--- title: "Install CAT CLI" url: "https://docs.justcat.it/get-started/cat-cli/install/" --- # Install CAT CLI CAT CLI runs on **Windows, Linux and macOS**. Jump to your platform below; each block is complete on its own. In the commands, replace `` with the current version from the [CAT CLI download page](https://docs.justcat.it/releases/ "Releases page"). ## Windows ### Using WinGet The installation is easiest from WinGet: ~~~~ winget install DataTools.CATCLI ~~~~ ![WinGet installation of CAT CLI](winget-install.png) ### Download Installer If you cannot use WinGet, download CAT CLI directly from this site: [CAT CLI download page](https://docs.justcat.it/releases/ "Releases page"). Grab the version marked as "latest" and install it - it is simple "next, next next". ### Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable CAT CLI needs the Microsoft Visual C++ redistributable for its Excel and CSV data providers. **CAT CLI 3.0 and later installs it for you** — the installer bundles it. You only need the manual step below for CAT CLI 2.x. Go to this Microsoft webpage: Latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version Download and install "X64" version: ![Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable web download link](visual-cpp-redistributable.png) If you get a dialog with "Repair", "Uninstall" and "Close" buttons, just close it - you already have this prerequisite. Otherwise install it (next, next, next...). ## Linux Download the archive for your architecture (`uname -m` prints `x86_64` for x64, `aarch64` for arm64), check its hash, unpack it and put `catcli` on `PATH`. The lines are chained with `&&`, so a failed hash check stops the sequence before anything is unpacked: ~~~~bash curl -fLO https://docs.justcat.it/releases/cat-cli--linux-x64.tar.gz && \ curl -fLO https://docs.justcat.it/releases/cat-cli--linux-x64.tar.gz.sha256 && \ sha256sum -c cat-cli--linux-x64.tar.gz.sha256 && \ sudo rm -rf /opt/catcli && \ sudo mkdir -p /opt/catcli && \ sudo tar -xzf cat-cli--linux-x64.tar.gz -C /opt/catcli && \ sudo ln -sfn /opt/catcli/catcli /usr/local/bin/catcli ~~~~ Your distribution needs `curl` and **ICU** installed — desktop distributions have both; a minimal container image does not, and [Installation](https://docs.justcat.it/reference/cat-cli/installation/#prerequisites-1 "CAT CLI installation — prerequisites") has the install command for each distribution. Add `libgdiplus` only if your project writes an Excel output. ## macOS macOS is a **preview** — the same build as everywhere else, but not yet tested on a Mac by us. Install it with Homebrew: ~~~~bash brew install justcatit/cat/catcli ~~~~ Without Homebrew, take the archive for your chip (`osx-arm64` for Apple silicon, `osx-x64` for Intel): ~~~~bash curl -fLO https://docs.justcat.it/releases/cat-cli--osx-arm64.tar.gz && \ curl -fLO https://docs.justcat.it/releases/cat-cli--osx-arm64.tar.gz.sha256 && \ shasum -a 256 -c cat-cli--osx-arm64.tar.gz.sha256 && \ sudo rm -rf /opt/catcli && \ sudo mkdir -p /opt/catcli /usr/local/bin && \ sudo tar -xzf cat-cli--osx-arm64.tar.gz -C /opt/catcli && \ sudo ln -sfn /opt/catcli/catcli /usr/local/bin/catcli ~~~~ Download with `curl`, not with the browser: macOS quarantines a browser download and refuses to run it until you clear the flag with `sudo xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /opt/catcli`. Homebrew installs and `curl` downloads are never quarantined. Add `brew install mono-libgdiplus` only if your project writes an Excel output. ## Run CAT CLI Run `catcli --version` or `catcli -v`: ![CAT CLI version](catcli-version.png) ## One-time setup CAT command-line tools are available in the **Team** plan (interactive usage only, no schedulers or CI/CD) and in the **Enterprise** plan (no technical limits). Go to CAT Portal and activate a free trial for Team or Enterprise plan — no credit card needed. If you activated the Team plan trial: 1. Sign up at CAT Portal. 2. Go to **Developer → Personal access tokens** and generate a token. 3. Set it and open a new terminal — on Windows `setx CAT_PORTAL_TOKEN "paste-your-token-here"`, on Linux and macOS `export CAT_PORTAL_TOKEN="paste-your-token-here"` (put that line into your `~/.bashrc` or `~/.zshrc` to keep it across sessions). If you activated the Enterprise plan trial: 1. Get the license key that arrived in your email. 2. Set it using `catcli instance --setLicenseKey "your-key"`. The token is used for signing in only — except feature-usage telemetry, no data is sent to CAT Portal. A license key removes the need to sign in, and CAT can then work even without Internet access. ## What Next? OK, you have CAT CLI. In the next step, [create a sample project](/get-started/cat-cli/explore/) and explore it.