ignore-missing )

(Use shasum -a 256 -c /tmp/codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt --ignore-missing instead of sha256sum -c on macOS.)

Roll back to a previous release

If a new release is bad on your machine, install the last known-good version explicitly. Replace X.Y.Z with the version you want to restore.

# npm wrapper, only for versions that were published to npm
npm install -g codewhale@X.Y.Z

# Cargo path: one package installs codewhale
cargo install codewhale-cli --version X.Y.Z --locked --force

For manual installs, download the matched binaries or the platform archive from the exact release tag and verify the matching checksum manifest from that same tag:

# individual binaries
curl -L -o codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt \
  https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt

# platform archives
curl -L -o codewhale-bundles-sha256.txt \
  https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale/releases/download/vX.Y.Z/codewhale-bundles-sha256.txt

Inside a Codewhale workspace, /restore list [N] lists side-git file snapshots and /restore <N> restores files from the chosen snapshot. That workspace rollback does not change your installed binary version and does not rewrite conversation history.

Windows Scoop

The codewhale package is listed in Scoop's main bucket:

scoop update
scoop install codewhale
codewhale --version

Scoop manifests are maintained outside this repository's release workflow and can lag GitHub/npm/Cargo releases. Use npm or manual GitHub release downloads when you need the newest version immediately.

Windows winget (v0.9.5+)

CodeWhale publishes a winget manifest for Hmbown.CodeWhale (resolves #1561). The single-binary release ships only codewhale + codew — no codewhale-tui asset.

winget install Hmbown.CodeWhale
codewhale --version

The manifest is at packaging/winget/Hmbown.CodeWhale.yaml (also mirrored at .winget/Hmbown.CodeWhale.yaml) and lists both the NSIS installer (CodeWhaleSetup.exe, per-user, adds %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CodeWhale\bin to the user PATH) and the portable ZIP fallback (codewhale-windows-x64.zip / codewhale-windows-arm64.zip). winget selects the matching architecture automatically; both install only the single binary (codewhale.exe + codew.exe).

Update via winget upgrade Hmbown.CodeWhale or codewhale update. The winget package is maintained outside this repo's release workflow and can lag GitHub/npm/Cargo releases by one validation cycle — use npm or the GitHub Release asset when you need the newest version immediately. If winget install reports a hash mismatch, verify codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt for the same tag and regenerate the manifest via packaging/winget/generate-winget-manifest.sh (see packaging/winget/README.md) before re-submitting to microsoft/winget-pkgs.

Windows ARM64 note. The NSIS installer currently contains only the x64 binaries. Windows ARM64 users should install via winget install Hmbown.CodeWhale (ARM64 ZIP) or npm install -g codewhale under native ARM64 Node.js, or download codewhale-windows-arm64.zip directly — all paths install native ARM64 binaries.

Windows NSIS Installer

A standalone NSIS-based installer is available starting with v0.8.50 for Windows users who prefer a traditional double-click setup (no npm, no Scoop, no Cargo required).

The NSIS installer currently contains the Windows x64 binaries. Windows ARM64 users should install through npm running under native ARM64 Node.js or download codewhale-windows-arm64.zip from the same release; both paths then use native ARM64 binaries.

Download CodeWhaleSetup.exe from the Releases page.

Install by double-clicking the setup executable. The installer:

  • Installs codewhale.exe and codew.exe side-by-side (single binary, no codewhale-tui.exe) into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\CodeWhale\bin
  • Adds the install directory to the current user PATH
  • Registers in Windows Apps & Features for easy uninstall

Silent install (for IT admins, SCCM, Intune):

CodeWhaleSetup.exe /S

The installer is per-user and does not request elevation. Run silent installs in the target user's context, or use a deployment tool that can run the installer for each user profile that needs Codewhale.

The release-built installer is currently unsigned and may trigger Windows SmartScreen. Verify the SHA-256 checksum from codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt before deploying, and sign the installer in your internal deployment pipeline if your environment requires signed application packages.

Build the installer yourself (requires NSIS):

cd scripts\installer
# Place codewhale.exe and codew.exe here (single binary, no codewhale-tui.exe), then:
makensis /DVERSION=<version> codewhale.nsi

Manual fallback — if the installer is blocked by group policy, see the CLASSROOM_INSTALL.md guide for step-by-step PowerShell commands.

Deploying to a classroom or lab? See the full Classroom Install Checklist for silent install, API key provisioning, imaging notes, and troubleshooting.

7. Build from source

This is the catch-all for platforms we don't ship, including musl non-x64, LoongArch, FreeBSD, and pre-2024 ARM64 distros. Linux RISC-V currently also needs upstream rquickjs-sys RISC-V bindings or a bindgen-enabled dependency build before source builds are expected to work.

Prerequisites

  • Rust 1.88 or later — install with rustup.
  • Linux build-time deps (Debian/Ubuntu/openEuler/Kylin): 
    sudo apt-get install -y build-essential pkg-config libdbus-1-dev
# openEuler / RHEL family:
# sudo dnf install -y gcc make pkgconf-pkg-config dbus-devel
  • A working cmake is not required.

Build and install

git clone https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale.git
cd CodeWhale

cargo install --path crates/cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`

codewhale --version

The command lands in ~/.cargo/bin/ by default; make sure that directory is on your PATH.

FreeBSD 14+ (resolves #1097)

FreeBSD has no prebuilt GitHub Release asset — npm install -g codewhale intentionally fails with Unsupported platform: freebsd and points to Cargo. Install from source:

pkg install -y rust pkgconf git
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`
codewhale --version
codewhale doctor

The rquickjs FreeBSD bindings are generated at build time via bindgen (see 1582ba965/5eb0385e8). No separate pkg install codewhale port exists yet — a native port is tracked as the follow-up to #1097 under packaging/freebsd/ (contributions welcome). Validate with cargo check --target x86_64-unknown-freebsd -p codewhale-cli --locked on the release branch; the 7×1 release matrix (Linux musl x64/arm64, Android arm64, macOS x64/arm64, Windows x64/arm64) stays 7 targets — FreeBSD is a source-build target, not a prebuilt asset.

Cross-compiling from x64 to ARM64 Linux

The release asset uses aarch64-unknown-linux-musl and is built on a native ARM runner. If you want to build a GNU-linked ARM64 Linux binary on an x64 Linux host (e.g. for a HarmonyOS / openEuler ARM64 thin-and-light), use cross, which wraps the official Rust cross-targets in a Docker container:

# Once
rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu
cargo install cross --locked

# Per build
cross build --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu -p codewhale-cli   # single binary

The resulting binary lands in target/aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu/release/codewhale. Copy it to the ARM64 host (e.g. via scp) and make it executable. This local GNU build is distinct from the portable musl release asset; either executable can be copied under the codew convenience name.

If you don't have Docker available, install the cross-linker directly and let Cargo do the work:

sudo apt-get install -y gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu
rustup target add aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu

cat >> ~/.cargo/config.toml <<'EOF'
[target.aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu]
linker = "aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc"
EOF

cargo build --release --target aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu -p codewhale-cli   # single binary

Producing aarch64-unknown-linux-musl while cross-compiling requires an appropriate musl cross-linker. The release workflow avoids that extra moving part by building and launching the musl binary on GitHub's native ARM runner.

Windows build from source

Building on Windows requires the MSVC C toolchain from Visual Studio Build Tools (the free workload-selectable installer, not the full IDE).

Prerequisites (Windows)

  1. Install Visual Studio 2022 Build Tools — select the "Desktop development with C++" workload.
  2. Install Rust 1.88+ (see the China mirror instructions above if downloading from mainland China).
  3. Install Git for Windows (provides git and the git-bash terminal).

Recommended terminals: Windows Terminal, git-bash, or PowerShell. cmd.exe works but has a small buffer and limited PATH behavior.

Setting up the MSVC environment

Visual Studio Build Tools install cl.exe to a versioned directory but do not add it to PATH globally. You must set the environment manually or use a Developer Command Prompt. The required variables are:

# Adjust version numbers to match your installation
$msvc = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2022\BuildTools\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.44.35207"
$sdk   = "C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10"
$sdkv  = "10.0.26100.0"

$env:INCLUDE  = "$msvc\include;$msvc\atlmfc\include;$sdk\Include\$sdkv\ucrt;$sdk\Include\$sdkv\um;$sdk\Include\$sdkv\shared"
$env:LIB      = "$msvc\lib\x64;$msvc\atlmfc\lib\x64;$sdk\Lib\$sdkv\ucrt\x64;$sdk\Lib\$sdkv\um\x64"
$env:LIBPATH  = "$msvc\lib\x64;$msvc\atlmfc\lib\x64"
$env:CC       = "$msvc\bin\Hostx64\x64\cl.exe"
$env:CXX      = "$msvc\bin\Hostx64\x64\cl.exe"
$env:PATH     = "$msvc\bin\Hostx64\x64;$env:PATH"

Alternatively, open a "Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022" (available from the Start Menu after installing Build Tools), which runs vcvars64.bat to configure all of the above automatically. Then add cargo to PATH inside that session and run cargo build from the project root.

Cargo registry mirror — on Windows the mirror config goes to %USERPROFILE%\.cargo\config.toml. See Step 2 above.

Build

git clone https://github.com/Hmbown/CodeWhale.git
cd CodeWhale
set CARGO_HTTP_CHECK_REVOKE=false   # may be needed behind some Chinese ISPs
cargo build --release

The Cargo-built binary appears at target\release\codewhale.exe. Release packaging separately exposes the same executable as codew.exe.

Prefer not to build? Install via npm, Cargo, GitHub Releases, or the CNB mirror — see the sections above.

8. Troubleshooting

Unsupported architecture: arm64 on platform linux

You're on a release earlier than v0.8.8 that doesn't publish Linux ARM64 binaries. Either upgrade (npm i -g codewhale@latest) or use cargo install per Section 4.

MISSING_COMPANION_BINARY after upgrading an older install

The current single binary runs the TUI in-process and does not require a companion executable. This error identifies a stale pre-v0.9.5 dispatcher; replace that installation with the current npm package or Cargo binary instead of downloading an extra runtime:

npm install -g codewhale
# or
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked --force

codewhale update reports no asset found for platform codewhale-linux-aarch64

This is #503 in v0.8.7 — the self-updater used Rust's aarch64/x86_64 arch names instead of the release artifact's arm64/x64. Workaround until v0.8.8:

npm i -g codewhale@latest
# or
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked

npm download is slow or times out from mainland China

Set CODEWHALE_RELEASE_BASE_URL to a mirrored release-asset directory (rsproxy, TUNA, Tencent COS, Aliyun OSS), or skip npm entirely and use the Cargo mirror setup in Section 4. The legacy DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL name is still accepted.

codewhale update is blocked by GitHub from mainland China

codewhale update normally contacts GitHub Releases for metadata and binary assets. On networks where GitHub is blocked or unreliable, use the CNB source mirror instead and install the codewhale-cli package from the release tag. Cargo installs the codewhale command:

To check the latest release without downloading or replacing binaries, run codewhale update --check.

cargo install --git https://cnb.cool/codewhale.net/codewhale --tag vX.Y.Z codewhale-cli --locked --force   # single binary

If you operate a binary asset mirror, codewhale update can use it directly:

CODEWHALE_RELEASE_BASE_URL=https://your-mirror.example.com/CodeWhale/vX.Y.Z/ \
DEEPSEEK_TUI_VERSION=X.Y.Z \
codewhale update

The mirror directory must contain codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt and the platform binaries from the GitHub release. The legacy DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL mirror variable remains supported as an alias.

Debian/Ubuntu: feature edition2024 is required from cargo install

Some Debian/Ubuntu distro packages ship an older Cargo that cannot parse Rust 2024 crates. For example, Cargo 1.75.0 on Ubuntu 24.04 fails before building with:

feature `edition2024` is required
The package requires the Cargo feature called `edition2024`, but that feature
is not stabilized in this version of Cargo

Install current stable Rust through rustup, then rerun the one Cargo package install command from Section 4. It installs codewhale. For mainland China networks, this rsproxy-based sequence has been verified to work:

export RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER=https://rsproxy.cn
export RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT=https://rsproxy.cn/rustup

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y
source "$HOME/.cargo/env"
rustup default stable
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`

Afterward, which cargo should point to ~/.cargo/bin/cargo, not /usr/bin/cargo.

Debian/Ubuntu: error: linker 'cc' not found while building

Install the C toolchain:

sudo apt-get install -y build-essential pkg-config libdbus-1-dev

WSL2 / Ubuntu: dbus-1 or pkg-config not found while building

WSL2 uses the same Linux source-build path as Ubuntu. If cargo install codewhale-cli --locked fails while compiling the keyring or D-Bus secret storage crates, install the Linux build dependencies inside the WSL distro, then rerun the one Cargo package install command. It installs codewhale:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y build-essential pkg-config libdbus-1-dev
cargo install codewhale-cli --locked   # installs `codewhale`

The prebuilt npm/GitHub binaries do not need these build-time packages; they only apply when WSL2 is compiling Codewhale from source.

Wrapper installs but codewhale isn't found

npm i -g installs into $(npm prefix -g)/bin; make sure that directory is on your shell's PATH. With nvm: nvm use --lts && hash -r.

Windows: TLS handshake eof or CRYPT_E_REVOCATION_OFFLINE from rustup-init

The TLS handshake to static.rust-lang.org fails from behind the GFW or certain Chinese ISPs. Set the rustup mirror environment variables before running the installer:

# git-bash / msys2
export RUSTUP_DIST_SERVER=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/rustup
export RUSTUP_UPDATE_ROOT=https://mirrors.tuna.tsinghua.edu.cn/rustup/rustup
./rustup-init.exe -y --default-toolchain stable

If you see CRYPT_E_REVOCATION_OFFLINE from Cargo after Rust is installed, also set CARGO_HTTP_CHECK_REVOKE=false during cargo build.

Windows: MSVC compiler (cl.exe) not found during cargo build

Visual Studio Build Tools do not add cl.exe to the global PATH. Either:

  1. Open "Developer Command Prompt for VS 2022" from the Start Menu, add %USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin to PATH in that window, and run cargo build from there; or
  2. Set the MSVC environment variables manually — see the Windows build from source section for the PowerShell snippet.

Verify the compiler is reachable: cl.exe /? should print help text.

Windows: 拒绝访问 (os error 5) when Cargo executes build scripts

Third-party antivirus software (Huorong, 360, Kaspersky, etc.) may block Cargo from executing freshly-compiled build-script binaries (e.g. libsqlite3-sys, aws-lc-sys, instability). The error is path-agnostic — moving target-dir does not help.

Symptoms: could not execute process ... build-script-build (never executed)

Workarounds (pick one):

  1. Add the project's target/ directory to your AV exclusions list.
  2. Close the antivirus software temporarily during cargo build.
  3. Use the GitHub Release installer/archive instead — the release assets ship prebuilt binaries and skip the Cargo build entirely (Section 6).
  4. Use cargo install codewhale-cli --locked from crates.io — this changes the binary path, which some AV tools treat differently.

To verify that the build-script binary itself is valid (not corrupted), locate it under target/debug/build/<crate>/build-script-build and run it manually:

target/debug/build/libsqlite3-sys-*/build-script-build
# If this runs but panics with "NotPresent" (no C compiler), the binary is
# fine — the AV is blocking Cargo's process-spawning path specifically.

npm binary download times out

If codewhale waits several seconds and prints connect ETIMEDOUT or EAI_AGAIN while fetching from github.com, the npm wrapper installed successfully but the prebuilt binary download from GitHub Releases is blocked or unreliable on your network. This download is separate from the npm registry package download.

Use one of these paths:

  1. Set a proxy and retry:

    export HTTPS_PROXY=http://your-proxy:port
codewhale

  2. Mirror the release assets internally and set DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL:

    export DEEPSEEK_TUI_RELEASE_BASE_URL=https://your-mirror.example.com/CodeWhale/
codewhale

    The directory must contain codewhale-artifacts-sha256.txt and the platform binaries from the GitHub release.

  3. Install via Cargo, which builds locally and does not download GitHub release assets. See Section 4.

  4. Download both matching codewhale and codew binaries from the Releases page, place them in a directory on PATH, and make them executable. See Section 6.

9. Verifying your install

codewhale --version
codewhale doctor       # checks API key, provider, runtime, and PATH integrity
codewhale doctor --json

doctor exits non-zero if it finds a problem and prints structured remediation hints. Paste the JSON output into a GitHub issue if you need help.