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Bootstrap Options

The TSI bootstrap installer (tsi-bootstrap.sh) needs no options: it installs to ~/.tsi, puts ~/.tsi/bin on your PATH, and running it again updates the installation. The options below are for the cases that need something else.

Environment variables go on the sh side of the pipe (curl … | PREFIX=/opt/tsi sh): put before curl, they would only reach curl.

Usage

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- [options]

Or download and run locally:

./tsi-bootstrap.sh [options]

Options

--uninstall

Remove TSI completely from the system. Deletes the entire installation prefix (binary, completions, package database, installed packages, and all data).

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall

Custom prefix: 

curl -fsSL .../tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall --prefix /opt/tsi

Non-interactive: Set UNINSTALL=1 and use --non-interactive to skip the confirmation prompt.

Safety: Uninstall only runs if a TSI binary is found at PREFIX/bin/tsi (or tsi.exe), so a wrong prefix will not be deleted.

--repair

Repair or update an existing TSI installation.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --repair

What it does: - Detects existing installation - Checks for source updates (if source is a git repository, fetches updates) - Downloads pre-built binary from GitHub releases, or builds from source with cargo build --release - Reinstalls TSI binary and completion scripts - Preserves all data: packages, database, repository, sources

When to use: - TSI binary is corrupted or missing - TSI is outdated and you want to update - TSI stopped working after system updates

--prefix PATH

Install TSI to a custom location.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | PREFIX=/opt/tsi sh

Or:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --prefix /opt/tsi

Default: $HOME/.tsi

What it does: - Installs TSI to the specified prefix - Creates directory structure under the prefix - Sets up binaries, completion scripts, and data directories

--help or -h

Show help message.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --help

Environment Variables

You can also use environment variables to configure the installer:

PREFIX

Installation prefix (same as --prefix option).

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | PREFIX=/opt/tsi sh

TSI_REPO

Custom repository URL (default: https://github.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller.git).

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | TSI_REPO=https://github.com/user/fork.git sh

TSI_BRANCH

Branch to use from repository (default: main).

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | TSI_BRANCH=develop sh

UNINSTALL

Set to 1, true, or yes to enable uninstall mode (same as --uninstall). Use with --non-interactive for scripted uninstall.

curl -fsSL .../tsi-bootstrap.sh | UNINSTALL=1 sh -s -- --uninstall --non-interactive

TSI_NO_MODIFY_PATH

Set to 1, true, or yes to keep the installer from editing your shell profile. You then add $PREFIX/bin to PATH yourself.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | TSI_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1 sh

INSTALL_DIR

Temporary directory for downloading and building source (default: $HOME/tsi-install).

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | INSTALL_DIR=/tmp/tsi-build sh

Examples

Standard Installation

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh

Custom Prefix

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | PREFIX=/opt/tsi sh

Repair Existing Installation

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --repair

Uninstall TSI

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | sh -s -- --uninstall

Install from Fork

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | TSI_REPO=https://github.com/user/fork.git TSI_BRANCH=feature sh

Combine Options

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/PanterSoft/TheSourceInstaller/main/tsi-bootstrap.sh | PREFIX=/opt/tsi sh -s -- --repair

PATH

Unless $PREFIX/bin is already on your PATH or TSI_NO_MODIFY_PATH is set, the installer appends one line to your shell's startup file:

export PATH="$HOME/.tsi/bin:$PATH"  # added by the TSI installer

It picks the file from $SHELL: ~/.zshrc (or $ZDOTDIR/.zshrc) for zsh, ~/.bashrc for bash (~/.bash_profile on macOS), ~/.config/fish/conf.d/tsi.fish for fish (fish_add_path), and ~/.profile otherwise. Running the installer again doesn't add a second line, and --uninstall removes every line carrying the # added by the TSI installer marker.

Troubleshooting

Installation Fails

  • Verify internet connection for downloading pre-built binary
  • If building from source: ensure Rust toolchain is installed (rustc --version)
  • Check file permissions on installation directory

Repair Fails

  • Check file permissions on installation directory
  • Verify internet connection (for pre-built binary) or Rust toolchain (for source build)
  • Check that source repository is accessible

Custom Prefix Issues

  • Ensure the prefix directory is writable
  • Use absolute paths for the prefix
  • Check disk space in the target location