Skip to the content
hippo
Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. Install
  3. Quick start
  4. Concepts
  5. Architecture
  6. Packs
    1. Writing a pack
    2. First-party packs
    3. The registry
    4. Themes
  7. Commands
  8. Configuration
  9. Sharing a brain in a team
  10. Scheduling on macOS
  11. Measuring with hippo eval
  12. Troubleshooting with hippo doctor
  13. Security and privacy
  14. Roadmap
  15. Limits and known gaps
  16. Contributing and licence

Install

hippo is one binary. Install it with the script, with Cargo, or build it from a checkout.

With the install script

On macOS (Apple silicon or Intel) and Linux (x86_64 or arm64):

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VanitasCaesar1/hippo/main/install.sh | sh

The script picks the binary for your machine from the latest release, checks its SHA-256, and copies it to ~/.local/bin, without sudo. If that folder is not on your PATH, it prints the line that adds it. Set HIPPO_INSTALL_DIR to install somewhere else, or HIPPO_VERSION to pick a release. The Linux binaries are static (musl), so they need no system libraries.

With Cargo

With Rust 1.89 or later and a C compiler (hippo builds SQLite from source; on macOS the Xcode command line tools provide one):

cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/VanitasCaesar1/hippo hippo

This puts a hippo binary in ~/.cargo/bin. From a checkout of the repository, cargo install --locked --path crates/hippo does the same, and cargo build --release -p hippo --locked builds target/release/hippo without installing it.

Check it:

hippo --version

hippo 0.2.0

In Claude Code

The repository is also a Claude Code plugin marketplace. In a Claude Code session, run:

/plugin marketplace add VanitasCaesar1/hippo
/plugin install hippo@hippo

Then /hippo:setup installs the binary with the script above if it is missing (after asking you) and runs hippo start. /hippo:ask <question> asks whether an agent already solved something, and /hippo:day [date] shows a day’s work. Once you have a notes folder (hippo init), the plugin gives every session in that workspace the start block; it stays silent everywhere else, and when hippo hooks install has already added the workspace’s own hooks.

Requirements

  • For dreaming, and for hippo ask’s written answers, a model command. The default is the claude CLI (Claude Code), signed in. You can set another command; see Configuration.
  • Every command is meant to run on macOS and Linux; Limits says how far Linux is tested. Scheduling installs launchd jobs on macOS. Elsewhere hippo schedule install prints cron and systemd lines for you to copy.

macOS notes

hippo schedule install writes launchd jobs that run the absolute path of the binary that ran the install. If you later move or reinstall hippo to another path, run hippo schedule install again.

If your workspace or your transcripts are on an external volume, the first launchd run asks for access to “files on a removable volume”. See Scheduling on macOS for what that means and how to answer it.

Next

Run hippo. It finds the history your agents left on this machine (Claude Code, Codex, DeepSeek Harness, OpenCode, Muse Code and Command Code), indexes it and shows the last active day. Then go to the Quick start.