Install

The cmetal binary carries the whole course: install it, run cmetal init, and you have a private workspace with every exercise — no git, no clone. (Contributors still work from the repository; see Contributing.) Pick whichever route gets you the binary.

Prerequisites

• gcc and/or clang with C11 support — the exercises are compiled with your system toolchain. cmetal uses gcc by default; start it with --compiler clang to work with clang instead (see Choosing a compiler).
• git and a Rust toolchain — only to contribute, or to install via Cargo / build from source; learning needs neither.

Option 1 — Homebrew (macOS, Linux)

No Rust required.

brew install cdelmonte-zg/tap/cmetal

Option 2 — Cargo (crates.io)

With a Rust toolchain installed:

cargo install cmetal

Option 3 — prebuilt binary

No Rust required. Download the archive for your platform from the latest release, then:

tar -xzf cmetal-<version>-<target>.tar.gz
sudo mv cmetal-<version>-<target>/cmetal /usr/local/bin/

macOS: the binaries are not code-signed yet. If Gatekeeper blocks the first run, clear the quarantine flag: xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $(which cmetal).

Option 4 — build from source

git clone https://github.com/cdelmonte-zg/cmetal.git
cd cmetal
cargo install --path .

Get the exercises

The binary embeds the full curriculum: however you installed it, the shortest path is a self-contained workspace —

cmetal init my-cmetal-course   # or just `cmetal init`
cd my-cmetal-course
cmetal

Cloning the repository works exactly the same way and remains the route for contributing exercises or following unreleased changes:

git clone https://github.com/cdelmonte-zg/cmetal.git
cd cmetal
cmetal

Either way, on first run cmetal copies the exercises into my_exercises/ — that is where you work. Head to the Quickstart.

Upgrade

New exercises ship with the binary. Upgrade it, matching how you installed it:

brew upgrade cmetal              # Homebrew
cargo install cmetal             # crates.io (picks up the newest release)
cargo install --path . --force   # built from source

If you installed a prebuilt binary, download the new archive from the latest release and replace /usr/local/bin/cmetal the same way you installed it.

Then bring your workspace up to date with the curriculum embedded in the new binary:

cd my-cmetal-course
cmetal update

update never overwrites work you have edited: untouched working copies are refreshed, edited ones are kept and reported — compare with cmetal diff <name> or take the new version with cmetal reset <name>. (In a git checkout, update with git pull instead.)

Uninstall

Remove the binary, matching how you installed it:

brew uninstall cmetal            # Homebrew
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/cmetal    # prebuilt binary
cargo uninstall cmetal           # crates.io or built from source

Everything else — your progress, my_exercises/, revealed solutions — lives inside your workspace (or clone). Delete that directory and no trace is left.