Install

Install the OwlCoda npm package on macOS, Linux, or Windows in under 5 minutes.

OwlCoda is publicly installable from npm. Starting with the v0.15.0 source release, the public GitHub repository also carries the GPL-3.0-or-later source line for OwlCoda.

Prerequisites

• Node.js ≥ 20.19
• A local OpenAI-compatible inference backend (Ollama / LM Studio / vLLM / any custom router) — required for local-only operation
• macOS, Linux, or Windows

Steps

npm install -g owlcoda@latest

First run

Fresh installs do not include maintainer model configuration. Start OwlCoda, then configure your own local runtime or cloud provider in Admin:

owlcoda
owlcoda admin

If global npm install fails with EACCES

This usually means your global npm prefix is not writable.

• Option A — user-local prefix:

  npm config set prefix ~/.local
  export PATH=~/.local/bin:$PATH    # add this to your shell profile
  npm install -g owlcoda@latest
  

• Option B — npx for a one-off run: npx -p owlcoda@latest owlcoda --version
• Option C — sudo, only if you accept system-wide npm writes: sudo npm install -g owlcoda@latest

Verify the install

which owlcoda
npm ls -g owlcoda --depth=0
owlcoda --version
owlcoda doctor

owlcoda doctor checks Node version, the local runtime reachability, and configured models. See Troubleshooting for what to do when a check fails.

Local development builds

The global owlcoda command should normally be the npm release. If you are testing a local development checkout, run it explicitly instead of leaving a linked WIP build on your PATH:

npm run build
node dist/cli.js --version
node dist/cli.js

Source and license

The public source lives on GitHub:

https://github.com/yeemio/owlcoda

The GPL source line starts at v0.15.0. npm packages remain the normal install path, and packages that ship compiled dist/ point back to their corresponding source through SOURCE.md.

Next

Configure your first backend in Configure providers.