If you only want to get one agent working, read Quickstart instead — that is the six-step shortest path. This page covers what it leaves out: the differences between platforms, and what BootAgent actually writes to your machine.
Which build to download
The download centre recommends a build for your system, but every platform’s artifact is listed on the same page, so you can pick manually.
To verify a download, check it against the checksum manifest GitHub Releases publishes with each release; if the value you compute does not match, do not run the file.
macOS: signed and notarised
From v0.7.0 the macOS artifact carries a Developer ID signature and Apple notarisation. Open the DMG, drag the app into Applications and launch it normally — there is no “cannot verify the developer” block any more.
If you are opening v0.6.x or an earlier preview, Gatekeeper still stops it — those packages were unsigned. Do not add an allowance for an old build; upgrade to the current version instead. BootAgent will not document any way around your operating system’s security policy.
Windows and Linux
Windows Authenticode signing is not done yet, so SmartScreen may warn about an unknown publisher on first run. Confirm the download source and the SHA-256 before continuing.
Linux has no system-level signing gate. Download it, make it executable, run it.
What BootAgent installs
It is an application. It does not sit in the background, install a system service, or change your shell configuration. Only two kinds of file are ever written:
An agent’s configuration file. Each agent has its own location — Codex uses ~/.codex/config.toml, Claude Code uses ~/.claude/settings.json. Nothing is written until you confirm it in the interface, and a backup is always taken first. See Backups and rolling back.
BootAgent’s own directory. ~/.bootagent/, holding configuration templates and any runtime it installed for you.
Runtimes do not depend on what you already have
Most command-line agents need Node. If your machine does not have it, BootAgent installs one into ~/.bootagent/runtimes/ — it does not touch a system Node and does not change your PATH. If you already have one, it uses that.
Packages and runtimes go through the npmmirror (Aliyun) registry by default, so a mainland-China network needs no extra proxy configuration.
Once it is installed
The first screen is an environment overview: for every agent on this machine, whether it is installed, configured, or absent. Those three are listed separately on purpose — installed and configured are different states, and collapsing them into one checkmark hides what to do next.
Next you can configure a desktop agent, or go straight to switching an agent’s model.