// RUNNING KAPTAIN

Install Kaptain from the terminal

One command downloads the right build for your machine, verifies it, and puts it on your PATH. It works on macOS and Linux.

curl -sL https://chynj.ca/install.sh | sh

What it does

  1. Detects your operating system and CPU architecture.
  2. Downloads the matching build from releases.chynj.ca.
  3. Checks the SHA-256 against the published manifest and refuses to install on a mismatch.
  4. Marks it executable and installs it to /usr/local/bin, or ~/.local/bin without sudo.
It installs only — it does not start Kaptain. That is deliberate: a piped shell script that launches a background server surprises people, and breaks Dockerfiles and CI images. When it finishes, run: 
kaptain start

Reading it first

Piping a script into a shell means trusting it. If you would rather read it before running it:

curl -sL https://chynj.ca/install.sh -o install.sh
less install.sh
sh install.sh

On Windows

There is no terminal installer for Windows yet. Download the .exe and see Run Kaptain on Windows.

What happens on first run

  1. Kaptain opens at localhost:8810 in your browser.
  2. The setup wizard appears. Create your CHYNJ account or sign in — your free 3-day trial starts here, and no card is needed.
  3. Verify your email address. We send the link as soon as you sign up; the trial needs a verified address.
  4. Pick a model runtime. Kaptain detects Ollama, llama.cpp, and the Claude and Codex CLIs, and tells you how to install whichever you are missing.
  5. Choose your project folder and network settings, and you are done.

The trial is tied to this device, so reinstalling does not start a new one. Subscribing later keeps everything you set up here.

Stuck? [email protected].

The full picture: the Kaptain Setup Guide covers which build to pick for your machine, what each model runtime needs, and the whole first-run wizard.

// OTHER PLATFORMS

macOSWindowsLinux