Installation

You need Linux and a running Herdr session. Building from source requires Rust 1.88 or newer; running a prebuilt executable does not require Rust. The repository pins Rust 1.99.0 for its tested development toolchain. Herdr 0.9.3 is the initial integration baseline. Live observation also uses a compatible herdr command in PATH.

Prebuilt packages

Each release ships three packages for Linux x86_64, with the same statically linked binary, the lictor(1) man page, and bash, zsh and fish completions. Check downloads against the release’s SHA256SUMS:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing

Debian, Ubuntu and derivatives

sudo apt install ./lictor_*_amd64.deb

The package installs /usr/bin/lictor, the man page and the completions, which bash, zsh and fish pick up automatically. It suggests libnotify-bin, tmux and xdotool for the optional features. Remove it with sudo apt remove lictor.

Arch Linux and derivatives

sudo pacman -U lictor-*-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

The package installs the same files in Arch’s standard locations, with the license in /usr/share/licenses/lictor/. Its optional dependencies are libnotify, tmux and xdotool. Remove it with sudo pacman -R lictor.

Any other distribution

The binary in lictor-VERSION-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz is statically linked, so it runs on any x86_64 Linux: Arch, Fedora, openSUSE, Alpine, or an older glibc system. For your user only:

tar -xzf lictor-*-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz
cd lictor-*-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl
install -Dm755 lictor ~/.local/bin/lictor
install -Dm644 lictor.1.gz ~/.local/share/man/man1/lictor.1.gz
install -Dm644 completions/lictor.bash ~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions/lictor
install -Dm644 completions/lictor.fish ~/.config/fish/completions/lictor.fish
install -Dm644 completions/_lictor ~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions/_lictor

For zsh, make sure that directory is on your fpath before compinit runs, for example in ~/.zshrc: fpath=(~/.local/share/zsh/site-functions $fpath). For a system-wide install, use /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/share/man/man1 and your distribution’s completion directories with sudo.

From source

Install the latest version from GitHub with Cargo:

cargo install --git https://github.com/SyscallBrain/lictor --locked
lictor --help

Or build from a clone:

git clone https://github.com/SyscallBrain/lictor
cd lictor
cargo install --path . --locked

cargo build --release --locked builds target/release/lictor without installing it. Check that Lictor can reach your Herdr session by listing its workspaces:

lictor -W -l

Check both the installed client and running server when diagnosing compatibility:

herdr --version
herdr status server

The core JSON socket client does not require jq, Python, or socat. Optional capabilities use external helpers:

On a Wayland desktop, sidebar key delivery needs a supported route such as tmux; X11 injection alone cannot control a native Wayland window.

To read the book locally, install mdBook if it is missing, then build or serve it:

cargo install mdbook --version 0.5.4 --locked
mdbook build
mdbook serve --open

The generated book is written to book/. The repository includes workflows for testing, book publication, and Linux release artifacts; see publishing.