Installation
Install Aardvark via Homebrew or a prebuilt release binary. Node is required at build time to bundle the Mantine islands.
Prerequisites
| Tool | Version | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Node.js | Node ≥ 20.19 | Runs esbuild and the island prerenderer at build time |
The vark binary is self-contained — it ships its own Python runtime and the
islands JS toolchain (React, Mantine, esbuild, and everything else its built-in
components bundle with), so there’s nothing else to install and nothing to
download: a project with no node_modules of its own gets the shipped toolchain
staged automatically on its first build. Node is the one prerequisite, used to run
that toolchain. You can skip it with vark build --no-bundle (components then
render as inert placeholders). npm is only involved if your package.json asks
for packages or versions Aardvark doesn’t ship — then the first build runs
npm ci/npm install for you (opt out with AARDVARK_NO_AUTO_NPM), and a
node_modules you install yourself always takes over from the shipped toolchain.
Install with Homebrew (macOS)
The quickest way on a Mac — installs a self-contained binary, no Python required:
brew tap aardvarkdocs/tap
brew install aardvark
vark --version
The Homebrew package is named aardvark (after the project), but it installs the CLI as
vark — shorter to type. (aardvark is also installed as an alias, so either name
works.) The one-time brew tap registers the formula repository; after that
brew install aardvark / brew upgrade aardvark work like any Homebrew package.
If you’d rather not tap, the single-command equivalent is
brew install aardvarkdocs/tap/aardvark.
Upgrade later with brew update && brew upgrade aardvark. Interactive Mantine islands
still need Node at build time (brew install node); without it, build with
vark build --no-bundle.
Windows
Download the prebuilt Windows binary from the latest release:
aardvark-<version>-windows-x86_64.zip.vark.exe somewhere on your PATH (e.g. a folder you’ve added under
Settings → System → About → Advanced system settings → Environment Variables).vark --version.aardvark-<version>-windows-x86_64.zip.vark.exe somewhere on your PATH (e.g. a folder you’ve added under
Settings → System → About → Advanced system settings → Environment Variables).vark --version.The binary is unsigned, so the first launch may show a SmartScreen warning (“Windows
protected your PC”) — click More info → Run anyway. As on every platform, Node.js is only
needed at site-build time for interactive islands; vark build --no-bundle works without it.
Linux
Download the matching tarball from the
same release page
(aardvark-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz or …-linux-aarch64.tar.gz):
curl -fsSL https://github.com/aardvarkdocs/homebrew-tap/releases/download/v<version>/aardvark-<version>-linux-x86_64.tar.gz \
| tar xz && sudo mv vark /usr/local/bin/
vark --version
The prebuilt binary is glibc-linked (not musl/Alpine). Release tarballs are built against glibc ≥ 2.28, so they run on every current distro — RHEL 8+, Debian 10+, Ubuntu 20.04+, Fedora, Amazon Linux 2023. Node.js is only needed at site-build time for interactive islands.
The binary bundles the default theme and the islands runtime, so it works out of the box. Node is still required on the build machine to bundle interactive islands — see Deployment for details.
AI features
Aardvark’s AI features are built into the binary — there’s nothing extra to
install. Turn them on in aardvark.config.yaml (the ai: block) and provide a
key. See AI features for the overview, Build-time AI for
the build-time enrichment options, and Cloud gateway for the
hosted reader assistant.