Installing DPE

DPE is distributed as a single binary (dpe) plus bundled standard tools. You get everything you need for streaming pipelines in one install.

What you get

~/.dpe/
├── bin/
│   ├── dpe                    # the runner
│   └── dpe-dev (optional)     # tool authoring CLI
├── tools/                     # 7 standard tools, pre-installed
│   ├── scan-fs/
│   ├── read-file-stream/
│   ├── write-file-stream/
│   ├── write-file-stream-hashed/
│   ├── normalize/
│   ├── gate/
│   └── checkpoint/
├── frameworks/                # (lazy — dpe-dev populates when scaffolding)
└── config.toml

Plus dpe + dpe-dev on PATH (via ~/.dpe/bin/).

Via npm (recommended for dev machines)

npm install -g dpe
# Postinstall downloads the right binary for your platform + bundles standard tools.
# Adds ~/.dpe/bin/ to PATH via npm's global bin mechanism.

npm install -g dpe-dev
# Tool authoring: embeds templates + skill pack (for Claude-driven tool generation).

Via install script

curl -fsSL https://combycode.com/install.sh | bash
# Downloads binary + standard tools, places at ~/.dpe/, prints PATH hint.

Windows (PowerShell):

iwr -useb https://combycode.com/install.ps1 | iex

Via Docker

Base image — everything pre-installed, ready to run pipelines:

docker pull combycode/dpe-base:2.0.0
docker run --rm combycode/dpe-base:2.0.0 dpe tools list

Dev image — adds Rust toolchain + Claude Code CLI for in-container tool authoring:

docker pull combycode/dpe-dev:2.0.0

See docker.md for usage patterns + extending as a base.

Verify

dpe --help                  # runner CLI
dpe tools list              # shows 7 standard tools as "installed"
dpe init hello              # scaffolds a new pipeline
cd hello && dpe run main    # runs the trivial scan → write variant

Adding custom tools

Custom tools live in separate repos (not bundled). Install:

dpe install <name>          # fetches from catalog, verifies sha256, installs

The catalog is read from the files listed in tools_registries in your config.toml. If that list is empty, dpe falls back to a catalog.json sitting next to the dpe binary (provided by the installer or Docker image). To add a private registry — e.g. a company-internal one — list it first so its entries shadow the defaults:

~/.dpe/config.toml

tools_registries = [
    "/etc/dpe/company.json",
    "/opt/dpe/bin/catalog.json",
]

Multiple registries merge with first-match-wins on tool name.

Or register your own directory of tools:

dpe config add-path /path/to/my-tools
# Registers the dir in ~/.dpe/config.toml; dpe now searches it for tool meta.json

Uninstall

rm -rf ~/.dpe                # removes everything DPE-related
npm uninstall -g dpe dpe-dev # (if installed via npm)

Config locations

dpe resolves config in this order:

1. --config <path> CLI override
2. DPE_CONFIG env var
3. <dpe-binary-dir>/config.toml — for portable installs
4. ~/.dpe/config.toml — standard install
5. built-in defaults

See configuration.md for the schema.