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Requirements

Before you begin​

  • Node.js 22 or newer, with npm, for a source installation and development tooling. Desktop packages include their runtime.
  • Git, available to the daemon, for coding projects and task worktrees.
  • At least one installed, authenticated CLI backend: claude or codex. Sign in using that CLI under the OS account that will run Timon. On Windows, the codex CLI bundled with the Codex desktop app is detected even when it is not on your PATH. On macOS, the Claude Code CLI bundled with the Claude desktop app is detected the same way.
  • An existing project directory that the daemon's OS account can read and write.
  • A supported supervisor: systemd user services on Linux, launchd on macOS or a scheduled task on Windows.

Timon uses your CLI subscriptions, never token-billed APIs for its standard agent workflow. A Timon licence does not replace your CLI subscription. You do not need to supply a token-billed API key to follow this installation guide.

From a terminal, check the tools you installed:

node --version
npm --version
git --version

Then open your chosen backend CLI and confirm that an ordinary conversation works. A CLI installed in your interactive shell may still be missing from a service's PATH: configure host.binaries with absolute paths if necessary.

Optional tools​

Docker Engine and Compose v2 are needed only for container features. The supplied Compose configuration expects an existing traefik_network. Native Node dependencies (node-pty, better-sqlite3) can require a compiler, Python and platform build tools when no matching prebuilt binary is available.

Use timon doctor to inspect the installation and host capabilities. Missing optional tools do not mean every Timon feature is unavailable.