hledger/site/download.md

Download

Choose a method:

A. I want to download a packaged version

Packaged versions are the quickest to install, but they can be out of date or incomplete.

Windows:	Latest developer builds (no hledger-ui, please help)
Mac:	brew install hledger (CLI only, please help)
Arch Linux:	pacman -S hledger (haskell problems are common on Arch at present, cf #668)
Debian, Ubuntu:	sudo apt install hledger hledger-ui hledger-web
Fedora, RHEL:	sudo dnf install hledger
Gentoo:	sudo layman -a haskell && sudo emerge hledger hledger-ui hledger-web
Void Linux:	xbps-install -S hledger hledger-ui hledger-web hledger-api
NixOS:	nix-env -iA nixpkgs.haskellPackages.hledger \   nixpkgs.haskellPackages.hledger-ui \   nixpkgs.haskellPackages.hledger-web (problems building hledger-ui on MacOS, please help)
Sandstorm:	hledger-web Sandstorm app -> demo (get a hledger-web server in 3 clicks. Features needed, please help)

B. I want to build the latest release

The latest release is a good choice. Check the release notes to see what’s in it.

On POSIX systems (mac/linux/freebsd..), the hassle-free hledger-install.sh script is the most reliable install method. It will use stack or cabal, installing stack if needed, and build the current release of hledger and addon tools, installing everything in $HOME/.local/bin (or $HOME/.cabal/bin). This is like doing a manual stack/cabal install, but more automated and robust. Here’s how to run the installer:

curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simonmichael/hledger/master/hledger-install/hledger-install.sh
less hledger-install.sh # (do security review)
bash hledger-install.sh # (add -v for more detail; use bash -x to show commands being run)

and here’s the more convenient but less secure way:

curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/simonmichael/hledger/master/hledger-install/hledger-install.sh | bash

Note, building haskell apps can take significant time (minutes to hours), memory (~2G), and disk space (up to a gigabyte in $HOME/.stack, though you can delete that afterward). You can kill and restart the installer without losing progress. If it fails, please help us improve it by reporting the full output.

Or, you can install manually (all systems):

1. Install haskell stack
   
   Avoid using versions older than 1.0, which give “Invalid package ID” errors; latest version is good.
   On Windows, the 64-bit version is recommended.
   On Arch, you may need to also install GHC manually.
   Ensure ~/.local/bin (or Windows equivalent) is added to your $PATH. Eg if you’re a bash user:
     echo "export PATH=$PATH:~/.local/bin" >> ~/.bashrc && source ~/.bashrc

2. stack install --resolver nightly hledger-lib-1.5 hledger-1.5 [hledger-ui-1.5] [hledger-web-1.5] [hledger-api-1.5] 
   
   This command installs the specified hledger packages (and required haskell libraries and tools) from Stackage (and if needed, Hackage). It will work once the release has landed in stackage nightly, usually 1-2 days after hledger release. As noted above, it can take a while. You can add --dry-run to see what it plans to do, and kill/restart it without losing progress.
   You can omit the bracketed packages to save time, and maybe install them later. If you include them, don’t type the brackets. hledger-ui is not yet available on Windows.
   If it gives “Invalid package ID” errors, get a newer version of stack.
   If you’re a cabal expert, feel free to use that instead of stack.
   If you get errors due to missing C libraries (like curses or terminfo), install those manually, eg:

   Debian, Ubuntu:	sudo apt install libncurses5-dev
   Fedora, RHEL:	sudo dnf install ncurses-devel

Now you should be able to run hledger --version (and hledger-ui --version, hledger-web --version etc. if you installed those) and see the version you just installed.

C. I want to build the development version

The latest master branch includes not-yet-released features and is stable enough for daily use.

1. Install stack and git (see notes in B above)
2. git clone https://github.com/simonmichael/hledger
3. cd hledger
4. stack install

Cabal users can use the cabal-install.sh or cabal.project files instead.

Nix users taking advantage of Stack integration may need to use Stack’s --no-nix-pure flag to build hledger.

D. I want to install more commands

Additional add-on commands can be installed. Eg:
stack install hledger-iadd-1.2.1 or stack install --resolver nightly hledger-iadd.

More, experimental add-ons are included in the hledger source repo; to install these:

1. Download the hledger source code (as in C above)
2. In the hledger directory, run bin/compile.sh (installs dependencies & compiles for speed)
3. Add the hledger/bin/ directory to your $PATH (as in B above)

Now you should be able to run hledger iadd --version, hledger check --help etc.