Backend installation

Patchouli ships one patchouli-db executable containing the daemon, control CLI, SQLite provider, remote-provider server, and initial configuration templates. Installation does not modify a Harness profile, register a system service, or start a background process.

Supported release assets

Platform	Architecture	Release asset
Linux	x86_64	patchouli-db-linux-x86_64
Linux	aarch64	patchouli-db-linux-aarch64
macOS	Intel	patchouli-db-macos-x86_64
macOS	Apple Silicon	patchouli-db-macos-aarch64
Windows	x86_64	patchouli-db-windows-x86_64.exe

Each asset has a sibling .sha256 file. The installers download both and stop without installing when verification fails. Linux assets use a static musl runtime so they do not depend on the host distribution's glibc version.

Install a release

macOS or Linux:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/memorax-ai/dsh-patchouli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh

The default binary location is ~/.local/bin/patchouli-db. Add that directory to PATH if it is not already present.

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/memorax-ai/dsh-patchouli/main/scripts/install.ps1 | iex

The default binary location is %LOCALAPPDATA%\Patchouli\bin\patchouli-db.exe. Add that directory to PATH if needed.

Both installers initialize the backend home at ~/.patchouli. They preserve existing configuration and validate it instead of replacing it. Optional environment variables are:

• PATCHOULI_VERSION: release tag such as v0.1.0; defaults to the latest release.
• PATCHOULI_INSTALL_DIR: binary destination directory.
• PATCHOULI_HOME: initialized backend data/configuration directory.

Rerun the same installer to upgrade the executable. Stop a running daemon first on Windows because the operating system may lock the executable.

On Unix, a newly created backend home, data directory, and runtime directory use mode 0700; configuration and database files use mode 0600. Installation refuses an existing backend home or managed file that grants group or other users access, and reports the path so its owner can correct the permissions. An upgrade validates configuration with the downloaded binary before replacing the installed executable.

Install from source

Rust stable and a C toolchain are required:

cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/memorax-ai/dsh-patchouli \
  --package patchouli-server
patchouli-db init --root "$HOME/.patchouli"

From a local checkout of the main branch, replace the first command with cargo install --locked --path crates/server from the repository root.

Initialized layout

patchouli-db init --root <path> creates and validates:

<path>/
├── config.json              # backend policy
├── providers.json           # local/remote provider routing
├── patchouli.schema.json    # editor/validation schema for config.json
├── providers.schema.json    # editor/validation schema for providers.json
├── data/                    # default SQLite database location
│   └── artifacts/           # backend-managed content-addressed files
└── run/                     # Unix socket location

It creates missing files only. If an existing file is invalid, init reports the error and leaves it unchanged.

Start the local backend in the foreground:

patchouli-db serve \
  --endpoint "$HOME/.patchouli/run/patchouli.sock" \
  --artifacts "$HOME/.patchouli/data/artifacts" \
  --providers "$HOME/.patchouli/providers.json" \
  --config "$HOME/.patchouli/config.json"

On Windows, use \\.\pipe\patchouli as the endpoint. Process supervision is a separate deployment choice; serve works under launchd, systemd, a Windows Service wrapper, or a parent plugin process.

Uninstall

Stop the daemon, then remove only the installed executable. The installer never deletes PATCHOULI_HOME; configuration and SQLite data remain available until the user deliberately removes that directory.