Root Quick Start

Install Root and your first CLI tool in under five minutes.

Install

curl -fsSL https://boringinfra.company/root/install.sh | sh

Root will offer to install Nix via the Determinate installer if it is not already present.

Verify your setup

root doctor

This checks Nix availability, profile paths, and lockfile state.

Browse the catalog

root catalog

Root ships with 42 curated tools across categories like search, JSON processing, containers, and cloud CLIs.

Install your first tool

Always plan before you apply:

root plan install ripgrep
root install ripgrep
root verify ripgrep

Root snapshots your state before the install and updates root.lock with the exact Nix store path.

Undo if needed

root rollback --last

This restores the previous locked state from the snapshot taken before your last mutation.

Local capability plane

root mcp status
root capability list
root approval list

root mcp serve shims to a local rootd. Loopback HTTP is opt-in and needs the bearer token in the Root directory. It does not phone home.

Commit your root.lock and restore packages on another machine:

root restore --lock ./root.lock

Work state moves with root workspace export / root workspace import, and checkpoint references move with root checkpoint-sync over a folder. root sync remains the Nix reconcile. There is no Root cloud account.

JSON for automation

root catalog --json
root plan install ripgrep --json

Next steps

Use Cases — common workflows
Root on GitHub — full command reference and docs

Overview

Use Cases