Installation

Prerequisites

• Docker — jackin’ uses Docker to create isolated containers. Make sure Docker is installed and the Docker daemon is running.
• macOS or Linux — jackin’ currently supports macOS and Linux. Windows support via WSL2 is possible but untested.

Install jackin’

Homebrew

The easiest way to install on macOS or Linux:

brew tap jackin-project/tap

# Stable
brew install jackin

Or install the rolling preview channel instead:

brew install jackin@preview

The Homebrew formulae are maintained in the jackin-project/homebrew-tap repository.

From source

Requires Rust 1.87 or newer:

cargo install --git https://github.com/jackin-project/jackin.git

Verify installation

jackin --version

You should see the jackin’ version and the banner:

jackin 0.1.0

Docker setup

jackin’ requires Docker to be running. Verify with:

docker info

Tip

On macOS, OrbStack is a lightweight alternative to Docker Desktop that works well with jackin’.

What gets installed

jackin’ itself is a single binary. When you first load an agent, jackin’ will:

1. Pull the construct image (projectjackin/construct:trixie) — a Debian-based image with system tools, Docker CLI, git, and more
2. Clone the agent repo — cached at ~/.jackin/agents/
3. Build a derived image — layers the agent’s tools and Claude Code on top of the construct
4. Create a Docker network — per-agent isolation

Subsequent loads reuse the cached image and agent repo (unless you pass --rebuild).

Next steps

Ready to go? Head to the Quick Start to load your first agent.