Install Minimal

Linux

Requirements

  • x86_64 or aarch64 architecture
  • Kernel support for user namespaces (most modern distributions)

Install

curl --proto "=https" --tlsv1.2 -fsSL https://go.minimal.dev/install.sh | sh

Verify

minimal --version

If installed correctly, it will provide you with the version.

macOS

Minimal on macOS runs inside a lightweight VM using Apple’s Containerization framework, which can be found on their GitHub.

Requirements

  • macOS Tahoe 26.2 or later
  • Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4). Intel Macs are not supported
  • The Apple container CLI v1.0 or later (see below)

Install

Step 1: Install the Apple container CLI

If it isn’t already on your machine, download the signed installer package from the latest release on GitHub:

Apple container release assets Apple container release assets

Download container-<version>-installer-signed.pkg and run the installer. Verify it’s working:

container --version

Note: If you already have Apple container installed prior to the 1.0 release, you will need to uninstall the older release, especially if installed via Homebrew. Then install v1.0 or later following the instruction provided above for Apple container.

Step 2: Install Minimal

Copy and paste the following into your terminal:

curl --proto "=https" --tlsv1.2 -fsSL https://go.minimal.dev/install.sh | sh

Verify

minimal --version

If installed correctly, it will provide you with the version.