fak install paths: which one command do I run?
fak is one static Go binary that pulls in two golang.org/x modules and nothing
else — no Python, no CUDA toolchain. There is no wrong way
to get it, but there is a fastest way for each situation. Find your row, run the
one command, done. Every command here is the same one the
getting-started guide documents; this page just
routes you to yours.
| I want to… | Pick | The one command | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Just try it, no clone, no Go | Prebuilt binary | curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthony-chaudhary/fak/main/install.sh \| sh |
Linux/macOS only. Reads the script before piping to sh if you prefer; it is checksum-verified and honors FAK_VERSION / FAK_INSTALL_DIR. Windows: grab the .zip from the latest release instead. |
| I already have Go | go install |
go install github.com/anthony-chaudhary/fak/cmd/fak@latest |
Needs Go 1.26+. Lands in $(go env GOBIN) or $GOPATH/bin, so that has to be on your PATH. @latest pins to the newest tag, not to trunk. |
| I want to hack on it | From source | git clone https://github.com/anthony-chaudhary/fak.git && cd fak && go build -o fak ./cmd/fak |
Needs Go 1.26+ and the clone. On Windows build with -o fak.exe (the extensionless -o fak leaves a file cmd.exe / PowerShell cannot launch by name). This is the only path that lets you change the code. |
| I drive an MCP client (Claude Code, etc.) | MCP server | Paste examples/mcp/.mcp.json into your project root as .mcp.json |
Needs the fak binary already installed (use one of the rows above first). The stdio transport needs no listener, no port, and no API key. Adjust the --policy path to a floor you trust. |
If you are not sure
- Reach for the prebuilt binary if you want to run fak, not read its code.
It is the shortest path from zero to a working
fakcommand. - Reach for
go installif you have a Go toolchain already; it skips the clone and drops the binary straight onto your Go bin path. - Reach for from source only when you intend to build, test, or change fak. It is the heaviest of the four and the only one that gives you an editable tree.
- Reach for the MCP server row after you have the binary, when the goal is to let an agent route its proposed tool calls through fak rather than to run fak yourself.
Verify it worked
Whichever path you took, the same check confirms the binary runs:
fak help # or ./fak help / .\fak.exe help if it is not on your PATH
Then follow the tiers in the getting-started guide: Tier 0 is offline and needs nothing further; Tier 1 puts fak in front of a model server you already run.
What each path does not do
None of these install a model, a GPU driver, or a Python environment. fak is the
kernel; the model is separate and only some tiers need one (the getting-started
guide marks which). The MCP row does not start a network listener. The go
install and prebuilt-binary rows do not give you the source tree, so you cannot
edit fak from them. Pick the from-source row if that is what you are after.