Installation

This guide provides detailed installation instructions for various operating systems.

Dependencies

Before installing ani-cli, ensure you have the necessary dependencies. Not all are required for basic functionality, but they enable all features.

  • Core: grep, sed, curl
  • User Interface: fzf (or rofi)
  • Video Player: mpv (default), vlc, or iina (macOS)
  • Downloaders: aria2c, yt-dlp, ffmpeg (yt-dlp and ffmpeg are used for m3u8 streams)
  • Self-Updating: patch
  • Intro Skipping (Optional): ani-skip

Tier 1 Support: Linux, Mac, Android

Linux

Native Packages

Debian 13/unstable 

sudo apt install ani-cli

Fedora 

sudo dnf copr enable derisis13/ani-cli
sudo dnf install ani-cli
Note: To install mpv and vlc, you may need to enable the RPM Fusion free repository.

Arch Linux 

yay -S ani-cli
Also consider ani-cli-git for the latest version from source.

Gentoo 

sudo eselect repository enable guru
sudo emaint sync -r guru
sudo emerge -a ani-cli

OpenSuse 

zypper addrepo https://download.copr.fedorainfracloud.org/results/derisis13/ani-cli/opensuse-tumbleweed-x86_64/ ani-cli
zypper dup
zypper install ani-cli
You may need the Packman repository for full-featured mpv and vlc packages.

macOS

  1. Install HomeBrew.

  2. Install dependencies: 

    brew install curl grep aria2 ffmpeg git fzf yt-dlp && \
brew install --cask iina
    Note: iina is recommended as a drop-in replacement for mpv on macOS.

  3. Install ani-cli: 

    git clone "https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git" && cd ./ani-cli
cp ./ani-cli "$(brew --prefix)"/bin
cd .. && rm -rf ./ani-cli

Android (Termux)

  1. Install Termux.

  2. Install the package: 

    pkg up -y
pkg install ani-cli

  3. If you're on Android 14, run this to fix an issue with player launching: 

    pkg install termux-am
    You can use mpv or vlc from the F-Droid or Play Store.

Tier 2 Support: Windows, WSL, iOS, Steam Deck, FreeBSD

Windows

ani-cli is available via the Scoop package manager. It is recommended to use it within Windows Terminal with the Git Bash profile.

  1. Install Scoop: Follow the official instructions on scoop.sh.

  2. Install Windows Terminal: If not preinstalled, get it via scoop: 

    scoop bucket add extras
scoop install extras/windows-terminal

  3. Install Git: 

    scoop install git

  4. Configure Git Bash in Windows Terminal: Follow the detailed guide in the project's README to add Git Bash as a profile.

  5. Install ani-cli and dependencies in the Git Bash profile: 

    scoop bucket add extras
scoop install ani-cli fzf ffmpeg mpv aria2 yt-dlp

  6. Update ani-cli: 

    ani-cli -U

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

Follow the installation instructions for your chosen Linux distribution inside WSL. Note that the media player (mpv or vlc) should be installed on Windows and be available in your Windows PATH for seamless integration.

iOS (iSH)

  1. Install iSH and VLC from the App Store.
  2. In iSH, run: 
    apk update; apk upgrade
apk add grep sed curl fzf git aria2 ncurses patch ffmpeg
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli ~/.ani-cli
cp ~/.ani-cli/ani-cli /usr/local/bin/ani-cli
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/ani-cli
rm -rf ~/.ani-cli

Steam Deck

Switch to Desktop mode and open Konsole.

Copypaste Script: 

[ ! -d ~/.local/bin ] && mkdir ~/.local/bin && echo "export PATH=$HOME/.local/bin:\$PATH" >> ".$(echo $SHELL | sed -nE 's|.*/(.*)$|\1|p')rc"

git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/junegunn/fzf.git ~/.fzf
~/.fzf/install

mkdir ~/.aria2c
curl -o ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0.tar.bz2 https://github.com/q3aql/aria2-static-builds/releases/download/v1.36.0/aria2-1.36.0-linux-gnu-64bit-build1.tar.bz2
tar xvf ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0.tar.bz2 -C ~/.aria2c/
cp ~/.aria2c/aria2-1.36.0-linux-gnu-64bit-build1/aria2c ~/.local/bin/
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/aria2c

curl -L https://github.com/yt-dlp/yt-dlp/releases/latest/download/yt-dlp -o ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/yt-dlp

mkdir ~/.patch
curl -o ~/.patch/patch.tar.zst https://mirror.sunred.org/archlinux/core/os/x86_64/patch-2.8-1-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst
tar xvf ~/.patch/patch.tar.zst -C ~/.patch/
cp ~/.patch/usr/bin/patch ~/.local/bin/

git clone https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git ~/.ani-cli
cp ~/.ani-cli/ani-cli ~/.local/bin/

flatpak install io.mpv.Mpv

FreeBSD

sudo pkg install mpv fzf aria2 yt-dlp patch git
git clone "https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git"
sudo cp ani-cli/ani-cli /usr/local/bin
rm -rf ani-cli

Installing from Source

This method works for any Unix-like system.

  1. Install all dependencies listed at the top of this page.
  2. Run the following commands: 
    git clone "https://github.com/pystardust/ani-cli.git"
sudo cp ani-cli/ani-cli /usr/local/bin
rm -rf ani-cli

Uninstall

  • Package Manager: Use your system's package manager (sudo apt remove ani-cli, yay -R ani-cli, scoop uninstall ani-cli, etc.).
  • Manual/Source Install: 
    sudo rm /usr/local/bin/ani-cli