Installation

Vow is distributed as a single binary with no dependencies, making installation straightforward on all supported platforms.

Quick Install

Download Pre-built Binaries

The easiest way to install Vow is to download a pre-built binary from our releases page:

# Linux x86_64
curl -L https://github.com/guanchuan1314/vow/releases/latest/download/vow-linux-x86_64 -o vow
chmod +x vow
sudo mv vow /usr/local/bin/

# macOS (Apple Silicon)
curl -L https://github.com/guanchuan1314/vow/releases/latest/download/vow-darwin-arm64 -o vow
chmod +x vow
sudo mv vow /usr/local/bin/

# macOS (Intel)
curl -L https://github.com/guanchuan1314/vow/releases/latest/download/vow-darwin-x86_64 -o vow
chmod +x vow
sudo mv vow /usr/local/bin/

# Windows
# Download vow-windows-x86_64.exe from the releases page
# Add to your PATH

Verify Installation

After installation, verify Vow is working correctly:

vow --version

You should see output like:

vow 0.1.0

Build from Source

If you prefer to build from source or need the latest development version:

Prerequisites

Rust 1.70+ (install from rustup.rs)
Git

Build Steps

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/guanchuan1314/vow.git
cd vow

# Build the release binary
cargo build --release

# The binary will be at target/release/vow
sudo cp target/release/vow /usr/local/bin/

Build Options

For development builds:

cargo build  # Debug build (faster compile, slower runtime)

For optimized release builds:

cargo build --release  # Optimized build

Package Managers

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew tap guanchuan1314/vow
brew install vow

Cargo

cargo install vow

Arch Linux (AUR)

yay -S vow

Docker

For containerized environments:

# Run directly
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace ghcr.io/guanchuan1314/vow:latest check /workspace

# Build locally
docker build -t vow .
docker run --rm -v $(pwd):/workspace vow check /workspace

First Run

After installation, download the required model files:

# Download default models (~150MB)
vow setup

# Or specify which models to download
vow setup --models code,text,security

Models are stored in:

Linux: ~/.local/share/vow/models/
macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/vow/models/
Windows: %APPDATA%\vow\models\

Updating

Pre-built Binaries

Download the latest version using the same installation method.

Homebrew

brew update && brew upgrade vow

Cargo

cargo install vow --force

Docker

docker pull ghcr.io/guanchuan1314/vow:latest

Troubleshooting

Permission Errors

If you get permission errors on Linux/macOS:

sudo chown $(whoami) /usr/local/bin/vow
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/vow

Model Download Issues

If model downloads fail:

# Use a different mirror
vow setup --mirror cn

# Download specific models only
vow setup --models code

# Skip model validation
vow setup --no-verify

Windows PATH Issues

Add Vow to your PATH:

Open System Properties → Environment Variables
Add the directory containing vow.exe to your PATH
Restart your terminal

Next Steps

Once installed, head to the Quick Start guide to learn basic usage.

Vow Documentation