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Installation options

Mac users: We recommend using Homebrew as it’s the easiest installation method and doesn’t require installing Node.js separately. Windows users or those who prefer NPM: Use the NPM installation method, which works across all platforms but requires Node.js to be installed first. You can also download the CLI binary directly from GitHub releases if you prefer not to use a package manager.

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Install via Homebrew

The easiest way to install the Lightdash CLI on Mac is using Homebrew. This method doesn’t require you to install Node.js separately: 
brew tap lightdash/lightdash
brew install lightdash

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Install via NPM

Before installing Lightdash CLI via NPM, you need to have NodeJS/NPM installed on your machine. To check that, run the following command in your terminal: 
node -v; npm -v;
# it should print something like:
# v20.8.0
# 8.15.0
We recommend installing NodeJS/NPM using NVM (Node Version Manager) which works for POSIX-compliant shells (sh, dash, ksh, zsh, bash on these platforms: unix, macOS, and windows WSL)Open your terminal and run the command below to install NVM (Node Version Manager) to your system.
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.2/install.sh | bash
# or
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.2/install.sh | bash
Restart terminal and install NodeJS by running
nvm install --lts
Check that NodeJS is installed by running
node -v
Running the command above should output something like 20.8.0 which means you’ve succesfully installed NodeJS/NPM
Alternatively, you can install NodeJS/NPM via your preferred package manager.
Run the following on your terminal to install the Lightdash CLI. 
npm install -g @lightdash/cli
If you get an npm ERR! code EACCES error while installing the Lightdash CLI, follow this guide to resolve it.

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Download binary directly

You can also download the CLI binary directly from GitHub releases.

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Updating the Lightdash CLI

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Update to the latest version

To update your Lightdash CLI to the latest version, run: 
npm update -g @lightdash/cli

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Update to a specific version

To update (or downgrade) to a specific version of the Lightdash CLI, run: 
npm install -g @lightdash/cli@VERSION_NUMBER
Replace VERSION_NUMBER with the desired version. For example: 
npm install -g @lightdash/cli@0.1743.1
You can check your current CLI version by running lightdash --version.

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Once you’ve installed the CLI tool, you’ll want to authenticate it

Check out the guide on authenticating your CLI tool (login and setup an active project).
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