Install from source

RC.13 preparation is underway. The reviewed kernel security fixes, patched-source guest inventory correction and guest SwiftNIO update are merged. The ingredient producer passed; a fresh freeze, final runtime archive, signed artifacts and installed lifecycle qualification remain required.

Frozen RC.12 and its source, sanitizer and runtime results remain retained under their original bindings. Its signed inventory and runtime security findings require a new candidate. Earlier RC.11 rollback failures and the original RC.12 build and sanitizer failures remain retained; earlier results do not qualify RC.13.

No supported RC or GA channel has been published. Official brew install hostwright is not available yet. See the current GA readiness record for the exact progress and remaining issue gates. A GA date is not confirmed, and official Homebrew acceptance remains a launch requirement.

Signed development package

brew install hostwright/tap/hostwright
hostwright --version

The vendor tap installs the immutable dev.12 qualification prerelease. It uses Manifest v2 and SQLite schema v7, and cannot run the current-source quickstart. The intended GA launch requires an accepted official Homebrew cask. brew install hostwright remains unavailable until acceptance and a fresh no-tap installation are verified. See the Homebrew distribution plan.

The preserved upgrade baselines are:

Release	Source commit
dev.11	7d97d6c9ff878ec567c88e6993d4543ab8f0ad95
dev.12	71414005104933d8ee3591e8c91bc831bce2e2a2

A current signed candidate must pass the release process before publication. Qualification covers the actual CLI, daemon, desktop app, helpers, archive, and package.

Build current source

Use Apple silicon, macOS 26 or later, and a Swift 6.2-compatible toolchain. Network access is needed for source and dependencies. Apple container is required for live operations through the CLI provider.

git clone https://github.com/hostwright/hostwright.git
cd hostwright
swift build --jobs 1
scripts/test.sh pr
swift run hostwright --version

Locate the executables with swift build --show-bin-path. Source builds do not establish installed trust. Authenticated operations require a coherent signed CLI, daemon, and companion payload; follow daemon setup.

Current source uses Manifest v3, Control API 2.2, Runtime Provider API v2, and SQLite schema v24. See compatibility for the provider matrix.

State and package maintenance

The default state database is ~/Library/Application Support/Hostwright/state/state.sqlite. After identity bootstrap and daemon startup, inspect selected paths with hostwright paths --json from that signed installation. Use the same state selection for the CLI and daemon.

Before an upgrade, create a verified state backup. State backups do not include workload data or Keychain items. Package upgrades also require a prepared, exact state binding. Follow the installed lifecycle reference for upgrade, rollback, repair, and uninstall, and the recovery runbook after interruption.

Installers act only on verified owned payloads. They preserve unrelated or modified files and do not install or start a LaunchAgent automatically. hostwright daemon install separately manages the current-user service. Deleting a source checkout does not uninstall the application or remove state or workloads.

Release verification

hostwright-dist verify-release checks the signed release inventory. Checksums establish byte identity; signatures, notarization, and retained source evidence establish separate parts of distribution trust. Local unsigned build and assemble output cannot satisfy the signed release gate.

The release verification reference describes staging, candidate acceptance, and immutable publication. Historical dev.11/dev.12 qualification does not qualify current-source artifacts.