# Installation

> Get the Exploitmatic executable on your machine, ready to run a first attack replay.

You need three things to use Exploitmatic: the program, a solution file, and a target you own or are authorized to test. You do not need to know how to program.

> **Pre-1.0 compatibility.** Exploitmatic is released, but it is still pre-1.0, so full backward compatibility is not guaranteed until v1.0.0. Every release is a tagged binary on the releases page, and the changelog calls out breaking changes before you upgrade.

## Get the program

Download the executable for your platform from the [releases page](https://github.com/exploitmatic/exploitmatic/releases). Each release ships one static binary per platform; there is no installer and no runtime dependency.

Rename it to `exploitmatic` (keep the `.exe` on Windows) and, on Linux and macOS, make it executable:

```sh
chmod +x exploitmatic
```

Put it on your `PATH`, or run it from the download folder. The first run may warn that the binary is unsigned: on Windows choose More info, then Run anyway; on macOS allow it in System Settings, Privacy and Security.

## Check the install

Run the program with no arguments. It opens the desktop workbench, the GUI: a window for writing solutions, replaying them, and reading the result, with the runtime and an MCP server running in-app.

To use the command line instead, pass `--cli`. With no subcommand, `--cli` prints the help:

```sh
exploitmatic --cli
```

To check the version directly:

```sh
exploitmatic --version
```

## A first run

The corpus ships verified solutions in the `solutions/` folder. Replay the Heartbleed solution against a target on port 8443:

```sh
exploitmatic solutions/openssl-heartbleed-mem-leak.txt example.com:8443
```

What the command means:

- `solutions/openssl-heartbleed-mem-leak.txt` is the solution file, the attack to replay
- `example.com:8443` is the target, a TLS server on port 8443

The program prints one line per step and a result: for each step, what it sent, what it received, and whether the step passed. When every step passes, the run is verified.

## Next steps

- [Usage](/docs/usage/cli/): every argument and flag, and how to read the result
- [The solution format](/docs/solution/): what a solution file is, in plain language
- [Why Exploitmatic?](/docs/why/): what the program is for and what it produces