Install

Brigade runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows with Python 3.10 or newer. The Brigade commands are the same on every platform. Only the one-time pipx setup differs.

Linux

Ubuntu 23.04+ and Debian 12+ use an externally managed system Python. Install the distribution package:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install pipx
pipx ensurepath

Fedora:

sudo dnf install pipx
pipx ensurepath

Arch Linux and Omarchy

On Arch Linux, install the python-pipx package:

sudo pacman -Syu --needed python-pipx
pipx ensurepath

This Arch command performs a full system upgrade and installs pipx.

On Omarchy, use its package command:

omarchy pkg add python-pipx
pipx ensurepath

Use omarchy update for Omarchy system updates so its snapshots, migrations, and configuration updates run with the package upgrade.

On either distribution, open a new terminal, then follow the Brigade install commands below. Run pipx as your regular user. It keeps Brigade isolated from the externally managed system Python.

After an Arch upgrade replaces Python with a new minor version, an existing pipx environment may need rebuilding:

pipx reinstall brigade-cli
brigade --version

Other distributions should use their pipx package when one is available. A direct python3 -m pip install --user pipx can fail with externally-managed-environment on systems that implement PEP 668.

macOS

brew install pipx
pipx ensurepath

Windows PowerShell

With Scoop:

scoop install pipx
pipx ensurepath

Without Scoop:

py -m pip install --user pipx

Python may report that pipx.exe is not on PATH. Go to the directory printed by pip and run .\pipx.exe ensurepath, then open a new PowerShell window. If Python came from the Microsoft Store, use python3 instead of py.

Install Brigade

After opening a new terminal:

pipx install brigade-cli
brigade --version

Or track main:

pipx install git+https://github.com/escoffier-labs/brigade

Install the built-in engines. brigade setup downloads the Code Intelligence and Evidence binaries from the release manifest, digest-verified, with no Rust or Go toolchain required:

brigade setup

Set up a repo, then verify the wiring:

brigade operator quickstart --target ./my-repo --harnesses codex
brigade operator doctor --target ./my-repo --profile local-operator

PowerShell accepts the same commands. You can also use Windows-style paths:

brigade operator quickstart --target .\my-repo --harnesses codex
brigade operator doctor --target .\my-repo --profile local-operator

WSL is optional. Brigade runs natively on Windows. Worker CLIs must resolve to native executables. If an npm worker resolves only to a .cmd or .bat shim, Brigade reports it and asks for a native launcher. Shell completions currently cover bash, zsh, and fish. brigade stations verify is POSIX-only and returns unsupported-platform on Windows.

For an OpenClaw or Hermes workspace instead of a code repo:

brigade operator quickstart --target ~/agent-workspace --depth workspace --harnesses openclaw,hermes --owner openclaw

Use --dry-run first to preview the planned steps without writing anything. brigade init --target ./my-repo --harnesses codex --dry-run shows the full file-by-file list. Quickstart only wires the harnesses you select and leaves the rest alone.

Prefer the lower-level pieces? brigade init lays down the files, brigade doctor checks the wiring, and brigade status reports over the station registry. brigade profiles list shows the built-in station profiles and brigade stations list shows the stations each profile selects, which is the station registry brigade status reports over.

The update check

Brigade runs one automatic network request of its own: a check against check.brigade.tools for the latest published brigade-cli version. The client normally uses a 24-hour cache for this check, and it is skipped when CI is set. The refresh can run after a command even when its output is piped or the command fails. Only the update notice is gated on a successful interactive command. To disable this update check:

export BRIGADE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1

$env:BRIGADE_NO_UPDATE_CHECK = "1"

The request sends the Brigade version and the operating system name in the User-Agent. When the header matches the exact format Brigade emits, the endpoint preserves a legacy weekly check and records a daily version observation: the ISO week, the UTC day, the version, a salted SHA-256 hash of the connecting address, the first and last timestamps for that day, a request count, and a flag marking a known operator address.

Your raw IP address is not stored in analytics. The optional operator egress list is separate secret configuration. Analytics also does not record your hostname, username, repository or project names, command arguments, file paths, or a persistent installation identifier. The hash includes the ISO week, and reports do not join sources across weeks. A weekly purge deletes rows older than 90 days.

The endpoint is public and answers anyone. A request that does not carry a Brigade User-Agent gets the same {"latest":"..."} response and is not recorded at all, so you can check the latest version by hand without being counted:

curl https://check.brigade.tools/v1/version

https://check.brigade.tools/privacy serves the same description as plaintext.

These counts are active sources, not people and not installations. Shared NAT, CI, and opting out can reduce counts. Rotating addresses, automation, and spoofed User-Agents can inflate them. The net bias is unknown.

The platform-specific pipx commands above follow the official pipx installation guide.

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