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Install Seal v0.5.3

The v0.5.3 release publishes seal-v0.5.3-darwin-arm64, seal-v0.5.3-darwin-x64, seal-v0.5.3-linux-x64, seal-receipt-v2.mjs, and SHA256SUMS; its tag resolves to commit bcf6a81d51601b02c0512fda3660f35b2171b0a4. Its release-manifest.json uses schema seal.release/v2. This checkout supports Protect on Linux x86-64 and macOS x64/arm64. The native macOS process-start witness helper is release-produced, not independently reproduced. Windows and Linux ARM are unsupported. Seal itself requires Node 20 or newer. The installer refuses before changing anything on an unsupported or mismatched platform.

This page is the SHA256SUMS verification wall. The README short form uses the same shell gate. In every install command below, a failed checksum comparison prevents both chmod and execution of the artifact. The commands use POSIX syntax for sh, dash, bash, and zsh. Copy each whole command, including its continuation backslashes and && operators; there is no shell-option preamble. The release version is a separate assignment; omitting it cannot remove the verification gate. Each continuation starts with &&, so copying a continuation alone produces a syntax error.

The digest comparison below is your check, with the OS SHA-256 tool, against the SHA256SUMS asset attached to the same GitHub release. That is not the installer checking itself. The --sha256 flag is a second pin the installer demands and will refuse without. The optional --bytes flag adds a length check. Together they answer “did I download the bytes the release named?” They do not answer “is the publisher honest?”

Verify, then install

Section titled “Verify, then install”

Protect needs Claude Code, which needs Node 22 or newer. If you want Protect and node --version reports below v22, get Node from https://nodejs.org/en/download or use a version manager such as nvm; then run node --version again and expect v22 or newer. Continue to Start Protect in a project after installing Seal.

Linux x86-64

Section titled “Linux x86-64”
Terminal window
SEAL_VERSION=v0.5.3
artifact_name="seal-v0.5.3-linux-x64" \
&& artifact_sha256="cc0835c7d7f8c90b7b6858ea80a9f447a1be25d84cb5f496a33ef61985f2868e" \
&& artifact_bytes=6418125 \
&& sums_name="SHA256SUMS" \
&& sums_sha256="1617beb751f1a1569ab5fa338ed82abb9b8aee65370b409b14be7fe926c4c479" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$sums_name" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$artifact_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then sums_actual="$(shasum -a 256 "$sums_name")"; else sums_actual="$(sha256sum "$sums_name")"; fi \
&& test "${sums_actual%% *}" = "$sums_sha256" \
&& expected_record="$(awk -v name="$artifact_name" '$3 == name { print $1, $2, $3 }' "$sums_name")" \
&& test "$expected_record" = "$artifact_sha256 $artifact_bytes $artifact_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then actual_digest="$(shasum -a 256 "$artifact_name")"; else actual_digest="$(sha256sum "$artifact_name")"; fi \
&& test "${actual_digest%% *}" = "$artifact_sha256" \
&& actual_bytes="$(wc -c < "$artifact_name")" \
&& test "$actual_bytes" -eq "$artifact_bytes" \
&& chmod +x "$artifact_name" \
&& ./"$artifact_name" --sha256 "$artifact_sha256" --bytes "$artifact_bytes" --prefix ~/.local \
&& export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

macOS Apple silicon

Section titled “macOS Apple silicon”
Terminal window
SEAL_VERSION=v0.5.3
artifact_name="seal-v0.5.3-darwin-arm64" \
&& artifact_sha256="ed290029caa6d153c735c9e212e7dd59f9cd453aaba89a9a4d2681bc7f4b0631" \
&& artifact_bytes=6451940 \
&& sums_name="SHA256SUMS" \
&& sums_sha256="1617beb751f1a1569ab5fa338ed82abb9b8aee65370b409b14be7fe926c4c479" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$sums_name" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$artifact_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then sums_actual="$(shasum -a 256 "$sums_name")"; else sums_actual="$(sha256sum "$sums_name")"; fi \
&& test "${sums_actual%% *}" = "$sums_sha256" \
&& expected_record="$(awk -v name="$artifact_name" '$3 == name { print $1, $2, $3 }' "$sums_name")" \
&& test "$expected_record" = "$artifact_sha256 $artifact_bytes $artifact_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then actual_digest="$(shasum -a 256 "$artifact_name")"; else actual_digest="$(sha256sum "$artifact_name")"; fi \
&& test "${actual_digest%% *}" = "$artifact_sha256" \
&& actual_bytes="$(wc -c < "$artifact_name")" \
&& test "$actual_bytes" -eq "$artifact_bytes" \
&& chmod +x "$artifact_name" \
&& ./"$artifact_name" --sha256 "$artifact_sha256" --bytes "$artifact_bytes" --prefix ~/.local \
&& export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

macOS Intel

Section titled “macOS Intel”
Terminal window
SEAL_VERSION=v0.5.3
artifact_name="seal-v0.5.3-darwin-x64" \
&& artifact_sha256="6591a3f418b964d9eb7771e329ce097500ee9e4c1633f20a17b3e738cceb5666" \
&& artifact_bytes=6426927 \
&& sums_name="SHA256SUMS" \
&& sums_sha256="1617beb751f1a1569ab5fa338ed82abb9b8aee65370b409b14be7fe926c4c479" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$sums_name" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$artifact_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then sums_actual="$(shasum -a 256 "$sums_name")"; else sums_actual="$(sha256sum "$sums_name")"; fi \
&& test "${sums_actual%% *}" = "$sums_sha256" \
&& expected_record="$(awk -v name="$artifact_name" '$3 == name { print $1, $2, $3 }' "$sums_name")" \
&& test "$expected_record" = "$artifact_sha256 $artifact_bytes $artifact_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then actual_digest="$(shasum -a 256 "$artifact_name")"; else actual_digest="$(sha256sum "$artifact_name")"; fi \
&& test "${actual_digest%% *}" = "$artifact_sha256" \
&& actual_bytes="$(wc -c < "$artifact_name")" \
&& test "$actual_bytes" -eq "$artifact_bytes" \
&& chmod +x "$artifact_name" \
&& ./"$artifact_name" --sha256 "$artifact_sha256" --bytes "$artifact_bytes" --prefix ~/.local \
&& export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Success prints installed seal 0.5.3 linux-x64 and the store, command, and tree lines. Path prefixes on store: and command: differ per machine. The tree hash of the published v0.5.3 asset is pinned here:

Seal installed-tree pin role: published-asset

installed seal 0.5.3 linux-x64
store: /home/you/.local/lib/seal/store/6da03dc7d8f4d40a30033623a2e27fb7608d3fe17ce7ab420e8b940f3e8ff2ba
command: /home/you/.local/bin/seal
tree: 6da03dc7d8f4d40a30033623a2e27fb7608d3fe17ce7ab420e8b940f3e8ff2ba
Next:
  export PATH=/home/you/.local/bin:$PATH
  demo_dir="$(mktemp -d)" && demo_dir="$(cd "$demo_dir" && pwd -P)" && printf 'y\n' | seal demo --dir "$demo_dir" && printf 'Demo directory: %s\n' "$demo_dir"

Add ~/.local/bin to PATH:

Terminal window
$ export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

Add this export to ~/.bashrc, ~/.zshrc, or ~/.profile so a new terminal finds seal.

Further distribution detail, including what each payload contains, is in DISTRIBUTION.md.

Optional checker asset download

Section titled “Optional checker asset download”

The installed tree includes a working checker; this command downloads the published checker file for inspection.

Terminal window
SEAL_VERSION=v0.5.3
checker_name="seal-receipt-v2.mjs" \
&& checker_sha256="12e7080ebb293486576bacbd45de177762ea1fafe9d02cd6f78f46cba9adc7d9" \
&& checker_bytes=11935 \
&& sums_name="SHA256SUMS" \
&& sums_sha256="1617beb751f1a1569ab5fa338ed82abb9b8aee65370b409b14be7fe926c4c479" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$sums_name" \
&& curl -fsSLO "https://github.com/velvetmonkey/seal/releases/download/$SEAL_VERSION/$checker_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then sums_actual="$(shasum -a 256 "$sums_name")"; else sums_actual="$(sha256sum "$sums_name")"; fi \
&& test "${sums_actual%% *}" = "$sums_sha256" \
&& checker_record="$(awk -v name="$checker_name" '$3 == name { print $1, $2, $3 }' "$sums_name")" \
&& test "$checker_record" = "$checker_sha256 $checker_bytes $checker_name" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then checker_actual="$(shasum -a 256 "$checker_name")"; else checker_actual="$(sha256sum "$checker_name")"; fi \
&& test "${checker_actual%% *}" = "$checker_sha256" \
&& checker_count="$(wc -c < "$checker_name")" \
&& test "$checker_count" -eq "$checker_bytes"

The downloaded checker is only checked against SHA256SUMS; from a source checkout, run node checker/seal-receipt-v2.mjs docs/reference/receipt-operations-v1/receipt-block.json.

Source-build tree pin

Section titled “Source-build tree pin”

A build of this checkout (not the published release asset) writes dist/seal-v<identity>-linux-x64. That tree digest is a different claim from the published-asset pin above:

Seal installed-tree pin role: fresh-build

tree: f4f6a3977b7437c33c868cd9d26ee9853a85fe58fc3df0aa182daf0314c45d9a

That hash is the installed-tree digest of the payload scripts/build-dist.cjs packs from this tree. It is not a captured command transcript. It will change when a payload member changes; it does not change when only docs change.

Before scripting receipt checks, read the v0.4.0 standalone checker exit-status notice.

Installed-tree hash definition

Section titled “Installed-tree hash definition”

The installed tree is exactly the regular payload files named by the artifact’s payload manifest (a fresh build includes checker/seal-receipt-v2.mjs for seal verify). Order those relative slash-separated paths by bytewise lexicographic path order. For each file, SHA-256 its exact payload bytes and form one UTF-8 line: <file-sha256><two spaces><decimal byte count><two spaces><path><newline>. Concatenate those lines without another separator and SHA-256 the resulting UTF-8 byte sequence. That final digest is the installed-tree hash. The same definition applies to a published asset; its payload manifest, rather than this checkout, selects its file set.

Build and install this checkout on Linux x86-64

Section titled “Build and install this checkout on Linux x86-64”

For the source-build evaluator walk, run this from the checkout root with Node 20+ on Linux x86-64. It builds the artifact, checks its SHA-256 digest and byte count, and installs under this checkout’s dist/local directory:

Terminal window
platform="linux-$(node -p 'process.arch')" \
&& node scripts/build-dist.cjs --platform "$platform" --out dist \
&& read -r expected_digest expected_bytes expected_name < dist/SHA256SUMS \
&& test "$expected_name" = "$(node scripts/product-identity.cjs --artifact-name | sed 's/-linux-x64$//')-$platform" \
&& test -n "$expected_digest" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then actual_digest="$(shasum -a 256 "dist/$expected_name")"; else actual_digest="$(sha256sum "dist/$expected_name")"; fi \
&& test "${actual_digest%% *}" = "$expected_digest" \
&& actual_bytes="$(wc -c < "dist/$expected_name")" \
&& test "$actual_bytes" -eq "$expected_bytes" \
&& chmod +x "dist/$expected_name" \
&& ./"dist/$expected_name" --sha256 "$expected_digest" --bytes "$expected_bytes" --prefix "$PWD/dist/local"

Add this installation to PATH in the same shell before following the walk:

Terminal window
$ export PATH="$PWD/dist/local/bin:$PATH"

Build and install this checkout on macOS

Section titled “Build and install this checkout on macOS”

The macOS CI lane selects macos-15 for darwin-arm64 and macos-15-intel for darwin-x64. CI passes --macos-helper to include the matching native process-start witness helper in the payload. For this recipe, set MACOS_HELPER to the path of that helper from the matching release runner. The recipe selects the artifact label from Node’s running architecture and uses the SHA-256 utility shipped by macOS when GNU sha256sum is absent:

Terminal window
platform="darwin-$(node -p 'process.arch')" \
&& node scripts/build-dist.cjs --platform "$platform" --macos-helper "$MACOS_HELPER" --out dist \
&& read -r expected_digest expected_bytes expected_name < dist/SHA256SUMS \
&& test "$expected_name" = "$(node scripts/product-identity.cjs --artifact-name | sed 's/-linux-x64$//')-$platform" \
&& test -n "$expected_digest" \
&& if command -v shasum >/dev/null 2>&1; then actual_digest="$(shasum -a 256 "dist/$expected_name")"; else actual_digest="$(sha256sum "dist/$expected_name")"; fi \
&& test "${actual_digest%% *}" = "$expected_digest" \
&& actual_bytes="$(wc -c < "dist/$expected_name")" \
&& test "$actual_bytes" -eq "$expected_bytes" \
&& chmod +x "dist/$expected_name" \
&& ./"dist/$expected_name" --sha256 "$expected_digest" --bytes "$expected_bytes" --prefix ~/.local

This checkout supports Protect on Linux x86-64 and macOS x64/arm64. The native macOS process-start witness helper is release-produced, not independently reproduced. macOS Protect execution is not exercised in CI.

Run the harmless approve-once demo

Section titled “Run the harmless approve-once demo”

Run the harmless approve-once demo and answer y:

Terminal window
demo_dir="$(mktemp -d)" && demo_dir="$(cd "$demo_dir" && pwd -P)" && printf 'y\n' | seal demo --dir "$demo_dir" && printf 'Demo directory: %s\n' "$demo_dir"

When you are finished, remove the directory printed as Demo directory: /absolute/path.

If you installed the published release, continue with Choosing what to protect. If you built and installed this checkout, continue with the Evaluator walk.

Start Protect in a project

Section titled “Start Protect in a project”

Follow Protect a real tool set in the README to install Claude Code, create seal-protect-demo, and run seal protect. If Claude Code is already running in that project, exit that session first. For your first sign-in, run this in the terminal and follow the login prompts:

Terminal window
claude auth login

Start Claude Code from the seal-protect-demo project directory:

Terminal window
claude

On the first run, Claude Code may show a theme picker before the session starts.

MCP is the protocol Claude Code uses to connect to tool servers. If Claude Code asks you to approve the project’s MCP server, accept it. Keep Claude Code running and open a second terminal in seal-protect-demo, then check the route:

Terminal window
PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH" seal status

Look for LEASE ACTIVE on the sealed db route before using its tools. If it still says PENDING RESTART, follow the protection state guide.

Previous: Start. Up: Start. Next: Evaluator walk.