gloat-install -- Installing Gloat

Gloat has zero dependencies - everything installs automatically on first use.

There are two main ways to get started: cloning the repository and sourcing the .rc file (recommended), or the one-line installer.

Clone and Setup (Recommended)

For Bash, Fish or Zsh:

git clone https://github.com/gloathub/gloat
source gloat/.rc
gloat --help

The source gloat/.rc command adds the gloat command to your PATH, enables the man gloat help and sets up gloat tab completion.

On first run, Gloat will automatically install all required tools (Go, Glojure, YAMLScript, Babashka, etc) to .cache/local/ within the project directory. Just run gloat --help once to complete the setup.

To make Gloat available permanently, simply add this to your shell's rc file (~/.bashrc, ~/.config/fish/config.fish or ~/.zshrc):

source /path/to/gloat/.rc

Yes, that command and .rc file actually supports all three shells!

One-Line Installer

Install gloat (or glj) to ~/.local/bin/ with a single command:

make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) install

Installing gloat clones the gloat repository to ~/.local/share/gloat, creates a symlink at ~/.local/bin/gloat, and installs all the required dependencies automatically.

The installer refuses to run if ~/.local/bin is not on your PATH — add export PATH=~/.local/bin:$PATH to your shell rc and start a new shell, or pass PREFIX=/path/to where /path/to/bin is already on your PATH. Then run gloat --help.

Options:

# Install to a custom prefix
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) install PREFIX=~/.gloat

# Install a specific version
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) install VERSION=v0.1.37

# Also install the Glojure glj (prebuilt binary) command
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) install-glj

# Uninstall
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) uninstall
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) uninstall-glj

# Show the installer Makefile rules:
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) help

On success the installer prints the exact source .../share/gloat/.rc line to add to your shell rc — this gives the one-line install the same man-page support and shell completion as the clone method.

Pass VERSION=v1.2.3 to pin to a specific gloat release; the installer also picks up the GLJ version that pairs with that gloat tag.

Upgrading

Upgrade gloat to the latest release:

gloat --upgrade

Pin (or roll back) to a specific version:

gloat --upgrade=v1.2.3

In both cases, gloat will:

1. Switch the local checkout to the target tag.
2. Remove .cache/ so all dependencies (including the GLJ version paired with that gloat release) reinstall fresh on the next run.
3. Print what to expect — the next gloat invocation kicks off a quiet per-tool install.

If your clone has uncommitted changes, --upgrade will refuse and ask you to stash or commit them first.

If you installed via the one-line installer, the checkout under ~/.local/share/gloat is detached-HEAD and upgrading there always works.

Resetting the Cache

If something gets stuck or you want to force a fresh dependency install without changing version:

gloat --reset

This removes .cache/ entirely (binaries, build artifacts, REPL working dirs). The next gloat invocation reinstalls everything.

Uninstalling

If you used the one-line installer:

make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) uninstall
make -f <(curl -sL gloathub.org/make) uninstall-glj   # if you installed glj

This removes the gloat symlink from ~/.local/bin and the cloned tree from ~/.local/share/gloat (use PREFIX=... if you installed to a custom prefix). After uninstalling, remove the source .../.rc line you added to your shell rc, or new shells will fail to start.

If you used the clone method, uninstalling is just removing the clone and the source line:

rm -rf /path/to/gloat
# Then remove the `source /path/to/gloat/.rc` line from your shell rc.