---
title: "Installation"
description: "Install mehen via npm, PyPI, or cargo binstall. Native binaries are published for Linux, macOS, and Windows on every release."
keywords: ["mehen install", "npm", "pypi", "cargo binstall", "homebrew"]
---

mehen ships native binaries from a single GitHub Release. Pick the toolchain you already have — all three
paths download the same binaries.

## npm (Node.js)

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Global install">
    ```bash
    npm install -g mehen
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Project-local">
    ```bash
    npm install --save-dev mehen
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="Run without installing">
    ```bash
    npx -y mehen --help
    bunx mehen --help
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

`mehen` requires Node.js 18 or newer. The correct platform-specific binary is selected automatically at
install time via npm's `optionalDependencies`.

## PyPI (Python / uv)

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="uv">
    ```bash
    uv tool install mehen
    # or run without installing
    uv tool run mehen --help
    uvx mehen --help
    ```
  </Tab>
  <Tab title="pip">
    ```bash
    pip install mehen
    ```
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

The PyPI distribution is built with [maturin](https://maturin.rs) and ships the same Rust binary inside the
wheel — there is no Python runtime cost.

## cargo binstall (Rust)

If you have a Rust toolchain, [`cargo binstall`](https://github.com/cargo-bins/cargo-binstall) downloads
the pre-built binary from the GitHub Release directly — much faster than `cargo install`, which would build
from source.

```bash
cargo binstall --git https://github.com/ophi-dev/mehen mehen
```

## Build from source

```bash
git clone https://github.com/ophi-dev/mehen.git
cd mehen
cargo build --release
./target/release/mehen --help
```

See the [developers guide](/developers/overview) for prerequisites and validation commands.

## Supported platforms

mehen runs on the most common platforms. Native binaries are published for:

| OS | x64 | arm64 |
|---|---|---|
| Linux (glibc) | `@mehen/linux-x64-gnu` | `@mehen/linux-arm64-gnu` |
| Linux (musl) | `@mehen/linux-x64-musl` | `@mehen/linux-arm64-musl` |
| macOS | `@mehen/darwin-x64` | `@mehen/darwin-arm64` |
| Windows | `@mehen/win32-x64` | `@mehen/win32-arm64` |

The same archives are attached to each
[GitHub Release](https://github.com/ophi-dev/mehen/releases) and are what `cargo binstall` consumes.

## Verify the install

```bash
mehen --help
mehen --version
```

<Tip>
On macOS you may need to allow the binary the first time it runs. Either remove the quarantine attribute
(`xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $(which mehen)`) or run mehen via your shell once and accept the dialog.
</Tip>
