RTK Installation

RTK — Installation

RTK is a single binary plus a Claude Code hook. Two steps: install the binary, then register the hook.

Skip this page if you're a UFIL user — UFIL auto-installs RTK on first session via scripts/install-rtk.sh. See RTK-Usage-in-Plugins.

1. Install the rtk binary

macOS (preferred)

brew install rtk

Cross-platform install script

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rtk-ai/rtk/refs/heads/master/install.sh | sh

Manual / source build

See the rtk-ai/rtk README for cargo install or release-binary download.

2. Verify the binary

rtk --version    # should print: rtk X.Y.Z
which rtk        # confirm the path is what you expect
rtk gain         # should not print "command not found"

⚠️ If rtk gain errors with something like "no such subcommand", you most likely have reachingforthejack/rtk (Rust Type Kit) installed instead. Uninstall it (or shadow it) before continuing. Full diagnosis in RTK-Troubleshooting.

3. Register the Claude Code hook

rtk init -g

This writes a global hook into ~/.claude/settings.json plus a copy of RTK.md (RTK's own usage guide) into ~/.claude/. The hook is what rewrites Bash("git status") → Bash("rtk git status") transparently.

Inspect the current state any time with:

rtk init --show

It will tell you whether the global hook is installed, and where it lives.

4. Restart Claude Code

The hook is loaded at Claude Code start-up. After rtk init -g, quit and reopen Claude Code so the new settings take effect. Without a restart, RTK is installed but inert.

5. Confirm RTK is active

In a fresh Claude Code session, ask Claude to run any shell command (e.g. git status). Then:

rtk gain --history

If you see your recent commands listed with savings metrics, the hook is active. If gain --history is empty even though you ran commands, the hook didn't fire — check RTK-Troubleshooting.

Uninstall

rtk init --uninstall   # remove the global hook
brew uninstall rtk     # or your install method

For UFIL users: also delete the sentinel so the next session doesn't try to re-install:

rm -f "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/ufil/rtk-initialized"