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Installation

Install Cupcake using the official install scripts:

Unix/macOS

curl -fsSL https://get.eqtylab.io/cupcake | bash

Windows PowerShell

irm https://get.eqtylab.io/cupcake | iex

The install scripts will:

  • Download the appropriate binary for your platform
  • Verify checksums for security
  • Install to your system PATH
  • Set up the cupcake command globally

Manual Installation

If you prefer to install manually or need a specific version, you can download pre-built binaries of the latest release from GitHub.

Install Cupcake

  1. Download the archive for your platform
  2. Verify the checksum (optional but recommended): sha256sum -c cupcake-v0.2.0-<platform>.tar.gz.sha256
  3. Extract the archive: tar -xzf cupcake-v0.2.0-<platform>.tar.gz or if using Windows (PowerShell) Expand-Archive cupcake-v0.2.0-<platform>.zip
  4. Move the binary to your PATH: sudo mv cupcake /usr/local/bin/ or to a directory in your PATH mv cupcake ~/.local/bin/

Install OPA

Cupcake requires Open Policy Agent (OPA) to compile and evaluate policies. Install OPA before using Cupcake.

Install OPA

Using Homebrew

brew install opa

Or download directly:

# Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3)
curl -L -o opa https://openpolicyagent.org/downloads/latest/opa_darwin_arm64

# Intel Macs
curl -L -o opa https://openpolicyagent.org/downloads/latest/opa_darwin_amd64

chmod 755 opa
sudo mv opa /usr/local/bin/

# AMD64
curl -L -o opa https://openpolicyagent.org/downloads/latest/opa_linux_amd64

# ARM64
curl -L -o opa https://openpolicyagent.org/downloads/latest/opa_linux_arm64

chmod 755 opa
sudo mv opa /usr/local/bin/

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://openpolicyagent.org/downloads/latest/opa_windows_amd64.exe" -OutFile "opa.exe"

# Add to PATH (run as Administrator or add to user PATH)
mkdir C:\Tools\OPA
move opa.exe C:\Tools\OPA\
[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable("Path", "$env:Path;C:\Tools\OPA", "User")

Verify OPA Installation

opa version

You should see output like Version: 1.11.0 or similar.

For more installation options including Docker, see the OPA documentation.

Verify Installation

After installation, verify that Cupcake is working:

cupcake --version

You should see output like:

cupcake 0.2.0

Next Steps

Once installed, you can:

  • Initialize a new Cupcake project: cupcake init
  • Evaluate policies: cupcake eval
  • Check out the Usage Guide to get started with policies

Security

All release binaries and install scripts include SHA256 checksums and are built with SLSA Level 3 compliance. The install scripts themselves are also checksummed (install.sh.sha256, install.ps1.sha256).

Troubleshooting

Command not found

If you get a "command not found" error after installation:

  1. Make sure the binary is in a directory that's in your PATH
  2. Restart your terminal or run hash -r to refresh the PATH cache
  3. Check permissions: chmod +x $(which cupcake)

Permission denied

On Unix/macOS, if you get a permission error:

sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cupcake

macOS Gatekeeper

On macOS, you may need to allow the binary to run:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine /usr/local/bin/cupcake

Or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and allow the app to run.