Install olares-cli

Olares ships olares-cli at /usr/local/bin/olares-cli on the host. To use the CLI on another machine, or to use the user-mode agent commands that the host bundle may not include yet, install the standalone CLI with npm.

INFO

Apps that run inside Olares, such as OpenClaw, ship with olares-cli preinstalled in their container image. You don't need to install the CLI manually for in-cluster use.

Choose an install method

Pick the path that fits how you work.

Set up the CLI and Agent Skills

This is the recommended path for driving Olares from an AI agent.

Open your terminal and run the following command to install the CLI and the Agent Skills with an interactive wizard:

npx @olares/cli@latest install

Example output:

┌  Setting up Olares CLI...
│
◇  Installed globally
│
◇  Skills installed
│
└  You are all set!

Next:
  olares-cli profile login --olares-id <your-olares-id>   # authenticate (browser/password + optional TOTP)
  olares-cli profile current                              # verify

Then tell your AI agent: "Load the olares-shared skill, then use olares-cli to ..."

INFO

The wizard runs npm install -g @olares/cli and then installs the six Agent Skills. It does not install Olares OS, and it does not log you in.

Install the CLI only

Use this path for a persistent CLI when you plan to install the Agent Skills later.

Open your terminal and run the following command:

npm install -g @olares/cli

To add the Agent Skills using npx skills, see Install and use Agent Skills.

Run without installing

Use this path to run a single command without a persistent install.

npx @olares/cli files ls /drive/Home

The npm CLI acts as an Olares user

The CLI you install with npm or run with npx works on behalf of an Olares user. It can manage files, apps, settings, and the cluster on a running Olares, but it can't install or maintain Olares OS itself. Host commands such as upgrade, node, gpu, and disk run only from the CLI bundled with Olares OS at /usr/local/bin/olares-cli.

Special case: a Linux host running Olares OS

This applies only when you install the CLI directly on a Linux machine that already runs Olares OS, where /usr/local/bin/olares-cli already exists. macOS and Windows don't run into this, even when Olares OS is running, because the bundled binary lives in a Linux environment. On those machines, use the methods above.

On a Linux Olares host, npm install -g @olares/cli stops with an EEXIST message. This is expected: it's npm's safeguard against overwriting a binary it doesn't manage, so your system olares-cli stays intact. To install the npm copy alongside it, use a separate prefix:

npm install -g @olares/cli --prefix ~/.olares-cli-npm
export PATH="$HOME/.olares-cli-npm/bin:$PATH"

WARNING

Don't run npm install -g @olares/cli --force on an Olares host. That overwrites the OS-managed /usr/local/bin/olares-cli, which breaks the version chain with olaresd and the cluster. The OS bundle is upgraded only through olares-cli upgrade.

Next step

Log in to Olares to create a profile, then drive Olares from your agent.