Installation

Helm is pre-1.0 software and ships signed test binaries in addition to source builds.

Download DMG (Recommended)

Download the latest beta DMG from GitHub Releases:

• Helm Releases

When you open the DMG, install like a standard macOS app:

1. Drag Helm.app to Applications.
2. Launch Helm from Applications.
3. If macOS prompts, confirm opening the app and grant requested permissions.

The DMG is built for Any Mac (Apple Silicon + Intel) with a macOS 11+ (Big Sur) minimum target.

Prerequisites

• macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later
• Xcode 14+
• Rust stable toolchain (2024 edition)

Build from source

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/jasoncavinder/Helm.git
cd Helm

2. Build and test the Rust core

cd core/rust
cargo test --lib       # unit tests
cargo test --test '*'  # integration tests
cargo build            # build the library

3. Build the macOS app

cd apps/macos-ui
xcodebuild -project Helm.xcodeproj -scheme Helm -configuration Debug build

Or open apps/macos-ui/Helm.xcodeproj in Xcode and run the Helm scheme. The build script automatically compiles the Rust FFI library and generates version headers.

4. Run

Launch the built app. Helm appears as a menu bar icon — click it to open the floating panel. There is no Dock icon by design.

Verify

After launching, click Refresh to populate the package list. You should see packages from any installed and supported manager — Homebrew, mise, rustup, npm, pip, cargo, and others.