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Install Bob

You need Git, Rust managed by rustup, and just installed. The steps below install from source and confirm the binary answers.

1. Check out the source

git clone https://github.com/bobs-org/bob-cli.git
cd bob-cli

Use the public checkout above. Keep it; the tutorial and verification steps run from its root.

2. Install the toolchain

rustup toolchain install
cargo --version
rustc --version
just --version

Run these commands from the checkout root so rustup toolchain install uses the toolchain selected by rust-toolchain.toml. See Requirements and compatibility for the full matrix rather than a version pinned here.

3. Install Bob

just install

just install builds with Cargo and installs bob plus shell completion into ${CARGO_INSTALL_ROOT:-${CARGO_HOME:-~/.cargo}}, overriding cargo's install.root so the recipe refreshes the binary it installed. Before it installs, just install removes a path or Git install registered as bob-cli. If bob-cli came from a registry, the recipe stops because that is another project. The recipe does not use --force. Ensure that bin directory is on PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

4. Verify the install

bob --version
Output
bob 0.2.0

The exact version changes over time; the check passes when the command prints a version and exits 0. For command help, run bob --help. just install also runs bob completion install, which never edits your rc files. Inspect the state with bob completion (same as bob completion status). See shell completion for the full contract.

Install from Git

Without a local checkout, install Bob from its Git repository:

cargo install --git https://github.com/bobs-org/bob-cli.git --locked bob-obsidian && bob completion install

To install the CLI, plugins, and (on macOS) Mac Capture from sibling checkouts, use Install everything with one command.

Next

Tested rolling snapshot bob-cli 41afa14 bob-mac-capture 556bb67 bob-plugins af1e691 Built 2026-10-24T22:34:13Z (zensical) build.json