Install

kata is a single Go binary. It has no runtime service dependency beyond the daemon it starts itself, and it stores data locally in SQLite.

Requirements

The release installers below do not require Go. Install Go 1.27 or later from https://go.dev/dl/ only when using go install or building from a clone.

GitHub release binaries are available starting with v0.5.0. Since v0.14.0, kata publishes stable releases that preserve backward compatibility across upgrades.

The recommended path on macOS is Homebrew Core:

brew install kata

Homebrew owns this binary. Check Kata's release feed with kata update --check, and install packaged updates with:

brew upgrade kata

The formula may trail a newly published GitHub release. On Linux, or to install an ordinary release archive on macOS instead:

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

Linux and WSL 2 users who already use Homebrew can install from Core instead:

brew install kata

On Windows PowerShell:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://katatracker.com/install.ps1 | iex"

The installers detect your OS and CPU architecture and download the latest archive from GitHub releases. They verify the downloaded archive against SHA256SUMS before installing it. For v0.14.x and newer versions, they also ask the extracted binary to validate its embedded Web UI before replacement. The installer remains able to install canonical older releases that predate that embedded-asset check. The shell installer places kata in /usr/local/bin or ~/.local/bin. The PowerShell installer places kata.exe in %USERPROFILE%\.kata\bin by default and adds that directory to the user Path. Review the installers at https://katatracker.com/install.sh and https://katatracker.com/install.ps1 before running them if you prefer.

Linux .deb and .rpm packages are also published for amd64 and arm64. Download the package for your distribution from GitHub releases, then install it with your system package tool. Upgrade those installations with the same package manager; Kata will not replace a package-owned binary itself.

After installing a release build, check for newer releases:

kata update --check

For an ordinary release archive or installer-based installation, install an available update from GitHub release assets:

kata update

kata update verifies the downloaded archive against SHA256SUMS before replacing the installed binary. Package-managed installations keep kata update --check, but install-capable update forms direct you back to the owning package manager. Packagers can read the complete packaging contract. Installing with go install remains supported, and building from a clone is still useful for development builds.

Install with go install

go install go.kenn.io/kata/cmd/kata@latest

This module-source install includes the CLI, daemon, and TUI, but Go does not run the browser asset toolchain. To use kata ui, install a release binary or build from a clone with make install so the compiled browser bundle is embedded.

Go writes the binary to $(go env GOBIN) when set, otherwise to $(go env GOPATH)/bin. Common defaults are ~/go/bin on Unix and %USERPROFILE%\go\bin on Windows. Put that directory on PATH.

Check the install:

kata version   # or kata --version
kata --help

Install from a release manually

Download the archive for your platform from the GitHub releases page, extract it, and place the kata binary on PATH.

Build from a clone

On macOS or Linux:

git clone https://github.com/kenn-io/kata.git
cd kata
make install

make install honors GOBIN and defaults to ~/.local/bin:

make install GOBIN=/usr/local/bin

On Windows, PowerShell or cmd.exe:

git clone https://github.com/kenn-io/kata.git
cd kata
go build -o kata.exe ./cmd/kata

Move kata.exe to a directory on PATH.

Documentation tooling

This site is built with Zensical. Install the docs toolchain into a local virtual environment:

make docs-install

Build or preview the site:

make docs-build
make docs-serve

make docs-check runs the repository's docs structure check and then runs a strict Zensical build when Zensical is installed.