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Installation

Get Subnaut Agent up and running in under two minutes!

Platform Support

For the full platform support matrix (which OSes, distribution methods, and platform-gated features are supported), see Platform Support.

Quick Install​

To easily install the command-line and desktop applications, download the Subnaut Desktop installer from our website and run it.

Without Subnaut Desktop:​

For a command-line only install without Subnaut Desktop, run:

Linux / macOS / WSL2 / Android (Termux)​

curl -fsSL https://tryimagent.com/install.sh | bash

Windows (native)​

Run in powershell:

iex (irm https://tryimagent.com/install.ps1)

If you want to install & run Subnaut Desktop after a command-line only install, simply run

subnaut desktop

What the Installer Does​

The installer handles everything automatically — all dependencies (Python, Node.js, ripgrep, ffmpeg), the repo clone, virtual environment, global subnaut command setup, and LLM provider configuration. By the end, you're ready to chat.

Install Layout​

Where the installer puts things depends on whether you're installing as a normal user or as root:

InstallerCode lives atsubnaut binaryData directory
Per-user (git installer)~/.subnaut/subnaut-agent/~/.local/bin/subnaut (symlink)~/.subnaut/
Root-mode (sudo curl … | sudo bash)/usr/local/lib/subnaut-agent//usr/local/bin/subnaut/root/.subnaut/ (or $SUBNAUT_HOME)

The root-mode FHS layout (/usr/local/lib/…, /usr/local/bin/subnaut) matches where other system-wide developer tools land on Linux. It's useful for shared-machine deployments where one system install should serve every user. Per-user config (auth, skills, sessions) still lives under each user's ~/.subnaut/ or explicit SUBNAUT_HOME.

After Installation​

Reload your shell and start chatting:

source ~/.bashrc   # or: source ~/.zshrc
subnaut             # Start chatting!

To reconfigure individual settings later, use the dedicated commands:

subnaut model          # Choose your LLM provider and model
subnaut tools          # Configure which tools are enabled
subnaut gateway setup  # Set up messaging platforms
subnaut config set     # Set individual config values
subnaut config get     # Inspect individual config values
subnaut setup          # Or run the full setup wizard to configure everything at once
Fastest path: Nous Portal

One subscription covers 300+ models plus the Tool Gateway (web search, image generation, TTS, cloud browser). Skip the per-tool key juggling:

subnaut setup --portal

That logs you in, sets Nous as your provider, and turns on the Tool Gateway in one command.

Already running Subnaut on another machine?

You don't need to rebuild your setup from scratch. Restore a full backup with subnaut import (see Exporting Subnaut to another machine), or bring over a single agent with subnaut profile import (see Moving a single profile to another machine). Note that a profile export excludes credentials by design, so an export alone is not a full backup — subnaut backup vs subnaut profile export explains which to use.

Prerequisites​

Installer: On non-Windows platforms, the only prerequisite is Git. On Linux, also make sure curl and xz-utils are available (the installer downloads Node.js as a .tar.xz archive). The desktop app additionally requires g++ (or build-essential on Debian/Ubuntu) to compile native modules. The installer automatically handles everything else:

  • uv (fast Python package manager)
  • Python 3.11 (via uv, no sudo needed)
  • Node.js v26 (for browser automation and WhatsApp bridge; existing system Node 22.22+, 24.11+, or 26+ is used as-is)
  • ripgrep (fast file search)
  • ffmpeg (audio format conversion for TTS)
info

You do not need to install Python, Node.js, ripgrep, or ffmpeg manually. The installer detects what's missing and installs it for you. Just make sure git is available (git --version). On Linux, ensure curl and xz-utils are installed (sudo apt install curl xz-utils on Debian/Ubuntu). For the desktop app, also install build-essential (sudo apt install build-essential).

Nix users

Nix is no longer an explicitly supported install path (best-effort only). If you already use Nix (on NixOS, macOS, or Linux), there's a dedicated setup path with a Nix flake, declarative NixOS module, and optional container mode. See the Nix & NixOS Setup guide.

Manual / Developer Installation​

If you want to clone the repo and install from source — for contributing, running from a specific branch, or having full control over the virtual environment — see the Development Setup section in the Contributing guide.

Non-Sudo / System Service User Installs​

Running Subnaut as a dedicated unprivileged user (e.g. a subnaut systemd service account, or any user without sudo access) is supported. The only thing on the install path that genuinely needs root is Playwright's --with-deps step, which apt-installs shared libraries (libnss3, libxkbcommon, etc.) used by Chromium. The installer detects whether sudo is available and gracefully degrades when it isn't — it will install the Chromium binary into the service user's own Playwright cache and print the exact command an administrator needs to run separately.

Recommended split (Debian/Ubuntu):

  1. One time, as an admin user with sudo, install the system libraries Chromium needs:

    sudo npx playwright install-deps chromium

    (You can run this from anywhere — npx will fetch Playwright on the fly.)

  2. As the unprivileged service user, run the regular installer. It will detect the missing sudo, skip --with-deps, and install Chromium into the user's local Playwright cache:

    curl -fsSL https://tryimagent.com/install.sh | bash

    If you want to skip the Playwright step entirely — for example because you're running headless and don't need browser automation — pass --skip-browser:

    curl -fsSL https://tryimagent.com/install.sh | bash -s -- --skip-browser

    The installer also pre-installs cua-driver so the Computer Use toolset works the moment you enable it; pass --skip-computer-use to opt out (it will then install on demand when you enable the tool).

  3. Make subnaut available to the service user's shells. The installer writes the launcher to ~/.local/bin/subnaut. System service accounts often have a minimal PATH that doesn't include ~/.local/bin. Either add it to the user's environment, or symlink the launcher into a system location:

    # Option A — add to the service user's profile
    echo 'export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

    # Option B — symlink system-wide (run as an admin)
    sudo ln -s /home/subnaut/.subnaut/subnaut-agent/venv/bin/subnaut /usr/local/bin/subnaut

  4. Verify: subnaut doctor should now run cleanly. If you get ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'dotenv', you're invoking the repo source subnaut file (~/.subnaut/subnaut-agent/subnaut) with system Python instead of the venv launcher (~/.subnaut/subnaut-agent/venv/bin/subnaut) — fix step 3.

  5. Running the messaging gateway from this account? A user-level service stops at logout and does not start at boot until you enable lingering for the service user:

    sudo loginctl enable-linger <service-user>

    See Messaging Gateway for the service setup itself.

The same pattern works on Arch (the installer uses pacman with the same sudo-detection logic), Fedora/RHEL, and openSUSE — those distros don't support --with-deps at all, so an administrator always installs the system libraries separately. The relevant dnf/zypper commands are printed by the installer.

Troubleshooting​

ProblemSolution
subnaut: command not foundReload your shell (source ~/.bashrc) or check PATH
API key not setRun subnaut model to configure your provider, or subnaut config set OPENROUTER_API_KEY your_key
Missing config after updateRun subnaut config check then subnaut config migrate

For more diagnostics, run subnaut doctor — it will tell you exactly what's missing and how to fix it.

Symlinked home directories and external storage​

Subnaut supports a symlinked SUBNAUT_HOME and symlinked home subdirectories, including hooks, skills, sessions, and logs. During home initialization, existing directory links are preserved, and permissions on linked directories (and descendants such as logs/curator) are left to their owner.

If a link target is missing, inaccessible, or not a directory, initialization stops with a storage error naming the path and link target. Subnaut does not replace the link or create its missing target: doing so could write data onto the local disk while an external or NAS volume is unmounted. Check the reported link, restore the mount or correct its target, and verify access permissions before retrying. For a deliberately new dotfiles target, create it yourself only after confirming the intended storage is available.

subnaut doctor reports these failures as storage problems, not invalid YAML. Keep your existing config.yaml; running subnaut setup is not the repair for an unavailable directory. This is a directory-availability check, not a mount monitor: an existing directory cannot establish that the intended volume is mounted.

Install method auto-detection​

Subnaut auto-detects whether it was installed via the git installer, Docker, or NixOS, and subnaut update prints the matching update command for that path. There's no env var to set — the detection is based on the install layout (~/.subnaut/subnaut-agent/ checkout, Docker image stamp, or Nix store path). subnaut doctor also surfaces the detected method under its environment summary.