Install Commentray
April 26, 2026 · View on GitHub
Pick one path: release binary (no Node — assets on GitHub Releases under v* tags), Homebrew (macOS or Linux, same release binaries), npm global or npx (needs Node), or clone the repo for extension packaging / full development (Development → Clone and workspace setup).
Homebrew (d-led tap, binary)
If you use Homebrew, install from the maintainer tap d-led/homebrew-d-led (formula commentray.rb installs the same standalone SEA builds as Releases — darwin-arm64, darwin-x64, linux-arm64, linux-x64 only):
brew tap d-led/d-led
brew install commentray
commentray --version
Upgrade after a new release: brew update && brew upgrade commentray.
Standalone CLI binaries (GitHub Releases)
Official builds ship from .github/workflows/binaries.yml: one self-contained executable per OS/arch (Node SEA).
GitHub Releases publishes standalone CLI assets on v* tags. To install:
- Open the releases page and download the binary for your platform (for example
commentray-darwin-arm64on Apple Silicon). - Put the file on your
PATHand mark it executable (chmod +x …on Unix). - Run
commentray --version.
You can still use npm global or work from a clone. A local SEA binary from source is a maintainer-style build—see Building binaries locally.
Workflow run artifacts (not Releases) expire after about two weeks—prefer Release assets for anything you rely on long term.
If macOS blocks a downloaded binary (quarantine), see Development → macOS quarantine.
npm global (commentray on PATH)
Requires a supported Node.js version (see repo CI matrices).
npm install -g commentray
commentray --version
Upgrade later with the same npm install -g command.
npx (one-off, no global install)
With Node/npm available, you can run the published CLI without a global install:
npx commentray --help
That prints Usage: commentray [options] [command] and lists subcommands—the same surface as a global commentray. Examples: npx commentray validate, npx commentray init.
VS Code / Cursor extension
Published: install d-led.commentray-vscode from the Marketplace (or your editor’s extensions UI). commentray init merges this id into .vscode/extensions.json when that file is mergeable JSON.
From a built .vsix in this repo:
npm run extension:install # build, package, install
# or: npm run extension:package → packages/vscode/dist/*.vsix
Dogfood flow (fixture or repo): see Editor extension workflows in docs/development.md.
Which editor binary?
If both cursor and code exist on PATH, scripts prefer Cursor. Override:
COMMENTRAY_EDITOR=code npm run extension:dogfood
Next steps
- Quickstart — first commentray file and validate.
- Keeping blocks in sync — index, markers, anchors.