Install Link from a release or source

Build prerequisites

The first source build needs your platform's compiler and development libraries. It installs release-mode binaries rather than selecting the programs in target/debug, and it never downloads released plugins. Unsupported platforms are skipped according to each package's source metadata.

Update core and plugins

Run the bootstrap again to update core, including an older CLI that does not support source installation. Run lnk up --source . again to update plugins. Both use Cargo's installation records and reuse build output. A failure stops the command and names the package. Earlier installations remain. Neither command starts or restarts agents.

Include another workspace

The source command also accepts plugin-only workspaces. Repeat --source to include additional workspaces in the same installation:

lnk up --source . --source /path/to/addons

Validate the combined installation

All selected workspaces are checked before installation starts. Duplicate workspace paths and conflicting executable names are refused. Build output is shared in the first workspace's target directory. Core is excluded from plugin installation. Plugin discovery scans only explicitly named workspaces, while builds also read their dependencies. Installing does not publish code.

Select plugins

Separate names with commas or repeat --plugin to install only named plugins. Names are executable names without the lnk- prefix, such as agent or man, rather than Cargo package names. Unknown names and explicitly selected unsupported plugins are refused before any installation changes.

lnk up --source . --plugin agent,man,model

Refresh installed plugins

Use --stale to refresh only plugins already found beside the running CLI or on PATH. Cargo checks source, dependencies, build scripts, compiler and build settings, then builds changed inputs. The command compares the resulting executable with the installed file and skips identical files. Missing plugins remain uninstalled. Add --plugin to narrow the refresh.

lnk up --source . --stale
lnk up --source . --plugin agent --stale

Refresh locations and failures

A changed plugin is reinstalled with Cargo into the installation where it was found, which must have a bin folder. Unchanged executables need no installation write. A failed build leaves that plugin in place and stops the refresh. A dependency change whose output is identical requires no replacement. Plugin refresh never updates core.

Without a checkout

Without a checkout, from a branch (dev is everything merged but not released):

CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI=true cargo install --git https://github.com/so-local/link --branch dev \
  link-cli link-plugin-tunnel link-plugin-man

Harnesses and connections

The source installer includes the workspace's supported harness adapters and connection plugins. It installs Link's adapters, not the external harness programs or accounts those adapters use. A plugin from another checkout can be installed with cargo install --path /path/to/plugin.

Add plugins with cargo

With a Cargo install, use lnk up --source . for all source plugins, or add --plugin <name> for selected plugins. Plain lnk up and lnk plugin add use released plugins. Work branches keep the last released version, so those download that version's released plugins next to your source-built lnk, and so does the "Install it?" offer of a command whose plugin is missing. Don't run lnk upgrade either, because it replaces the programs in ~/.cargo/bin with a release's.

Script to cargo

Remove the script's programs, install with cargo as above, and start your agents again:

lnk uninstall --yes      # removes ~/.lnk/bin/lnk and its plugins
sh core/cli/install.sh --source
lnk up --source .
lnk agent start

Cargo to the script

Remove the programs cargo installed, run the script, and start your agents again:

lnk uninstall --yes

Run the complete cargo uninstall command it prints, including the plugin packages. The core package is link-cli, not lnk. Keep ~/.cargo/bin on PATH because other Rust tools use it. Then install the release:

curl -fsSL https://local.link/install.sh | sh
lnk up
lnk agent start

Check it worked

One lnk should be on the PATH, with its plugins beside it:

type -a lnk
lnk plugin list   # its plugins
lnk --version     # its version, where it runs from, and any other lnk on the PATH

If your shell remembers the previous executable, open a new terminal or run rehash in zsh, or hash -r in bash. Another executable path means another installation still exists. Uninstall that copy before restarting agents with the intended installation. With two on the PATH, every lnk command in a terminal starts with a note naming both.