# Installation
Source: https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/installation

Homebrew, a signed DMG, or a build from source — and which update channel each one uses.

macOS 13 or newer, Apple Silicon or Intel. privacycommand is free and MIT-licensed.

## Homebrew

The recommended route.

```bash
brew install privacykey/tap/privacycommand
```

The tap lives at [privacykey/homebrew-tap](https://github.com/privacykey/homebrew-tap).
Keep it current with:

```bash
brew upgrade --cask privacycommand
```

> **Note**
>
> When privacycommand detects it's running from a Homebrew Caskroom it disables
> its own in-app updater, so `brew` stays the single source of truth for the
> on-disk version. You won't get two updaters fighting.

## Direct download

Grab the signed and notarized `.dmg` from
[the latest release](https://github.com/privacykey/privacycommand/releases/latest)
and drag the app into `/Applications`.

Direct installs update through [Sparkle 2](https://sparkle-project.org).
Automatic checks are **off by default** — opt in under **Settings → Updates**.
See [Updating](https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/updating) for how the appcast is signed and verified.

## Build from source

```bash
git clone https://github.com/privacykey/privacycommand.git
cd privacycommand/privacycommand
open privacycommand.xcodeproj
```

You'll need to add the Sparkle package dependency and set a signing team before
the first build — the full walkthrough is in
[Build from source](https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/develop/build-from-source).

## First launch

The first launch opens a five-step wizard rather than the inspector: welcome,
static analysis, network monitoring, file monitoring, and a closing step. It's
explanatory — no account, no sign-in — and **Skip onboarding** at the bottom
left jumps straight past it. You only see it once; after that privacycommand
opens to an empty inspector. **Help → Show Onboarding…** replays it, as does
**Settings → General → Onboarding → Replay**.

The fourth step, *File monitoring (optional)*, is where the
[privileged helper](https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/privileged-helper) comes up. It shows the helper's current
status and offers to install it — so you are asked about it during first launch,
not only the first time you reach for a feature that needs it. Skipping the step
installs nothing, and the static report never needs it.

Past the wizard, drop a `.app` bundle or a `.dmg` onto the window and the
[first audit](https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/first-audit) begins immediately.

## Verifying what you installed

privacycommand audits macOS apps, so it's fair to point it at itself:

```bash
codesign -dv --verbose=4 /Applications/privacycommand.app
spctl --assess --type execute -vv /Applications/privacycommand.app
```

You can also drop `privacycommand.app` onto its own window. It ships zero
analytics SDKs, so the [telemetry callout](https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/telemetry) should come back empty —
if it doesn't, something is wrong and we'd like to hear about it via
[Security](https://docs.privacycommand.privacykey.org/security).