Install acrawl

acrawl installs as a single binary. The install script downloads the latest release for your platform, verifies its SHA256 checksum and sets up CloakBrowser, the stealth browser acrawl uses for JavaScript-heavy pages.

Linux and macOS (x64, ARM64)

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mingye-Lu/AgenticCrawler/main/install.sh | bash

Windows (x64, PowerShell)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Mingye-Lu/AgenticCrawler/main/install.ps1 | iex

Requirements

• Node.js 20+ for browser features. Plain HTTP fetching works without it.
• An API key for at least one of the 25 supported LLM providers, or a local OpenAI-compatible endpoint. The MCP server’s 39 direct and script tools work without any key; only the autonomous run_goal tool needs one.

What the script does

1. Detects your operating system and CPU, and picks the matching release (Linux and macOS on x64 or ARM64, Windows on x64).
2. Downloads it from the latest GitHub release and checks it against the published SHA256 checksum. A mismatch stops the install.
3. On Linux and macOS, puts the binary in ~/.local/bin (or ACRAWL_INSTALL_DIR) and tells you if that folder isn’t on your PATH. On Windows, puts it in %USERPROFILE%\.acrawl\bin and adds that folder to your user PATH.
4. Installs CloakBrowser into ~/.acrawl if Node.js 20+ is available. The browser itself downloads the first time a page needs it.

Prefer to read the script first? It’s install.sh or install.ps1. You can also download a binary and checksums.sha256 from the releases page yourself.

Check that it works

acrawl --version
acrawl auth list

The first prints the version and build details; the second lists the providers you can set up. Neither needs a key or a browser.

Update and uninstall

acrawl checks for updates on startup and tells you when a new version is available. To install it:

acrawl update

To remove acrawl, keeping your settings and credentials:

acrawl uninstall

Add --purge to delete ~/.acrawl as well, including credentials and saved sessions.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/Mingye-Lu/AgenticCrawler.git
cd AgenticCrawler
cargo build --release
npm install   # CloakBrowser bridge for browser automation

The binary is written to target/release/acrawl.

Optional: the browser extension

The acrawl Bridge extension lets acrawl drive your real browser, with your existing sessions and cookies, instead of a headless one. See Use your real, logged-in browser.

Optional: the agent skill

If you drive acrawl from a coding agent, install the acrawl-mcp skill so the agent knows when to use direct tools, scripts or run_goal:

npx skills add Mingye-Lu/AgenticCrawler

Or configure the MCP server and install the skill in one step, without Node:

acrawl mcp install --client claude-code --skill

Troubleshooting

Problem	Fix
acrawl: command not found	The install folder isn’t on your PATH. On Linux and macOS the script prints the line to add to your shell profile. On any system, open a new terminal afterwards.
“Node.js 20+ is required for browser automation”	Install Node.js 20 or newer, then run acrawl install-browser. Pages that don’t need JavaScript still work without it.
CloakBrowser install failed	Run acrawl install-browser, or npm install --prefix ~/.acrawl cloakbrowser playwright-core.
acrawl refuses to start the UI	The terminal UI needs an interactive terminal. In scripts and CI, use acrawl prompt or acrawl run.

Next: Quick start.