Getting Started with b

Get up and running with b in just a few minutes. b helps you manage command-line tools and binaries for your development projects with automatic PATH management and version control.

Installation

Quick Install (Recommended)

# Install b
curl -sSL https://github.com/fentas/b/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

# Or using wget
wget -qO- https://github.com/fentas/b/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash

Manual Installation

1. Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases
2. Extract the binary to a directory in your PATH
3. Make it executable: chmod +x b

Verify Installation

b version

Quick Start

1. Initialize a Project

# Navigate to your project directory
cd my-project

# Initialize b configuration
b init

This creates a b.yaml file in your project root.

2. Install Tools

# Install specific versions
b install jq@jq-1.7 kubectl@v1.28.0

# Install latest versions
b install terraform helm

# Install and add to b.yaml
b install --add docker-compose@v2.20.0

3. Use Your Tools

Tools are automatically available in your PATH:

jq --version     # jq-1.7
kubectl version  # v1.28.0

Common Workflows

Team Collaboration

Share tool requirements with your team:

# Add tools to b.yaml
b install --add jq@jq-1.7 kubectl@v1.28.0

# Commit b.yaml to version control
git add .bin/b.yaml
git commit -m "Add project tool requirements"

# Team members can install the same tools
b install  # Installs all tools from b.yaml

CI/CD Integration

Use b in your CI/CD pipelines:

# .github/workflows/ci.yml
steps:
  - uses: actions/checkout@v4
  - name: Install b
    # todo: wrong url; create install script
    run: curl -sSL https://github.com/fentas/b/releases/latest/download/install.sh | bash
  - name: Install project tools
    run: b install
  - name: Run tests
    run: |
      kubectl version --client
      jq --version

Version Management

# List configured tools and their status
b list

# Update all tools to latest versions
b update

# Update specific tools
b update kubectl

# Search for available tools
b search terraform

Configuration

The .bin/b.yaml file defines your project's tool requirements:

binaries:
  jq:
    version: "jq-1.7"
  kubectl:
    version: "v1.28.0"
  # leave empty for latest version
  terraform:
  # alias: install one binary under a different name
  envsubst:
    alias: renvsubst
  # custom file paths
  custom-kubectl:
    file: ../bin/kubectl  # relative to config file
  system-tool:
    file: /usr/local/bin/tool  # absolute path

Binary Aliases

You can create aliases for binaries using the alias field. This installs one binary but makes it available under a different name:

binaries:
  # This installs 'renvsubst' but makes it available as 'envsubst'
  envsubst:
    alias: renvsubst
  # You can combine alias with version constraints
  myenvsubst:
    alias: renvsubst
    version: "v0.10.0"

Aliases are useful when:

• You want to use a standard name for a tool that has a different actual name
• You need multiple versions of the same tool with different names
• You want to maintain compatibility with existing scripts while using a different implementation

Custom File Paths

You can specify custom file paths for binaries using the file field. This allows you to:

• Point to existing binaries on your system
• Specify custom installation locations
• Use binaries from different directories

binaries:
  # Relative paths are resolved relative to the config file location
  kubectl:
    file: ../bin/kubectl
    version: "v1.28.0"
  
  # Absolute paths are used as-is
  custom-tool:
    file: /usr/local/bin/custom-tool
  
  # Combine with other options
  my-jq:
    file: ./tools/jq
    version: "jq-1.7"
    alias: jq

Path Resolution:

• Relative paths (like ../bin/tool or ./tools/binary) are resolved relative to the config file's directory
• Absolute paths (like /usr/local/bin/tool) are used exactly as specified (mind the permissions)
• This feature is particularly useful for pointing to pre-existing binaries or organizing tools in custom directory structures

Next Steps

• CLI Reference - Complete command reference