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Prerequisites

Tools you need before installing erk.

Erk orchestrates several tools to enable plan-oriented agentic engineering. This guide helps you install and verify each one.

Required Tools

Python 3.11+

Erk is a Python CLI tool. You need Python 3.11 or higher.

Check your version:

python --version

You should see Python 3.11.x or higher (3.12, 3.13 also work).

If you need to install Python, see Install Python.

Claude Code CLI

Claude Code is the AI agent that powers erk's planning and implementation. You need an active Anthropic account with API access.

Install:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Verify:

claude --version

You should see output like claude-code 1.x.x.

First-time setup:

When you first run claude, you'll be prompted to authenticate with your Anthropic account. Follow the browser prompts to complete setup.

Troubleshooting:

  • If you see authentication errors, run claude and follow the login prompts

uv (Python Package Manager)

Erk uses uv for fast, reproducible Python package management. It's significantly faster than pip and ensures consistent environments.

Install:

curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Verify:

uv --version

You should see output like uv 0.x.x.

Why uv instead of pip?

  • Speed: 10-100x faster than pip
  • Reproducibility: Lockfiles ensure consistent installs
  • Simplicity: Handles Python version management too

GitHub CLI

The GitHub CLI (gh) enables erk to create issues, PRs, and interact with your repositories programmatically.

macOS (Homebrew):

brew install gh

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian):

sudo apt install gh

Verify installation:

gh --version

You should see output like gh version 2.x.x.

Authenticate with GitHub:

gh auth login

Follow the prompts to authenticate via browser or token.

Verify authentication:

gh auth status

You should see output confirming you're logged into github.com.

Troubleshooting:

  • If gh auth status shows "not logged in", run gh auth login again
  • For GitHub Enterprise, use gh auth login --hostname your-enterprise.com

Optional Enhancements

These tools unlock additional features but are not required to start:

Graphite (gt)

Graphite enables stacked PRs—a workflow where you build features as a stack of dependent branches. This is powerful for large features that benefit from incremental review.

What it enables:

  • Stack multiple PRs that depend on each other
  • Rebase entire stacks with a single command
  • Track stack status in erk dashboard

See Graphite Integration for setup instructions.

Quick Reference

Tool Install Command Verify Command
Python python.org/downloads python --version
Claude CLI curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh \| bash claude --version
uv curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh \| sh uv --version
GitHub CLI brew install gh gh --version

Next Steps

Once all required tools are installed and verified: