> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.beacon.sh/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Install Beacon

> Install the Beacon CLI with Homebrew or platform archives

## Choose your platform

This page installs the **CLI**. Setting up the endpoint agent, the local collector that captures agent activity, differs by operating system, so start with your platform:

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="macOS" icon="apple" href="/platforms/macos">
    Homebrew for your own machine, or the signed `.pkg` for a managed fleet. launchd.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Linux" icon="linux" href="/platforms/linux">
    A `.deb` or `.rpm` that installs and starts the endpoint for you. systemd.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## Homebrew

Install the Beacon CLI with Homebrew:

```bash title="Install Beacon" theme={null}
brew trust asymptote-labs/tap
brew tap asymptote-labs/tap
brew install beacon
beacon version
```

`brew trust` is a one-time step for newer Homebrew releases before loading
third-party formulae from the tap.

On macOS the formula also depends on `asymptote-labs/tap/beacon-vector`, the tap's mirror of Vector's releases (Vector is not in homebrew-core), which runs the optional [Beacon Managed forwarder](/cli/endpoint-connect); Homebrew installs it alongside Beacon so no second step is needed.

The mirror is named `beacon-vector` rather than `vector` on purpose. Homebrew allows exactly one keg named `vector` no matter which tap it came from, so a mirror by that name could not be installed at all on a machine that already had Vector from `vectordotdev/brew`. Under its own name it coexists with any Vector you already run, and because it keeps its binary in `libexec` — which Homebrew never links — it stays off your PATH and never shadows one. Beacon finds it by path; you do not need to configure anything.

<Accordion title="Example output">
  ```bash title="beacon version output" theme={null}
  $ beacon version
  beacon version 0.0.66
  ```
</Accordion>

## Other install methods

Beacon releases publish macOS and Linux archives for `amd64` and `arm64` alongside Homebrew builds. For archive-based installs or source builds, see [Manual CLI Installation](/cli/manual-install).

Releases also attach native endpoint packages, which install the CLI, the collector, and the service
together rather than leaving you a second step:

| Platform              | Package                           | Installs                                                                                 |
| --------------------- | --------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| macOS (Apple Silicon) | Signed, notarized, stapled `.pkg` | `/opt/beacon`, the collector LaunchDaemon, and the bundled Vector forwarder helpers      |
| Linux (amd64, arm64)  | `.deb` and `.rpm`                 | `/opt/beacon`, the `beacon-collector` systemd unit, and your agent runtime configuration |

## Next steps

After installing Beacon, configure the workflow you need:

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Endpoint telemetry" icon="satellite-dish" href="/cli/endpoint-install">
    Configure local agent harness telemetry.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cloud agent telemetry" icon="cloud" href="/cli/cloud">
    Configure provider-managed cloud agent telemetry setup helpers.
  </Card>

  <Card title="CI telemetry" icon="terminal" href="/cli/ci">
    Run ephemeral AI runtime telemetry collection in CI.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Upgrade Beacon" icon="arrow-up" href="/cli/upgrade">
    Keep the Beacon CLI up to date.
  </Card>
</Columns>