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Prick Documentation

Install the CLI

prk is one static binary. Put it on your PATH and it works.

From npm

Terminal window
npm install -g @yashau/prick

The package ships prebuilt binaries and picks the right one for your platform.

The npm shim costs you 30–40 ms per call

Installing through npm routes every invocation through Node, and keeps a Node parent alive for the child’s lifetime during prk run. prk doctor tells you when it detects this:

warn installation   running through the npm shim, which adds a Node process to every invocation; a direct install (cargo binstall, Homebrew, Scoop, or a release tarball) avoids it

It works fine. If you use prk run heavily, a direct install avoids it.

From a release tarball

Download the archive for your platform from the releases page, unpack it, and move the binary onto your PATH:

Terminal window
tar xzf prk-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz
Terminal window
sudo mv prk /usr/local/bin/prk
Terminal window
prk version
prk 2026.816.1

Build from source

This is the route that works today.

You need mise, which pins Rust, Node, pnpm and every other tool this repository uses. Install only mise — a system-wide install of any pinned tool shadows the pinned version.

Terminal window
git clone https://github.com/yashau/prick && cd prick
Terminal window
mise trust && mise run bootstrap
Terminal window
mise run build:rust

The binary lands at target/release/prk. Put it somewhere on your PATH:

Terminal window
sudo install -m 755 target/release/prk /usr/local/bin/prk

An in-repository build reports 0.0.0-dev rather than a real version — the git tag is the source of truth, and a release stamps it in at build time.

Confirm it works

Terminal window
prk version
prk 0.0.0-dev

Then point it at your server:

Terminal window
prk login https://prick.example.com
Terminal window
prk doctor
ok   server url     https://prick.example.com (from the stored login)
ok   token storage  /home/you/.config/prick/credentials.json is owner-only
ok   api            /api/v1/health answered, version 2026.816.1
ok   access         Cloudflare Access with managed OAuth is in front of this server
ok   identity       you@example.com (user)
ok   installation   running as a native binary

If any line reads FAIL, Exit codes and errors covers what each one means.

Shell completions

Terminal window
prk completions bash > ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/prk
Terminal window
prk completions zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_prk"
Terminal window
prk completions fish > ~/.config/fish/completions/prk.fish
Terminal window
prk completions powershell >> $PROFILE

See prk completions for every supported shell.

Where prk keeps its files

One file, holding the session prk login created:

Platform Path
Linux $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/prick, or ~/.config/prick
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/prick
Windows %APPDATA%\prick

It is called credentials.json, and it is created owner-only — mode 0600 in a directory at 0700, or on Windows a DACL with a single entry for you.

Set PRK_CONFIG_DIR to move it, which is how you keep sessions for two servers apart:

Terminal window
PRK_CONFIG_DIR=~/.config/prick-staging prk login https://staging.prick.example.com

Upgrading

Terminal window
npm update -g @yashau/prick

Or replace the binary. A client and a server on different versions is normal and supported — the API is versioned at /api/v1, and prk doctor reports both.

Uninstalling

Terminal window
prk logout
Terminal window
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/prk

prk logout discards the stored session first, so removing the binary does not leave a credential file behind.

Next steps