> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tell.rs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Installation

> Build from source and feature profiles for specialized deployments.

The fastest way to install Tell is the one-liner in the [Quickstart](/getting-started/quickstart). This page covers building from source and custom feature profiles.

## Build from source

Requires Rust 1.80+ and Cargo:

```bash theme={null}
git clone https://github.com/tell-rs/tell.git
cd tell
cargo install --path crates/tell
```

This installs the `tell` binary with all features enabled — sources, sinks, analytics, TUI, MCP, and LLM.

## Feature profiles

Build with a reduced feature set for specific deployments:

```bash theme={null}
# Full installation (default) — all sources, sinks, analytics, TUI, MCP, LLM
cargo install --path crates/tell

# OT collector — TCP + syslog sources, disk + forwarder sinks
cargo install --path crates/tell --no-default-features --features ot-collector

# OT forwarder — TCP + syslog sources, forwarder sink only
cargo install --path crates/tell --no-default-features --features ot-forwarder
```

The `ot-collector` and `ot-forwarder` profiles produce smaller binaries suited for edge deployments and air-gapped networks.

## Verify

```bash theme={null}
tell --help
tell --version
```

With no arguments, `tell` opens the [TUI](/tools/tui). Use `tell run` to start the server in daemon mode.

## Configuration lookup

Tell looks for config files in this order:

1. `--config <path>` (explicit flag)
2. `configs/config.toml` (current directory)
3. `config.toml` (current directory)

If no config file is found, Tell starts with defaults: TCP source on port 50000 routing to stdout.

See [Pipeline Configuration](/pipeline/configuration) for the full config reference.