Install

Install the runner first. Then add Python and dbt so Skippr can generate and validate standard dbt output.

Install skippr

macOS / Linux

curl -fsSL https://install.skippr.io/install.sh | sh

This detects your platform, downloads the latest release, and installs skippr to /usr/local/bin.

Windows

Run the following in PowerShell (the default terminal in VS Code on Windows):

irm https://install.skippr.io/install.ps1 | iex

This downloads the latest release, installs skippr.exe to %LOCALAPPDATA%\skippr\bin, and adds it to your user PATH — so you can run skippr from any terminal without needing .\skippr.exe.

To use skippr immediately in the current session, restart your terminal or open a new one.

cmd.exe users

From a standard Command Prompt you can invoke the same installer:

powershell -c "irm https://install.skippr.io/install.ps1 | iex"

Manual install (any platform)

Download the binary for your platform from https://install.skippr.io/releases/<tag>/skippr/ and place it on your PATH.

Verify the install:

skippr --version

Install OpenSSL (Windows only)

OpenSSL is required for Snowflake key-pair authentication. On macOS and Linux it is typically pre-installed.

winget install OpenSSL

After installing, restart your terminal so the openssl command is available.

Install Python and dbt

skippr uses dbt under the hood for model compilation and materialisation. The first-run path is:

1. install skippr
2. create a Python virtual environment
3. install dbt-core plus your warehouse adapter
4. authenticate
5. run a quickstart

Set up a virtual environment and install dbt with the adapter for your warehouse:

macOS / Linux

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install dbt-core

Windows (PowerShell)

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install dbt-core

Windows (cmd)

python -m venv .venv
.\.venv\Scripts\activate.bat

pip install --upgrade pip
pip install dbt-core

Then install the adapter for your warehouse:

Warehouse	Adapter
Snowflake	pip install dbt-snowflake
BigQuery	pip install dbt-bigquery
Postgres	pip install dbt-postgres
Athena	pip install dbt-athena-community
Databricks	pip install dbt-databricks
Synapse	pip install dbt-synapse
Redshift	pip install dbt-redshift
ClickHouse	pip install dbt-clickhouse
MotherDuck	pip install dbt-duckdb

Verify with dbt --version. The virtual environment must be active whenever you run skippr.

Authenticate

Log in or create a new Skippr account (same command for both):

skippr user login

For CI/CD, set an API key instead:

macOS / Linux

export SKIPPR_API_KEY="sk_live_..."

Windows (PowerShell)

$env:SKIPPR_API_KEY = "sk_live_..."

Windows (cmd)

set SKIPPR_API_KEY=sk_live_...

See Authentication for API key management and details.

Authentication enables cloud-backed control-plane services and provides a hosted LLM key by default. It does not route row-level source data through Skippr's cloud path.

Next steps

You're ready to go. Head to the Quick Start to choose the best first path:

• Snowflake for the strongest production-style evaluation
• PostgreSQL for a local evaluation path
• BigQuery for a GCP-first evaluation