What's on this page

• Requirements
  • Optional extensions
• Download the PHAR
• Standalone binary
• Install globally
  • macOS and Linux
  • Windows
  • PHIVE
  • Composer
• Verify the installation
• Update
• Troubleshooting
  • command not found: cecil
  • PHP version or extension error
  • Diagnose a website

Installation

Cecil is distributed as a single executable file, cecil.phar, which runs anywhere PHP is installed, and as standalone binaries that don't require PHP.

Requirements

• PHP 8.3+
• PHP extensions: fileinfo, gd and mbstring

Check your PHP version and loaded extensions:

php -v
php -m

Optional extensions

Extension	Usage
intl	Dates localization with other locales than en (improves performance otherwise).
imagick	Image processing, preferred over GD when available.
ffi	Image processing with libvips (requires Composer installation).

Download the PHAR

Download cecil.phar from your terminal:

curl -LO https://cecil.app/cecil.phar

Then run it with PHP:

php cecil.phar --version

Standalone binary

If PHP is not installed, download the standalone binary for your platform from the latest GitHub release. It embeds PHP and the required extensions.

Platform	File
Linux x64	cecil-linux-x64
Linux ARM64	cecil-linux-arm64
macOS Intel	cecil-macos-x64
macOS Apple Silicon	cecil-macos-arm64
Windows x64	cecil-windows-x64.exe

For example, on Linux x64:

curl -Lo cecil https://github.com/Cecilapp/Cecil/releases/latest/download/cecil-linux-x64
chmod +x cecil
./cecil --version

On macOS, binaries are not signed: remove the quarantine attribute before the first run with xattr -d com.apple.quarantine cecil.

Install globally

Installing Cecil globally allows you to run the cecil command from any directory, instead of php cecil.phar.

macOS and Linux

With Homebrew:

brew install cecilapp/tap/cecil

Or manually, by moving the PHAR in a directory of your PATH:

mv cecil.phar /usr/local/bin/cecil
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cecil

Windows

With Scoop:

scoop install https://cecil.app/scoop/cecil.json

Or manually:

1. Move cecil.phar in a dedicated directory, like C:\bin
2. Rename it from cecil.phar to cecil
3. Append ;C:\bin to your PATH environment variable
4. Create a wrapping batch script next to it

PHIVE

With PHIVE (The PHAR Installation and Verification Environment):

phive install cecil

Composer

With Composer:

composer global require cecil/cecil

Verify the installation

cecil --version

Update

Update Cecil to the latest version according to your installation method:

# PHAR
php cecil.phar self-update
# Homebrew
brew upgrade cecilapp/tap/cecil
# Scoop
scoop update cecil
# PHIVE
phive update cecil
# Composer
composer global update cecil/cecil

The standalone binary is updated by downloading it again.

The self-update command (PHAR only) also accepts the following options:

• --rollback: reverts to the previous installed version
• --stable: forces an update to the last stable version
• --preview: forces an update to the last unstable version

Troubleshooting

command not found: cecil

The installation directory is not in your PATH: add it, or run Cecil with php cecil.phar from the directory containing the PHAR.

PHP version or extension error

Your PHP CLI may differ from the one you expect (several versions installed): check it with php -v and php --ini, then enable missing extensions in the loaded php.ini file.

Diagnose a website

Once a website is created, run the doctor command to diagnose its configuration.