CLI Reference

🎛️ CLI Reference

Four commands. Predictable exit codes. No hidden side effects.

Usage: binstaller [-hV] [--reset-state] [--verbose] [--config=FILE]
                  [--state=FILE] COMMAND

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📋 Commands

Command	Purpose	Writes files
🔍 plan	Render the resolved install plan.	No
🚀 apply	Download, verify, stage, install, symlink, save state.	Yes
🆙 versions	Print package versions and available GitHub release updates.	No
🧊 lock	Resolve and write a JSON lock file.	Lock file only

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⚙️ Shared options

Flag	Meaning
--config FILE	Path to the YAML profile. Defaults to config.yaml in the current directory.
--state FILE	Override the profile state file used by apply.
--reset-state	Ignore saved execution state and start fresh.
--verbose	Show additional command diagnostics.
-h, --help	Show help and exit 0.
-V, --version	Print version information and exit 0.

Selection

Available on plan, apply and lock. Both flags are repeatable.

Flag	Meaning
--only TOOL	Include only the named tool.
--skip TOOL	Omit the named tool.

--only is applied first, --skip second, and manifest order is always preserved. Unknown tool names are a selection error (exit 1), not a silent no-op.

binstaller plan  --only yazi --only zig
binstaller apply --skip neovim

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🔍 plan

Resolves everything and prints it. Touches no files, though version and checksum resolution may use the network (http-text resolvers, sha256sum discovery, and GitHub latest-release lookups).

binstaller plan
binstaller plan --config profiles/workstation.yaml
binstaller plan --only kubectl
binstaller plan --locked --lock-file binstaller.lock.json

Flag	Meaning
--locked	Require a compatible JSON lock file before rendering.
--lock-file FILE	Path to the lock file used by --locked.

Read the header first:

binstaller plan
tools: 15
apps dir: /home/you/.apps (not created)
policy mode: developer
state file: developer-binaries.state.json (not created)
lock file: not required
filesystem: no changes will be made (version and checksum resolution may use the network)
sudo risk: YES - 5 sudo symlink command(s) require elevated privileges

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🚀 apply

binstaller apply
binstaller apply --only lazygit
binstaller apply --reset-state
binstaller apply --locked --lock-file binstaller.lock.json

Flag	Meaning
--locked	Require a compatible JSON lock file before applying.
--lock-file FILE	Path to the lock file used by --locked.

Per-tool phases: Resolving → Planning → LoadingState → Downloading → VerifyingChecksum → Staging → ApplyingModes → ReplacingInstall → VerifyingExecutables → CreatingSymlinks → SavingState.

Output style: colour, in-place progress bars and a concurrent progress block when a terminal is attached; plain, line-oriented, script-friendly text when it is not. Piping to a file or another process is safe.

Failure behaviour: by default the run stops at the first failed tool. Set spec.policy.continueOnError: true to keep going — the run still exits non-zero if anything failed.

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🆙 versions

binstaller versions

Prints a three-column table: package, resolved version, and a newer version when one exists.

package              version             newer version
lazygit              0.61.0              v0.63.1
kubectl              v1.36.3             -
minikube             dynamic latest-url  -
kustomize            v5.8.1              ?

Column value	Meaning
-	No newer release detected.
?	The upstream latest release could not be determined.
dynamic latest-url	The version is intentionally resolved by the download endpoint itself.

Update detection works for downloads that look like GitHub release URLs; the repository's latest release tag is queried and compared.

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🧊 lock

binstaller lock
binstaller lock --output /tmp/binstaller.lock.json
binstaller lock --only helm --only kubectl

Flag	Meaning
--output FILE	Lock file to write. Default: binstaller.lock.json.

Resolves versions, URLs and digests and writes them as JSON. Installs nothing. See 🧊 Lock Files & Reproducibility.

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🚦 Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Completed successfully — including --help and plan.
1	Manifest loading or resolution failed, selection was invalid, apply failed, or state persistence failed.
2	Command-line usage error.

Scripting example:

if ! binstaller plan --only kubectl >/dev/null; then
  echo "profile does not resolve" >&2
  exit 1
fi
binstaller apply --only kubectl

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🧑‍💻 Running from source

./mill app.run --help
./mill app.run plan    --config config.example.yaml
./mill app.run apply   --config config.example.yaml
./mill app.run versions --config config.example.yaml
./mill app.run lock    --config config.example.yaml --output /tmp/binstaller.lock.json