Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 22.21.0 or higher (check with node --version)
• No compiler or build toolchain required on supported platforms: Lien's parser ships as prebuilt native binaries for macOS (arm64/x64), Linux (x64/arm64, glibc or musl, including Alpine), and Windows (x64), so there's no node-gyp, no Python/make/g++, no Xcode Command Line Tools step. Any other platform needs a one-time local build of the parser crate with the Rust toolchain

Global Installation

Install Lien globally:

npm install -g @liendev/lien

Verify installation:

lien --version

Then run it in your project — see the Quick Start guide.

Using npx (no global install)

You can run Lien without installing it globally:

npx @liendev/lien health

TIP

For frequent use, global installation gives better cold-start performance.

Upgrading

npm update -g @liendev/lien

There's nothing else to restart or reconnect: Lien has no background process and no persisted state, so the next command you run just uses the new version.

If you installed the old Claude Code plugin (removed; Lien is now a CLI you invoke directly, with no MCP server or hook integration), remove it:

/plugin uninstall lien
/plugin marketplace remove getlien/lien

Uninstalling

npm uninstall -g @liendev/lien

There's no cache or index directory to clean up — Lien doesn't write anything outside the project it's run against.

Verifying Installation

Check that Lien is properly installed:

# Check version
lien --version

# Show help
lien --help

# Check available commands
lien

Next Steps

Now that Lien is installed, proceed to the Quick Start guide.