Install

Verify

Open a new terminal after installation. On macOS and Linux, follow the installer PATH instructions first. Run rightnow doctor. Values in angle brackets vary by release.

Doctor checks terminal, clipboard, color, and input support. Its endpoint section reads configuration only; it does not validate provider credentials or connectivity.

Healthy terminal configuration (excerpt)

PS> rightnow doctorCopy
RightNow Doctor

Checks not completed
  ? runtime.fullscreen-active    unavailable
  ? runtime.kitty-flags-pushed   unavailable

Needs a running session
  Some checks only run in RightNow. Start RightNow and run /doctor.

0 issues, 0 recommendations

Expected result: Doctor reports terminal findings and recommendations. Read the findings even when it exits successfully.

A completed Doctor report exits with code 0 even when it lists issues or recommendations; a Doctor error exits with code 1. Run /doctor in a session for the checks that need the running TUI.

• Shell cannot find rightnow: finish the PATH steps in the platform section below.
• Missing provider key: connect a provider.
• Terminal findings: Troubleshooting.

Then run rightnow for the TUI or rightnow -p "task" for one task. The Quickstart walks through both.

Install on Windows

Windows on Windows x64 or Windows ARM64, in a 64-bit Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7 window.

Successful installation at the default path (excerpt)

Added to user PATH: <user-home>\.rightnow\bin. Open a new terminal for other sessions.
RightNow Agent <version> installed to <user-home>\.rightnow\bin\rightnow.exe
Next: rightnow
Next: rightnow doctor

1. Downloads the native executable for your architecture.
2. Checks its size and SHA-256 against the release manifest and checksum sidecar, then proves --version.
3. Installs %USERPROFILE%\.rightnow\bin\rightnow.exe by default and keeps the previous binary as rightnow.exe.old for rollback.
4. Writes installer.toml in the product home, writes PowerShell completions when generation succeeds, and prepends the bin directory to your user PATH.

An older PATH entry or shell alias can still take precedence. Check which executable PowerShell resolves:

Get-Command rightnow -All

From cmd.exe

Keep the quotes so cmd.exe does not interpret the pipe.

Install on macOS and Linux

macOS Apple Silicon, macOS Intel, Linux x64 and Linux ARM64. The installer needs bash 3.2 or newer, curl or GNU wget, and sha256sum or shasum; the installer command uses curl. Linux also needs gpg for publisher signature verification.

macOS

Successful installation at the default path (excerpt)

RightNow Agent <version> installed to <user-home>/.rightnow/bin/rightnow
Next commands:
  rightnow
  rightnow doctor

Linux

Linux binaries are static with no glibc requirement.

The Linux installer verifies SHA-256 against the checksum sidecar. It requires gpg for release signature verification. If gpg is absent, the installer stops unless RIGHTNOW_INSTALL_ALLOW_UNSIGNED=1 is set. That option skips signature verification only when gpg is absent and prints a warning. When gpg is available, the installer checks the pinned signing key and verifies the signature.

The macOS installer runs codesign --verify --strict and checks the RightNow Developer ID authority, team 57359PCCNP, hardened runtime, and Developer ID requirement. It attempts notarization verification up to three times, with a 20 second limit per attempt. If Apple's service is reachable but does not confirm a ticket, installation stops. If the service is unreachable or unavailable, the installer warns that notarization could not be confirmed and continues after the Developer ID checks.

SHA-256 verification cannot be skipped on Windows, macOS, or Linux. The Linux unsigned option never bypasses the checksum check.

The staged release verifier requires exactly two signatureUrl entries in the manifest, both for Linux artifacts. Each signature URL ends in .asc.

Successful installation with bash PATH configuration (excerpt)

PATH configured in <user-home>/.bashrc; open a new terminal or source that file.
RightNow Agent <version> installed to <user-home>/.rightnow/bin/rightnow
Next commands:
  rightnow
  rightnow doctor

What the installer does

1. Verifies SHA-256 against the checksum sidecar. With Python 3 or jq it also checks the release manifest and file size; without either, it reports sidecar-only verification.
2. Proves --version, installs ~/.rightnow/bin/rightnow by default, and keeps the previous binary for rollback.
3. Writes installer.toml in the product home, plus bash, zsh and fish completions when generation succeeds.
4. Reuses a bin directory already on PATH or links into a writable PATH directory: ~/.local/bin, ~/bin, or /usr/local/bin. For bash, zsh, or fish, it otherwise writes the shell startup file and prints its path.

Follow the printed PATH line: open a new terminal, or load the changed startup file in this one.

• zshsource "${ZDOTDIR:-$HOME}/.zshrc"
• bashsource "$HOME/.bashrc"
• fishsource $__fish_config_dir/config.fish

Check that your shell finds the command:

command -v rightnow

Git Bash on Windows delegates to PowerShell. WSL uses the Linux binary.

Proxy or private CA

On macOS and Linux, the installer's downloads honor HTTPS_PROXY or https_proxy, and NO_PROXY or no_proxy. For a private CA, set RIGHTNOW_EXTRA_CA_BUNDLE to your trusted PEM CA bundle before installing. The installer ignores ~/.curlrc and ~/.wgetrc. If a download fails, see Troubleshooting.

Optional settings

Set these in the shell that runs the installer. On macOS and Linux, export them so bash receives them.

• RIGHTNOW_VERSIONPin a published version. Unset, the installer follows the selected channel pointer.
• RIGHTNOW_CHANNELstable (default) or alpha.
• RIGHTNOW_HOMEProduct home for downloads, completions, and installer state. Keep it set when you launch the CLI.
• RIGHTNOW_BIN_DIRBin directory. The default is the product home's bin directory.
• RIGHTNOW_NO_PATH_UPDATEOn Windows, 1 or true leaves the user PATH unchanged.

$env:RIGHTNOW_CHANNEL = "alpha"
$env:RIGHTNOW_BIN_DIR = "C:\tools\RightNow"

export RIGHTNOW_CHANNEL="alpha"

Nonempty RIGHTNOW_HOME takes precedence over GROK_HOME. GROK_BIN_DIR, GROK_VERSION, and GROK_CHANNEL are fallback aliases; the matching RIGHTNOW_* setting wins. With neither home variable set, an existing legacy ~/.grok home stays in use when ~/.rightnow is absent and ~/.grok/config.toml exists. See Configuration.

Shell completions

When generation succeeds, the installer writes completion scripts under completions in the product home and prints how to enable each one. Generating a file does not enable it in the current shell.

The completion generator prints the completion script to standard output for the selected shell. Supported shells:

• PowerShellpowershell
• bashbash
• zshzsh
• fishfish

Update

The shipped configuration sets [cli] auto_update = false, so updates are not automatic. The update subcommand provides these options:

• --check --jsonReport the available update without installing it. --json requires --check.
• Current channelUpdate on the current channel.
• --alphaSwitch to the alpha channel and update.
• --stableSwitch to the stable channel and update.
• --force-reinstallDownload and reinstall even when already up to date.
• --version "<published-version>"Install that exact published version; replace the placeholder.

An explicit [cli] channel in the config takes precedence over RIGHTNOW_CHANNEL, then its legacy alias, then the channel in installer.toml, with stable as the default. Updates follow channel pointers and can downgrade when a channel rolls back.

On Windows, never run rightnow.exe.old directly. Manual rollback requires verifying a copy of the retained backup before restoring it, then a verified pinned install to reconcile installer.toml.

Build from source

Version output format from source (excerpt)

rightnow <version> (<commit>)

Authorized repository contributors on Windows, macOS, or Linux need the Rust toolchain pinned by rust-toolchain.toml. On Windows, enable Git long-path support if needed for a deep checkout.

Build from the repository root:

cargo build -p rightnow-pager-bin --release

Run the launchers from the repository root. For subcommands such as doctor, call rightnow-pager.exe <subcommand> (on macOS and Linux, target/release/rightnow-pager) directly: the launchers append a tool-deny flag after every command except leader and daemon, and some subcommands, such as doctor, reject it.

The build resolves protoc from PROTOC, the repository wrapper (which needs dotslash), PATH, then the vendored executable, so no separate protoc installation is required.

The source launcher seeds a missing user config from config/rightnow.toml. Older valid configs are backed up and upgraded while preserving owner values, with a Windows exception. On Windows, the upgrade re-pins turn_time_budget_secs, turn_model_call_limit, turn_repeated_failure_limit, and act_first when they differ from the template during an upgrade from a config version below 6 to version 6 or newer. See the configuration synchronization rules. A provider credential is needed to run model-backed tasks, not to build.

Related

• Connect a provider
• Run your first task
• Troubleshooting