Installation

Requirements

Requirement	Version	Notes
Python	3.11+	Required
Node.js	22.12.0+	Required for acpx
acpx	latest	npm install -g acpx@latest
Claude Code CLI	latest	curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
Ollama	any	Optional, only needed for ollama/* models

arc itself has no binary dependencies beyond what Python provides. The heavy lifting is done by external tools (acpx, ollama) that arc calls as subprocesses or over HTTP.

Install via pipx (recommended)

pipx installs arc in an isolated virtual environment and adds the arc command to your PATH. This avoids conflicts with other Python packages.

# Install pipx if you do not have it
python3 -m pip install --user pipx
python3 -m pipx ensurepath

# Install arc
pipx install arc-cli

To upgrade:

pipx upgrade arc-cli

Install via pip

If you prefer a plain pip install into the active environment:

pip install arc-cli

For development (editable install with test dependencies):

git clone git@github.com:ia-eknorr/arc.git
cd arc
pip install -e ".[dev]"

Server install via install script

For headless server installs (LXC, VM, cloud instance), a shell script handles Python environment setup, directory creation, and optional systemd service registration:

git clone git@github.com:ia-eknorr/arc.git
cd arc
bash scripts/install.sh

The script:

1. Creates a Python venv at /opt/arc/venv
2. Installs arc-cli into the venv
3. Writes a systemd user service unit to ~/.config/systemd/user/arc-daemon.service
4. Enables and starts the service

You can also generate the systemd unit yourself:

arc daemon install
# Wrote /home/user/.config/systemd/user/arc-daemon.service
# To enable: systemctl --user enable --now arc-daemon

Then enable it:

systemctl --user enable --now arc-daemon

LXC containers and rootless environments

User systemd (systemctl --user) requires a D-Bus session and won't work when accessed via pct exec or similar non-login shells. Install as a system service instead:

arc daemon install
# Copy the generated unit to the system directory
cp ~/.config/systemd/user/arc-daemon.service /etc/systemd/system/arc-daemon.service

Edit the unit to add User= and a full PATH:

[Service]
Type=simple
User=root
Environment=PATH=/usr/local/bin:/root/.local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/arc daemon start --foreground
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5

Then enable it:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl enable --now arc-daemon

Shell completion

Typer generates completion scripts for bash, zsh, fish, and PowerShell.

Install for your current shell (one-time setup):

arc --install-completion

Print the script without installing (useful for system-wide setup or to inspect it):

arc --show-completion

For bash, you can also add the completion manually:

arc --show-completion bash >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Verify installation

arc version
# arc 0.2.0

arc setup
# Checks for acpx and claude, creates ~/.arc/ if it doesn't exist

arc daemon start
arc daemon status
# Daemon running (pid=12345, socket=/Users/you/.arc/arc.sock)

Uninstall

# With pipx
pipx uninstall arc-cli

# Remove config and data (optional)
rm -rf ~/.arc