Install

Get a working scoot binary. Three paths, fastest first — pick one.

Try it without installing

If you have Nix, run scoot straight from the flake. Nothing is installed:

nix run github:scoot-sh/scoot -- --nested -- foot

This opens scoot in a window on your current desktop with a terminal in it. Close the window to quit. (Why foot? It is scoot’s default terminal — install it too, or name another one. More in First session.)

Install with Nix

scoot runs on Linux. With Nix:

nix profile add github:scoot-sh/scoot#scoot github:scoot-sh/scoot#scootctl \
  github:scoot-sh/scoot#scootbar

Symptom: nix: command 'nix' not found, or your Nix says nix profile install instead of nix profile add. Older Nix calls the subcommand install — same command, old name. If Nix itself is missing, install it from nixos.org first.

Skip the compile: the binary cache

Every merge to main pushes built binaries for x86_64-linux and aarch64-linux to the public Cachix cache scoot-sh. Without it, Nix compiles Smithay and scoot’s crates on your machine (minutes); with it, you download. Opt in explicitly in your Nix configuration — NixOS (configuration.nix):

nix.settings = {
  extra-substituters = [ "https://scoot-sh.cachix.org" ];
  extra-trusted-public-keys = [
    "scoot-sh.cachix.org-1:QMj7CMw8uqZxrvqqm6SggdxTHz6Q4prt30ydDcXJXCo="
  ];
};

Per user (~/.config/nix/nix.conf), the same two lines:

extra-substituters = https://scoot-sh.cachix.org
extra-trusted-public-keys = scoot-sh.cachix.org-1:QMj7CMw8uqZxrvqqm6SggdxTHz6Q4prt30ydDcXJXCo=

What this trusts: binaries built by CI from reviewed merges to main. A substituter can serve any store path your Nix asks for, so this trusts CI’s builds the way installing the flake already trusts its source.

Build from source

On Debian or Ubuntu (Rust 1.87 or newer):

sudo apt install pkg-config libwayland-dev libxkbcommon-dev libinput-dev \
  libdrm-dev libdisplay-info-dev libseat-dev libudev-dev libpixman-1-dev \
  libgbm-dev libegl-dev libdbus-1-dev
git clone https://github.com/scoot-sh/scoot && cd scoot
cargo build --release -p scoot -p scootctl -p scootbar

The binaries land in target/release/.

Check it worked

scoot --help

This prints the usage text and exits — no display needed. If it complains about a missing library, re-check the apt line above; if it says something about --headless on macOS, that is expected: on a Mac only the scootctl remote-control client builds.

Next: First session — run scoot, open a terminal, learn five keys.