Update Waycar on your Host

To update Waycar on a Host, run the same install command again. It replaces the Waycar plugin and host tools with the latest version, keeps your pairing and notification keys, and adds hooks for any agents you installed since.

Update

1. On the Host, run:

   curl -fsSL https://waycar.dev/install.sh | sh

2. If it offers to show a pairing QR code, you can say no. Your devices stay paired.

On herdr, the command updates the plugin already linked into herdr. On tmux, it replaces the files in ~/.local/share/waycar/plugin, and ~/.local/bin/waycar keeps pointing at them.

When should I update?

• For Chat Mode. Chat Mode needs the latest Waycar plugin on your Host.
• After installing an agent. Run the command again so the new agent gets its Waycar hooks. Codex asks you to review new hooks once, on its /hooks screen.
• When the app asks. On a tmux Host, if the Status hooks check says “Waycar’s host tools are not installed, so Agents show Unknown,” run the install command.
• When release notes say to. Some fixes, like the more compact Pairing Code QR, need the command run again on the Host.

Check what’s installed

On a Host with tmux 3.2 or later (on a herdr-only Host, use ~/.local/share/waycar/plugin/bin/waycar in place of waycar):

waycar version
waycar status
waycar hooks status

waycar status shows the Backends, the hooks, and the config folder. Add --json for machine-readable output. See The waycar command on your Host for every subcommand.

Good to know

• Updating doesn’t unpair anything. The plugin’s config, with the pairing and notification keys, is kept.
• Running the command again is also how you pair another device.
• herdr updates don’t need a Waycar update. Waycar only checks for herdr 0.7.5 or later.
• If the update stops with an error, see The install command fails.
• To uninstall instead, see Remove Waycar from a Host.