Getting Started

Getting started

Download the prebuilt macOS Apple Silicon or Linux x86_64 archive from GitHub Releases. No source checkout or compiler is required. Verify its SHA-256 file and extract the archive into a version-specific directory. From that directory:

./bin/kiln --version
./bin/kiln up --state "$HOME/.kiln" --authorized-keys ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Linux 26.10.11.2 and later includes the Swift runtime in the executables. Ubuntu 24.04 is the validated distribution; its normal system libraries are still required. macOS packages target macOS 14+ and are not yet Developer-ID signed or notarized. See the installation requirements and checksum instructions.

The public-key file bootstraps the first administrator. Keep the matching private key on your client. Compare the host fingerprint before accepting it:

ssh-keygen -lf "$HOME/.kiln/ssh-host-ed25519.pub"
ssh -e none -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o IdentityAgent=none -i ~/.ssh/id_ed25519 -p 2222 admin@127.0.0.1

The explicit identity options avoid offering unrelated agent keys. The listener defaults to loopback. Do not expose it to an untrusted network without reviewing the trust model.

Generate sample manifests from the extracted package directory:

python3 scripts/example-manifests.py --output /tmp/kiln-examples \
  --executable "$PWD/bin/kiln-example-backend"

In the Kiln command drawer:

app install /tmp/kiln-examples/rest.json
app start storefront/rest
app install /tmp/kiln-examples/websocket.json
app start storefront/websocket
app list

The REST example listens at http://127.0.0.1:18080/api/hello; the WebSocket example at ws://127.0.0.1:18081/ws. Both expose /health. These are local, unencrypted examples.

See the README for the maintained quickstart and Linux service setup for systemd deployment.

Build from source

Source builds remain available for development with Swift 6.2.3. See the developer quickstart. The product page puts downloads, checksums, installation commands and public build pipeline links together.