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Installation

This guide covers installing IronShell on your system.

Requirements

  • Rust 1.88+ (for building from source)
  • OS: Windows, macOS, or Linux
  • Optional: API keys for AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.)

Install with Cargo

The recommended way to install IronShell:

cargo install iron-shell

This installs two binaries:

  • ish - The main IronShell executable
  • aimodel - AI model management CLI

Install from Source

For the latest development version:

git clone https://github.com/nervosys/IronShell.git
cd IronShell
cargo build --release

# Add to PATH
cp target/release/ish ~/.local/bin/
cp target/release/aimodel ~/.local/bin/

Pre-built Binaries

Download pre-built binaries from the releases page:

macOS

# Intel Mac
curl -LO https://github.com/nervosys/IronShell/releases/latest/download/ironshell-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
tar xzf ironshell-x86_64-apple-darwin.tar.gz

# Apple Silicon
curl -LO https://github.com/nervosys/IronShell/releases/latest/download/ironshell-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz
tar xzf ironshell-aarch64-apple-darwin.tar.gz

Linux

curl -LO https://github.com/nervosys/IronShell/releases/latest/download/ironshell-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
tar xzf ironshell-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz

Windows

Download ironshell-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.zip from releases and extract to a directory in your PATH.

Verify Installation

ish --version
# IronShell 0.2.0

ish --help

VS Code Extension

Install the IronShell extension for syntax highlighting and IDE features:

code --install-extension admercs.ironshell

Or search for “IronShell” in the VS Code marketplace.

Next Steps