Installation

BioLang is distributed as a single binary with no external runtime dependencies. You can install it via Cargo, download a pre-built binary, or build from source.

System Requirements

Install via Cargo

The fastest way to install BioLang if you already have a Rust toolchain. This installs the bl binary to your Cargo bin directory.

cargo install biolang

Verify the installation:

bl --version
# biolang 0.1.0

If bl is not found, ensure ~/.cargo/bin is in your PATH:

# Linux / macOS — add to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc
export PATH="$HOME/.cargo/bin:$PATH"

# Windows (PowerShell) — add to $PROFILE
$env:PATH = "$env:USERPROFILE\.cargo\bin;$env:PATH"

Pre-built Binaries

Pre-built binaries are available for every tagged release on GitHub. Download the archive for your platform, extract it, and place the bl binary somewhere on your PATH.

Linux (x86_64)

curl -Lo biolang.tar.gz \
  https://github.com/oriclabs/biolang/releases/latest/download/biolang-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
tar xzf biolang.tar.gz
sudo mv bl /usr/local/bin/
bl --version

Linux (aarch64)

curl -Lo biolang.tar.gz \
  https://github.com/oriclabs/biolang/releases/latest/download/biolang-linux-aarch64.tar.gz
tar xzf biolang.tar.gz
sudo mv bl /usr/local/bin/
bl --version

macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel)

# Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4)
curl -Lo biolang.tar.gz \
  https://github.com/oriclabs/biolang/releases/latest/download/biolang-macos-aarch64.tar.gz

# Intel
curl -Lo biolang.tar.gz \
  https://github.com/oriclabs/biolang/releases/latest/download/biolang-macos-x86_64.tar.gz

tar xzf biolang.tar.gz
sudo mv bl /usr/local/bin/
bl --version

Alternatively, install via Homebrew:

brew install biolang/tap/biolang

Windows

Download biolang-windows-x86_64.zip from the releases page, extract it, and add the folder to your PATH.

# PowerShell
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/oriclabs/biolang/releases/latest/download/biolang-windows-x86_64.zip" -OutFile biolang.zip
Expand-Archive biolang.zip -DestinationPath "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\biolang"
$env:PATH += ";$env:LOCALAPPDATA\biolang"
bl --version

Building from Source

Clone the repository and build with Cargo. This requires Rust 1.75 or later.

git clone https://github.com/oriclabs/biolang.git
cd biolang
cargo build --release
# Binary is at target/release/bl

To run the test suite after building:

cargo test --workspace

For development builds with debug symbols and faster compilation:

cargo build
# Binary is at target/debug/bl

Updating

BioLang has a built-in self-update mechanism. Check your current version and whether an update is available:

bl version
# BioLang v0.1.0
# Checking for updates... up to date.

Upgrade to the latest release with a single command:

bl upgrade

This downloads the correct binary for your platform from GitHub Releases and replaces the current bl executable automatically.

BioLang also checks for updates in the background when you run bl run or bl repl. If a newer version is available, a one-line notice appears on stderr. This check runs at most once per 24 hours and never blocks startup. Disable it with:

export BIOLANG_NO_UPDATE_CHECK=1

Alternative update methods

If you installed via Cargo:

cargo install bl-cli --force

For Homebrew:

brew upgrade biolang

Uninstalling

# Cargo
cargo uninstall bl-cli

# Homebrew
brew uninstall biolang

# Manual — just remove the binary
rm /usr/local/bin/bl

Next Steps

Now that BioLang is installed, head to the Quick Start guide to write your first program.