# Install ThothII on a local PC or Mac

This guide installs one loopback-only ThothII on the same Windows, macOS, or Linux computer that
runs Docker. The supported application is one Docker Compose distribution containing exactly
`frontend` and `core`; Pi is pinned inside `core`. DWH, vector database, embedding, and LLM remain
external configurable services even when they run on this computer.

No host Pi, Node.js, Python, Go toolchain, Docker socket in core, or browser shell is required.
Commands that contain example paths must be changed to absolute paths on your computer.

## Choose your platform

- **macOS:** use Terminal and Docker Desktop. Apple Silicon and Intel are supported by the local
  image build.
- **Windows PowerShell:** use Docker Desktop with its WSL2 engine, Git for Windows, the Windows
  build launcher, and `thothctl-windows-amd64.exe`.
- **Windows WSL2 (recommended):** enable Docker Desktop integration for your Linux distribution,
  clone under `/home/<user>` rather than `/mnt/c`, and follow the Linux shell commands.
- **Linux PC:** use Docker Engine plus the Compose v2 plugin and the Linux `thothctl` binary.

Windows users must also read [Windows and WSL2 line endings](windows-line-endings.md) before the
first build.

## Prerequisites

Install only:

1. Git 2.39 or newer.
2. Docker Desktop on macOS/Windows, or Docker Engine on Linux.
3. Docker Compose v2 (`docker compose`, not legacy `docker-compose`).
4. About 10 GB of free disk for source, images, build cache, and initial volumes.
5. Network access to the workspace Git remote and configured DWH/vector/embedding/LLM endpoints.

Verify the tools:

```sh
git --version
docker version
docker compose version
docker run --rm hello-world
```

On Linux, add the operator to the Docker group only if local policy permits it; sign out and back
in afterward. A local installation needs no inbound firewall rule because ports bind only to
`127.0.0.1`.

## Clone and verify LF

Use a `git clone` command that disables automatic CRLF conversion for this checkout.

macOS and Linux:

```sh
git -c core.autocrlf=false clone https://github.example.invalid/your-org/ThothII.git
cd ThothII
git config --local core.autocrlf false
bash scripts/verify-line-endings.sh
```

Windows PowerShell:

```powershell
git -c core.autocrlf=false clone https://github.example.invalid/your-org/ThothII.git
Set-Location ThothII
git config --local core.autocrlf false
& "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" scripts/verify-line-endings.sh
```

Windows WSL2:

```sh
mkdir -p "$HOME/src" && cd "$HOME/src"
git -c core.autocrlf=false clone https://github.example.invalid/your-org/ThothII.git
cd ThothII
git config --local core.autocrlf false
bash scripts/verify-line-endings.sh
```

Stop if the verifier names any path. Do not build from a CRLF checkout.

## Create the local operator files

Copy the non-secret template. This untracked `.env` contains addresses and absolute source paths,
never secret values:

```sh
cp deploy/env/local.env.example deploy/env/local.env
mkdir -p /absolute/path/to/thothii-operator/secrets
chmod 0700 /absolute/path/to/thothii-operator/secrets
```

Edit `deploy/env/local.env`. At minimum set the workspace Git remote, `PI_AUTH_FILE`,
`THT_SECRETS_FILE`, external service endpoints, and the absolute
`THT_WORKSPACE_BINDINGS_ENV_FILE`. Create each secret as a separate regular file under the
protected operator directory and set mode `0600`. On Windows use a user-only ACL instead.

Do not paste credentials into this guide's commands, `.env`, workspace YAML, Git, URLs, image build
arguments, or the installation descriptor. Secret contents are mounted read-only under
`/run/secrets` (Pi's auth store has its own protected read-only mount) and must never be committed,
embedded, rendered, or logged.

Follow [the local workspace-registry guide](local-workspace-registry.md) to create the bindings
file, choose exactly one Git SSH/HTTPS override, and generate the connector-secret override. A
fresh install requires a valid private workspace repository; the Git-backed registry remains the
source of truth.

Copy the installation example to an operator-controlled file named exactly
`thothii-installation.yaml`, then replace all placeholders with absolute paths:

```sh
cp docs/install/examples/thothii-installation.local.yaml \
  /absolute/path/to/thothii-operator/thothii-installation.yaml
```

For HTTPS, replace the SSH override in that file with `deploy/compose.git-https.yaml`. Add only
reviewed local overrides, including the generated connector-secret file. Paths may contain spaces
when correctly represented as YAML strings.

Native Windows uses the same four fields. Use single-quoted absolute Windows paths so backslashes
remain literal YAML characters:

```yaml
profile: local
projectDirectory: 'C:\Users\operator\src\ThothII'
envFile: 'C:\Users\operator\src\ThothII\deploy\env\local.env'
overrides:
  - 'C:\Users\operator\src\ThothII\deploy\compose.git-ssh.yaml'
  - 'C:\Users\operator\thothii-operator\connector-secrets.local.yaml'
```

## Address external services

An address is interpreted inside `core`. Therefore container 127.0.0.1 means the container itself,
not the Docker host. Keep every DWH, vector, embedding, and LLM address configurable in the local
environment/workspace bindings.

- **Docker Desktop (macOS and Windows):** use `host.docker.internal`, for example
  `http://host.docker.internal:11434`.
- **Linux:** if a service runs on the host, create an untracked override and include its absolute
  path in `thothii-installation.yaml`:

```yaml
services:
  core:
    extra_hosts:
      - "host.docker.internal:host-gateway"
```

Then use `host.docker.internal` in the endpoint. `extra_hosts: host.docker.internal:host-gateway`
is a host routing aid, not a bundled service. Prefer a real DNS name for independently operated
services; retain TLS and authentication even when co-located.

## Build ThothII and thothctl

From the repository root, macOS/Linux/WSL2 users run:

```sh
bash scripts/build-local.sh
bash scripts/build-thothctl.sh
```

Native PowerShell users run:

```powershell
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File scripts/build-local.ps1
& "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\bash.exe" scripts/build-thothctl.sh
```

The second command uses Docker to create native operator binaries under `dist/thothctl`; users do
not need to know or install Go. Select `thothctl-darwin-arm64` or `-amd64` on macOS,
`thothctl-linux-amd64` or `-arm64` on Linux/WSL2, and `thothctl-windows-amd64.exe` on Windows.
Copy the selected file to the protected operator directory and, on macOS/Linux, run `chmod 0755`
on it.

## Start and verify

Set convenient variables (PowerShell users use `$THTCTL` and `$INSTALLATION` with `& $THTCTL`):
Every operator call has the form `thothctl --installation <absolute-descriptor> <command>`.

```sh
THTCTL=/absolute/path/to/thothii-operator/thothctl
INSTALLATION=/absolute/path/to/thothii-operator/thothii-installation.yaml
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" update --check-only
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" start
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" status
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" doctor
```

Native PowerShell uses the same order:

```powershell
$THTCTL = 'C:\Users\operator\thothii-operator\thothctl.exe'
$INSTALLATION = 'C:\Users\operator\thothii-operator\thothii-installation.yaml'
& $THTCTL --installation $INSTALLATION update --check-only
& $THTCTL --installation $INSTALLATION start
& $THTCTL --installation $INSTALLATION status
& $THTCTL --installation $INSTALLATION doctor
```

Wait for both services, then check the same-origin frontend and direct loopback core:

```sh
curl --fail http://127.0.0.1:8080/health
curl --fail http://127.0.0.1:8787/health
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" pi doctor
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" pi test
```

Open <http://127.0.0.1:8080>. If a check fails, run `thothctl ... logs` or `pi logs`; these are
bounded and sanitize declared secrets. Do not publish either loopback port.

## Update an installation

Commit or back up local operator changes first. Application source updates are separate from Pi
lifecycle updates:

```sh
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" stop
git status --short
git pull --ff-only
git config --local core.autocrlf false
bash scripts/verify-line-endings.sh
bash scripts/build-local.sh
bash scripts/build-thothctl.sh
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" update --check-only
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" start
curl --fail http://127.0.0.1:8080/health
```

On native Windows use the PowerShell build launcher and the Git-for-Windows Bash LF check. Review
release notes before updating. Pi has its own transactional `pi update` and rollback workflow in
[Pi management](pi-management.md); never install a package in the running container.

## Back up and restore

Back up before source/Pi updates and test restoration periodically. First stop cleanly:

```sh
"$THTCTL" --installation "$INSTALLATION" stop
docker volume ls --format '{{.Name}}' | grep '^thothii-'
```

Identify the four exact volumes belonging to this installation: `settings`, `pi-state`,
`workspace-registry`, and `sessions`. Confirm their Compose project label with `docker volume
inspect`. For each exact volume, archive it to a protected backup directory:

```sh
BACKUP_DIR=/absolute/path/to/backups/2026-08-05
VOLUME=exact-installation-volume-name
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
docker run --rm -v "$VOLUME:/source:ro" -v "$BACKUP_DIR:/backup" \
  alpine:3.22 tar -C /source -czf "/backup/$VOLUME.tgz" .
```

Native PowerShell can run the same read-only archive container:

```powershell
$BackupDir = 'C:\Users\operator\thothii-backups\2026-08-05'
$Volume = 'exact-installation-volume-name'
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $BackupDir | Out-Null
docker run --rm -v "${Volume}:/source:ro" -v "${BackupDir}:/backup" `
  alpine:3.22 tar -C /source -czf "/backup/${Volume}.tgz" .
```

Also back up the installation descriptor, operator environment, generated overrides, and secret
files to separate encrypted/protected storage. Never commit them. Record image digests and the Git
revision. Do not back up while containers are running.

Restore only while stopped and only into a new, verified-empty exact target volume. Test the
archive in a disposable installation first:

```sh
TARGET_VOLUME=exact-empty-target-volume-name
ARCHIVE=/absolute/path/to/backups/2026-08-05/exact-volume-name.tgz
docker run --rm -v "$TARGET_VOLUME:/target" alpine:3.22 \
  sh -c 'test -z "$(ls -A /target)"'
docker run --rm -v "$TARGET_VOLUME:/target" -v "$(dirname "$ARCHIVE"):/backup:ro" \
  alpine:3.22 tar -C /target -xzf "/backup/$(basename "$ARCHIVE")"
```

Restore all four volumes from the same backup set, restore protected operator files separately,
then run `update --check-only`, `start`, `doctor`, registry status/diagnostics, and a known session
before normal use. Never merge an archive into a non-empty volume.

## Data-preserving uninstall

Run `thothctl stop`, retain the installation descriptor at the same absolute path, and make one
verified backup set. In Docker Desktop, remove only this installation's stopped `core` and
`frontend` containers and optional local images; leave its four named volumes. On Linux, use the
containers' exact Compose project labels to remove only those stopped containers. Do not prune
global Docker data.

Do **not** run `docker compose down --volumes`: it deletes the application data this procedure is
meant to preserve. Keep the operator directory and protected secrets if you intend to reinstall.
Using the same descriptor path preserves the `thothctl` project identity and reconnects the same
named volumes after rebuilding the source checkout.

## Next: workspaces and Pi

Complete [local workspace-registry installation](local-workspace-registry.md), including Git trust,
bindings, pull, validation, diagnostics, and registry recovery. Then use [Pi management](pi-management.md)
for provider/model configuration, smoke testing, transactional update, and rollback.

The Git-backed workspace registry is always the workspace source of truth. Local DWH, vector,
embedding, or LLM processes remain independent services and are never added to the mandatory
ThothII core.