Binary Installation

Crow provides pre-built agent binaries for macOS to be able to run agents via the “local” backend.

Note

On Linux, Crow should be installed via containers. No binaries or .deb/.rpm packages are available!

Installation

macOS

export VERSION=4.3.0
export ARCH=arm64
curl -LO https://codefloe.com/crowci/crow/releases/download/v$VERSION/crow-agent_darwin_$ARCH.tar.gz

# Extract the archive
tar -xzf crow-agent_darwin_*.tar.gz

# Move to system path
sudo mv crow-agent /usr/local/bin/
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/crow-agent

# Verify installation
crow-agent --version

Running as a System Service

macOS (launchd)

Running the agent as a system service on macOS uses launchd with a Launch Daemon or Launch Agent.

Create the plist file using your preferred text editor:

sudo nano /Library/LaunchDaemons/crowci.agent.plist

Paste the following content (update CROW_SERVER and CROW_AGENT_SECRET with your values):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>crowci.agent</string>

    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>/usr/local/bin/crow-agent</string>
    </array>

    <key>EnvironmentVariables</key>
    <dict>
        <key>CROW_SERVER</key>
        <string>grpc.your-server.com:443</string>
        <key>CROW_GRPC_SECURE</key>
        <string>true</string>
        <key>CROW_AGENT_SECRET</key>
        <string>your-secret-token</string>
        <key>CROW_BACKEND</key>
        <string>local</string>
        <key>CROW_BACKEND_LOCAL_SANDBOX_LEVEL</key>
        <string>standard</string>
        <key>CROW_AGENT_CONFIG_FILE</key>
        <string>/usr/local/var/crow-agent/config.yml</string>
    </dict>

    <key>StandardOutPath</key>
    <string>/usr/local/var/log/crow-agent.log</string>

    <key>StandardErrorPath</key>
    <string>/usr/local/var/log/crow-agent-error.log</string>

    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>

    <key>KeepAlive</key>
    <true/>

    <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
    <string>/usr/local/var/crow-agent</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Note

For remote/public servers: The example above assumes a secure gRPC connection (typical for remote agents).

• CROW_SERVER: The gRPC endpoint as <host>:<port> (typically :443 for a TLS-terminating proxy)
• CROW_GRPC_SECURE: Set to true for TLS connections

For local servers: If connecting to a server on the same network without TLS, use:

<key>CROW_SERVER</key>
<string>your-server-ip:9000</string>

And remove the CROW_GRPC_SECURE key.

After saving the file, validate it:

plutil -lint /Library/LaunchDaemons/crowci.agent.plist

Set up and start the service:

# Create working directories
sudo mkdir -p /usr/local/var/crow-agent /usr/local/var/log

# Set proper permissions on the plist file
sudo chown root:wheel /Library/LaunchDaemons/crowci.agent.plist
sudo chmod 644 /Library/LaunchDaemons/crowci.agent.plist

# Load and start the service (bootstrap will start it automatically)
sudo launchctl bootstrap system /Library/LaunchDaemons/crowci.agent.plist

# Verify the service is running
sudo launchctl list | grep crowci

# View logs
tail -f /usr/local/var/log/crow-agent.log
tail -f /usr/local/var/log/crow-agent-error.log

Service Management (macOS)

# Stop the service
sudo launchctl kickstart -k system/crowci.agent

# Restart the service
sudo launchctl kickstart -kp system/crowci.agent

# Unload/remove the service
sudo launchctl bootout system /Library/LaunchDaemons/crowci.agent.plist

# Check service status
sudo launchctl print system/crowci.agent

Note

When running the agent on macOS with the local backend, you should enable process isolation using the built-in sandbox-exec utility.

macOS Sandbox Security Levels

The CROW_BACKEND_LOCAL_SANDBOX_LEVEL environment variable controls process isolation on macOS:

none (default)

No sandboxing. Workflows run with full system access. Use only in trusted environments.

standard (recommended)

Balanced security profile suitable for most CI/CD workloads. This profile:

Allowed:

• ✅ Network access (for package downloads, git operations, API calls)
• ✅ Reading system libraries, tools, and executables
• ✅ Full read/write access to workflow directories (/tmp/crow-local-*)
• ✅ Executing binaries from standard paths (/usr/bin, /usr/local/bin, etc.)
• ✅ Process management (fork, signal, IPC)
• ✅ Device file access (/dev/null, /dev/random, etc.)

Denied:

• ❌ Reading sensitive system files (/etc/passwd, /etc/sudoers, etc.)
• ❌ Reading macOS user database (/var/db/dslocal/nodes/Default/users/)
• ❌ Accessing user directories (Documents, Desktop, Pictures, Downloads)
• ❌ Reading SSH private keys (~/.ssh/id_*)
• ❌ Privilege escalation (sudo is blocked)
• ❌ Writing outside workflow directories

This profile allows typical CI/CD operations (building, testing, deploying) while preventing:

• Credential theft (SSH keys, passwords)
• Privilege escalation
• Access to personal files
• System configuration changes

strict

Maximum security with minimal permissions. Denies network access and restricts file operations to workflow directories only. Use for highly sensitive workloads requiring maximum isolation.