Installation

PRX ships as a single static binary called prx. Choose the installation method that fits your workflow.

Prerequisites

Before installing PRX, ensure your system meets these requirements:

Requirement	Details
OS	Linux (x86_64, aarch64), macOS (Apple Silicon, Intel), or Windows via WSL2
Rust	1.92.0+ (2024 edition) -- only needed for Cargo install or source build
System packages	pkg-config (Linux, for source build only)
Disk space	~50 MB for the binary, ~200 MB with WASM plugin runtime
RAM	64 MB minimum for the daemon (without LLM inference)

TIP

If you use the install script or Docker, you do not need Rust installed on your system.

Method 1: Install Script (Recommended)

The fastest way to get started. The script detects your OS and architecture, downloads the latest release binary, and places it in your PATH.

curl -fsSL https://openprx.dev/install.sh | bash

The script installs prx to ~/.local/bin/ by default. Make sure this directory is in your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

To install a specific version:

curl -fsSL https://openprx.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- --version 0.3.0

To install to a custom directory:

curl -fsSL https://openprx.dev/install.sh | bash -s -- --prefix /usr/local

Method 2: Cargo Install

If you have the Rust toolchain installed, you can install PRX directly from crates.io:

cargo install openprx

This builds the release binary with default features and places it in ~/.cargo/bin/prx.

To install with all optional features (Matrix E2EE, WhatsApp Web, etc.):

cargo install openprx --all-features

Feature Flags

PRX uses Cargo feature flags for optional channel support:

Feature	Description
channel-matrix	Matrix channel with E2E encryption support
whatsapp-web	WhatsApp Web multi-device channel
default	All stable channels enabled

Method 3: Build from Source

For development or to run the latest unreleased code:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/openprx/prx.git
cd prx

# Build the release binary
cargo build --release

# The binary is at target/release/prx
./target/release/prx --version

To build with all features:

cargo build --release --all-features

To install the locally built binary into your Cargo bin directory:

cargo install --path .

Development Build

For faster iteration during development, use a debug build:

cargo build
./target/debug/prx --version

WARNING

Debug builds are significantly slower at runtime. Always use --release for production or benchmarking.

Method 4: Docker

Run PRX as a container with no local installation required:

docker pull ghcr.io/openprx/prx:latest

Run with a mounted config directory:

docker run -d \
  --name prx \
  -v ~/.config/openprx:/home/prx/.config/openprx \
  -p 3120:3120 \
  ghcr.io/openprx/prx:latest \
  daemon

Or use Docker Compose:

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  prx:
    image: ghcr.io/openprx/prx:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "3120:3120"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/home/prx/.config/openprx
      - ./data:/home/prx/.local/share/openprx
    command: daemon

TIP

When running in Docker, set your LLM API keys via environment variables or mount a config file. See Configuration for details.

Verify Installation

After installing, verify that PRX is working:

prx --version

Expected output:

prx 0.3.0

Run the health check:

prx doctor

This verifies your Rust toolchain (if installed), system dependencies, config file validity, and network connectivity to LLM providers.

Platform Notes

Linux

PRX works on any modern Linux distribution (kernel 4.18+). The binary is statically linked with rustls for TLS, so no OpenSSL installation is required.

For sandbox features, you may need additional packages:

# Firejail sandbox backend
sudo apt install firejail

# Bubblewrap sandbox backend
sudo apt install bubblewrap

# Docker sandbox backend (requires Docker daemon)
sudo apt install docker.io

macOS

PRX runs natively on both Apple Silicon (aarch64) and Intel (x86_64) Macs. The iMessage channel is only available on macOS.

If building from source, ensure you have the Xcode Command Line Tools:

xcode-select --install

Windows (WSL2)

PRX is supported on Windows through WSL2. Install a Linux distribution (Ubuntu recommended) and follow the Linux instructions inside your WSL2 environment.

# From PowerShell (install WSL2 with Ubuntu)
wsl --install -d Ubuntu

Then inside WSL2:

curl -fsSL https://openprx.dev/install.sh | bash

WARNING

Native Windows support is not currently available. WSL2 provides near-native Linux performance and is the recommended approach.

Uninstalling

To remove PRX:

# If installed via install script
rm ~/.local/bin/prx

# If installed via Cargo
cargo uninstall openprx

# Remove configuration and data (optional)
rm -rf ~/.config/openprx
rm -rf ~/.local/share/openprx

Next Steps

• Quick Start -- Get PRX running in 5 minutes
• Onboarding Wizard -- Configure your LLM provider
• Configuration -- Full configuration reference