# Installation

> Install the tinka and act commands with go install and check that they work.

Tinka has two Commands you install with Go’s own tooling: the Tinka CLI, `tinka`, creates Apps and reads the docs, and `act` runs Commands inside an App. It needs Go 1.27 or later; check with `go version`.

:::warning
During the alpha, the Tinka repository is private, so `go install` fails with a 404 or an authentication error unless your GitHub account has access.

Tell Go to fetch Tinka directly from GitHub instead of the public module proxy, and make sure `git` can authenticate to GitHub:

```sh
go env -w GOPRIVATE=github.com/mucolabs/*
```
:::

## Install

Install the latest release:

```sh
go install github.com/mucolabs/tinka/cmd/tinka@latest
```

Go places the binary in `$(go env GOPATH)/bin`. Make sure that directory is on your `PATH`.

## Check the installation

Run `tinka version`:

```sh
tinka version
```

```text title="Output"
tinka v1.0.0-alpha.1 (go1.27.2, linux/amd64)
```

When an agent runs the same Command, it gets one JSON line instead. Add `--json` to see it yourself:

```sh
tinka version --json
```

```text title="Output"
{"command":"version","result":"ok","version":"v1.0.0-alpha.1","go":"go1.27.2","platform":"linux/amd64","duration_ms":0}
```

See [Agent mode output](reference/agent-mode.md) for the full format.

## Install act

`act` runs Commands inside an App, such as `act generate:key`. `tinka` creates Apps and reads the docs; `act` works in the App's directory. Install it the same way:

```sh
go install github.com/mucolabs/tinka/cmd/act@latest
```

Check it with `act --version`, and list its Commands with `act --help`:

```sh
act --help
```

```text title="Output"
Run an App's Commands

Usage:
  act <command> [flags]

Commands:
  generate:key  Generate a random APP_KEY and write it to .env

Flags:
  -h, --help     Show help
      --json     Print a single JSON result instead of text
      --version  Print the version
```