Install lnk

Get lnk from a release, from source with cargo, or straight from a build, and switch between them without losing your agents or files.

Pick one and keep to it. lnk runs its plugins (lnk-harness, lnk-tunnel, ...) from its own folder first and then the PATH, so two installs on one PATH mix versions.

Way	`lnk` and its plugins live in	Plugins come from	Update with
The script	`~/.local/bin`	`lnk up`, `lnk plugin add` (signed release)	`lnk upgrade`
Cargo	`~/.cargo/bin`	`cargo install`, one per plugin	`cargo install` again
No install	`target/debug`	`cargo build` builds them all	`cargo build`

The script (a release)

curl -fsSL https://local.link/install.sh | sh
lnk up                                          # asks which parts; installs their plugins
lnk upgrade                                     # later: lnk and its plugins, to the latest release

Cargo (from source)

From a checkout, the core and every plugin:

cargo install --path src/local/cli
for p in src/local/plugins/*/; do
  cargo install --path "$p"
done
# Link Harness, and Link's tools (memory, scheduler), from their folders beside link-core
cargo install --path ../link-harness
cargo install --path ../link-tools/memory
cargo install --path ../link-tools/scheduler

Without a checkout, from a branch (dev is everything merged but not released):

CARGO_NET_GIT_FETCH_WITH_CLI=true cargo install --git https://github.com/woodpav/link --branch dev \
  link-cli link-plugin-sandbox link-plugin-harness link-plugin-link-harness link-plugin-link-memory link-plugin-link-scheduler \
  link-plugin-telegram link-plugin-slack link-plugin-discord link-plugin-whatsapp link-plugin-signal \
  link-plugin-models link-plugin-accounts link-plugin-tunnel link-plugin-bucket link-plugin-cloud link-plugin-box \
  link-plugin-vpn link-plugin-measure link-plugin-aws link-plugin-gcp

For only some parts, install link-cli and these:

Part	Plugins
agents	`sandbox`, `harness`, `link-harness`, `measure` (and the channels)
memory	`link-memory`, `models`
models	`models`
tunnels	`accounts`, `tunnel`
buckets	`bucket`
boxes	`cloud`, `accounts`, `box`, `vpn` (and `aws`, `gcp`)

OpenClaw's, Hermes's and DeepSeek Harness's adapters build from their folders beside link-core the same way (cargo install --path ../link-openclaw, ../link-hermes, ../link-deepseek), and a harness from outside Link from its own checkout (cargo install --path .), which otherwise comes from its releases with lnk plugin add <its URL>.

With a cargo install, add plugins with cargo install, never with lnk plugin add or lnk up. Work branches keep the last released version, so those download that version's released plugins next to your source-built lnk, and so does the "Install it?" offer of a command whose plugin is missing. Don't run lnk upgrade either, because it replaces the programs in ~/.cargo/bin with a release's.

No install (`target/debug`)

This is the way to work on Local Link, and it leaves nothing to remove.

cargo build
# Link Harness and Link's tools, built next to it
cargo build --manifest-path ../link-harness/Cargo.toml --target-dir target
cargo build --manifest-path ../link-tools/Cargo.toml --target-dir target
./target/debug/lnk agent start   # runs the plugins built next to it

A lnk built from source never installs a released plugin of Link's tools on its own. Without lnk-link-scheduler built next to it, an agent starts without its scheduler and says so.

Switch between them

Your agents, settings and files (~/.config/lnk, ~/Link) are shared by every install, so switching loses nothing. lnk uninstall --yes stops your agents and removes only the programs. Start the agents again with the new install, because a running agent's service points at the old one's programs.

Script to cargo:

lnk uninstall --yes      # removes ~/.local/bin/lnk and its plugins
# the cargo install above
lnk agent start

Cargo to the script:

lnk uninstall --yes      # prints the `cargo uninstall ...` line: run it
curl -fsSL https://local.link/install.sh | sh
lnk up
lnk agent start

Check it worked:

# one line: the install you meant
which -a lnk
lnk plugin list   # its plugins
lnk --version     # its version, where it runs from, and any other lnk on the PATH

With two on the PATH, every lnk command in a terminal starts with a note naming both.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
zsh passes a pasted `# note` to the command as arguments	`lnk` ignores it. For other commands, `setopt interactive_comments` in `~/.zshrc`.
`which -a lnk` shows two, or `lnk` notes another on your PATH	Uninstall one (above), or put the one you want first on the PATH.
A command says its plugin isn't installed	Script: `lnk plugin add <plugin>`. Cargo: the `cargo install --path` it names, in link-core.
`lnk plugin add` says there's no signed release of this version	Your `lnk` is from source: install the plugin with cargo.
"The plugin at ... isn't in lnk's folder"	It's from the other install: remove it the way it was installed.
Agents fail to start after switching	`lnk agent start` again, from the new install.