Installation

Chief is distributed as a single binary with no runtime dependencies. Choose your preferred installation method below.

Prerequisites

Chief needs an agent CLI: Claude Code (default), Codex, or OpenCode. Install at least one and authenticate.

Option A: Claude Code CLI (default)

npm (recommended)

# Install Claude Code globally
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

# Authenticate (opens browser)
claude login

npx (no install)

# Run directly without installing
npx @anthropic-ai/claude-code login

Option B: Codex CLI

To use OpenAI Codex CLI instead of Claude:

1. Install Codex per the official reference.
2. Ensure codex is on your PATH, or set agent.cliPath in .chief/config.yaml (see Configuration).
3. Run Chief with chief --agent codex or set CHIEF_AGENT=codex, or set agent.provider: codex in .chief/config.yaml.

Option C: OpenCode CLI

To use OpenCode CLI as an alternative:

1. Install OpenCode per the official docs.
2. Ensure opencode is on your PATH, or set agent.cliPath in .chief/config.yaml (see Configuration).
3. Run Chief with chief --agent opencode or set CHIEF_AGENT=opencode, or set agent.provider: opencode in .chief/config.yaml.

Optional: GitHub CLI (gh)

If you want Chief to automatically create pull requests when a PRD completes, install the GitHub CLI:

# macOS
brew install gh

# Linux
# See https://github.com/cli/cli/blob/trunk/docs/install_linux.md

# Authenticate
gh auth login

The gh CLI is only required for automatic PR creation. All other features work without it.

Homebrew (Recommended)

The easiest way to install Chief on macOS or Linux:

brew install minicodemonkey/chief/chief

This method:

• Automatically handles updates via brew upgrade
• Installs to /opt/homebrew/bin/chief (Apple Silicon) or /usr/local/bin/chief (Intel/Linux)
• Works on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (x64 and ARM64)

Updating

The easiest way to update is Chief's built-in update command, which works regardless of how you installed:

chief update

If you installed via Homebrew, you can also use:

brew update && brew upgrade chief

Chief automatically checks for updates on startup and notifies you when a new version is available.

Install Script

Download and install with a single command:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/minicodemonkey/chief/main/install.sh | bash

The script automatically detects your platform and downloads the appropriate binary.

Script Options

Option	Description	Example
--version	Install a specific version	--version v0.1.0
--dir	Install to a custom directory	--dir /opt/chief
--help	Show all available options	--help

Examples:

# Install a specific version
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/minicodemonkey/chief/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --version v0.1.0

# Install to a custom directory
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/minicodemonkey/chief/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --dir ~/.local/bin

# Both options combined
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/minicodemonkey/chief/main/install.sh | bash -s -- --version v0.1.0 --dir /opt/chief

Custom Directory

If you install to a custom directory, make sure it's in your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Add this to your shell profile (.bashrc, .zshrc, etc.) to persist it.

Manual Binary Download

Download the binary for your platform from the GitHub Releases page.

Platform Matrix

Platform	Architecture	Binary Name	Notes
macOS	Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)	chief-darwin-arm64	Recommended for modern Macs
macOS	Intel (x64)	chief-darwin-amd64	For older Intel-based Macs
Linux	x64 (AMD64)	chief-linux-amd64	Most common Linux servers
Linux	ARM64	chief-linux-arm64	Raspberry Pi 4, AWS Graviton

Installation Steps

macOS Apple Silicon

# Download the binary
curl -LO https://github.com/minicodemonkey/chief/releases/latest/download/chief-darwin-arm64

# Make it executable
chmod +x chief-darwin-arm64

# Move to a directory in your PATH
sudo mv chief-darwin-arm64 /usr/local/bin/chief

macOS Intel

# Download the binary
curl -LO https://github.com/minicodemonkey/chief/releases/latest/download/chief-darwin-amd64

# Make it executable
chmod +x chief-darwin-amd64

# Move to a directory in your PATH
sudo mv chief-darwin-amd64 /usr/local/bin/chief

Linux x64

# Download the binary
curl -LO https://github.com/minicodemonkey/chief/releases/latest/download/chief-linux-amd64

# Make it executable
chmod +x chief-linux-amd64

# Move to a directory in your PATH
sudo mv chief-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/chief

Linux ARM64

# Download the binary
curl -LO https://github.com/minicodemonkey/chief/releases/latest/download/chief-linux-arm64

# Make it executable
chmod +x chief-linux-arm64

# Move to a directory in your PATH
sudo mv chief-linux-arm64 /usr/local/bin/chief

Detect Your Architecture

Not sure which binary you need? Run these commands:

# macOS
uname -m  # arm64 = Apple Silicon, x86_64 = Intel

# Linux
uname -m  # x86_64 = AMD64, aarch64 = ARM64

Building from Source

Build Chief from source if you want the latest development version or need to customize the build.

Prerequisites

• Go 1.21 or later (install Go)
• Git for cloning the repository

Build Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/minicodemonkey/chief.git
cd chief

# Build the binary
go build -o chief ./cmd/chief

# Optionally install to your GOPATH/bin
go install ./cmd/chief

Build with Version Info

For a release-quality build with version information embedded:

go build -ldflags "-X main.version=$(git describe --tags --always)" -o chief ./cmd/chief

Verify the Build

./chief --version

Verifying Installation

After installing via any method, verify Chief is working correctly:

# Check the version
chief --version

# View help
chief --help

# Check that your agent CLI is accessible (Claude default, or codex if configured)
claude --version
# or: codex --version

Expected output (example with Claude):

$ chief --version
chief version vX.Y.Z

$ claude --version
Claude Code vX.Y.Z

Troubleshooting

If chief is not found after installation:

1. Check that the installation directory is in your PATH
2. Open a new terminal window/tab to reload your shell
3. Run which chief to see if it's found and where

See the Troubleshooting Guide for more help.

Next Steps

Now that Chief is installed:

1. Quick Start Guide - Get running with your first PRD
2. How Chief Works - Understand the autonomous agent concept
3. CLI Reference - Explore all available commands