Installation

Install cc-deck on your local machine. After installing the CLI binary, run cc-deck plugin install to set up the Zellij sidebar plugin and Claude Code hooks.

Homebrew (macOS)

The fastest way to install on macOS:

brew install cc-deck/tap/cc-deck
cc-deck plugin install

Zellij is recommended but not required. If you do not have Zellij installed, the formula will suggest it.

Binary Download

Download the latest release from GitHub Releases. Archives are available for macOS and Linux, both arm64 and amd64.

# Example: macOS Apple Silicon
curl -fsSL https://github.com/cc-deck/cc-deck/releases/latest/download/cc-deck_VERSION_darwin_arm64.tar.gz | tar -xz
sudo mv cc-deck /usr/local/bin/
cc-deck plugin install

Replace VERSION with the release version (e.g., 0.3.0).

Linux Packages

RPM and DEB packages are attached to each GitHub Release.

Fedora / RHEL

sudo dnf install ./cc-deck_VERSION_linux_amd64.rpm
cc-deck plugin install

Debian / Ubuntu

sudo apt install ./cc-deck_VERSION_linux_amd64.deb
cc-deck plugin install

Both package formats are available for amd64 and arm64.

Build from Source

Clone the repository and build everything:

git clone https://github.com/cc-deck/cc-deck.git
cd cc-deck
make install

make install builds the WASM plugin, compiles the Go CLI, and runs cc-deck plugin install to set up Zellij layouts and Claude Code hooks.

Prerequisites

  • Zellij 0.43 or later

  • Go 1.22 or later

  • Rust stable with the wasm32-wasip1 target

What Gets Installed

The cc-deck plugin install command places files in your Zellij configuration directory:

File Purpose

~/.config/zellij/plugins/cc_deck.wasm

The sidebar plugin binary.

~/.config/zellij/layouts/cc-deck.kdl

Default layout (set to the selected variant).

~/.config/zellij/layouts/cc-deck-standard.kdl

Standard layout with sidebar, tab bar, and status bar.

~/.config/zellij/layouts/cc-deck-minimal.kdl

Minimal layout with sidebar and compact bar.

~/.config/zellij/layouts/cc-deck-clean.kdl

Clean layout with sidebar only.

~/.claude/settings.json

Claude Code hooks for session tracking (merged, not overwritten).

Install Options

--force / -f

Overwrite existing files without prompting.

--skip-backup

Skip the timestamped backup of settings.json.

--layout <variant>

Set the default layout variant. Options: standard (default), minimal, clean.

--install-zellij

Download and install a matching Zellij binary.

Set as Default Layout

Add this line to ~/.config/zellij/config.kdl so every new Zellij session uses cc-deck:

default_layout "cc-deck"

Verify Installation

cc-deck plugin status

This shows the installed plugin version and layout configuration.

Next Steps