Install Ousia.
A single command installs both shimmy and stratum.
Linux, macOS, and Windows (WSL or native PowerShell). No daemon, no system services,
no privileged install.
Quickstart
The fastest path. Paste this into a terminal, then keep reading — you'll be running both tools in under a minute.
# installs shimmy + stratum into ~/.ousia/bin
# adds the path to your shell rc
Verify the install:
shimmy 0.4.1 (3a7c2f8 · 2026-04-10)
$ stratum --version
stratum 0.2.0-alpha (8b1d4e2 · 2026-04-22)
↳ if you'd rather not pipe curl to sh, scroll down for package managers.
Package managers
Same binaries, different delivery. Pick whichever your team already standardizes on.
Homebrew (macOS / Linux)
$ brew install ousia/tap/ousia
# or just one
$ brew install ousia/tap/shimmy
$ brew install ousia/tap/stratum
cargo
winget (Windows)
On Windows, shimmy works natively in PowerShell 7+ and CMD. WSL users
should install the Linux build inside the WSL distro — installing the Windows build
and using it from WSL will work for stratum but not for shimmy's
shell shims.
Shell setup
shimmy needs a one-line addition to your shell rc so directory changes
can re-resolve runtimes. The installer adds it automatically. To do it by hand:
eval "$(shimmy init zsh)"
After this, cd'ing into any directory containing an
env-manifest.toml will resolve the right runtimes for that project.
No subshell, no source, no Ctrl + R dance.
Next steps
You're done. Pick a path:
- Building a project — see
your first project to scaffold an
env-manifest.toml. - Existing repo — try
migrating from nvm/asdf;
shimmy importreads most config formats automatically. - Curious about Stratum — read concepts to understand the ontology layer before pointing it at a database.
Hit a snag? Open an issue at github.com/ousia-oss/shimmy or drop into
#install-help on Discord. Both are read by maintainers daily.