Local install

Carina is designed to run primarily on the developer machine or an internal runner you control. Local-first is the base case.

Install

install-local.sh

# shell installer (when published)
curl -fsSL https://carina.nebutra.com/install.sh | sh

# from source
git clone https://github.com/nebutra/carina.git
cd carina
make install

Start the runtime

start-daemon.sh

# Prefer CLI-owned daemon lifecycle (discovers kernel + native tools next to the binary)
carina daemon start
carina daemon status
# Advanced: carina-daemon &  (legacy / packaging layouts)

carina version
carina doctor

Use -tools / -kernel only to point at alternate build outputs.

Typical data layout

Path	Contents
Config	Profiles, MCP servers, provider credentials (BYOK)
State	Sessions, audit segments, patches, memory
Socket	~/.carina/daemon.sock (default)
Logs	Daemon diagnostics

Exact paths are printed by carina doctor and release notes.

Reasoner

• Auto-selects model-router only when an enabled runtime provider is available
• Set CARINA_REASONER_MODEL to pin a model-router / BYOK model
• Select external compatibility backends explicitly with CARINA_REASONER_BACKEND=claude-cli or CARINA_REASONER_BACKEND=codex-cli

Gateway (optional)

Optional listeners are off by default. Enable WebSocket/HTTP Gateway only with a signing key and explicit bind — see Runtime API.

Updates

carina version
carina doctor

Note

Package names and install URLs track the open-source release channel. Prefer carina doctor after any upgrade.

Source of truth

• Daemon lifecycle: carina daemon start|status|stop|logs · carina doctor
• Packaging: docs/release.md
• Related: Installation · CLI reference · API overview

Next

• Quickstart — first governed session
• Workers — when one machine is not enough
• FAQ — product boundaries