Installation

Smippo is a Node.js application that requires Node.js 18 or later. Choose the installation method that works best for you.

Requirements

Install Smippo globally to use it from anywhere:

npm install -g smippo

After installation, verify it works:

smippo --version

On first run, Smippo will automatically download a browser (~170MB). This happens automatically and only needs to be done once.

You can use Smippo without installing it globally using npx:

npx smippo https://example.com

This downloads and runs Smippo temporarily. Useful for one-off captures or trying Smippo without committing to installation.

For macOS and Linux users, a Homebrew formula is planned:

brew install smippo

After installation, test that everything works:

# Check version
smippo --version

# Capture a test page
smippo https://example.com

# View the capture
smippo serve ./site

If the browser fails to install automatically, try reinstalling Smippo:

npm uninstall -g smippo
npm install -g smippo

If you get permission errors on macOS/Linux, you may need to use sudo:

sudo npm install -g smippo

Or better yet, configure npm to use a directory you own:

mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH
npm install -g smippo

Check your Node.js version:

node --version

If it's below 18.0.0, update Node.js using nvm or download from nodejs.org.