How to download and install Bun on Mac

Before you start

Bun is a single program with no dependencies. It needs macOS 13 or later and runs on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. The install script picks the right build by itself.

The command below is from Bun’s official documentation at bun.com. Bun’s site also lives at bun.sh. Don’t run install commands copied from other sites.

Install Bun with one command

1. Open Terminal: Applications › Utilities › Terminal, or press Command-Space and type Terminal.
2. Copy the command below, paste it into Terminal and press Return.
3. The script downloads Bun into ~/.bun and adds ~/.bun/bin to your PATH in ~/.zshrc.
4. Open a new Terminal window so it picks up the new PATH.

Check and update Bun

In the new Terminal window, check that Bun runs:

• Updates. If you installed Bun with the script, bun upgrade updates it. If you installed it with Homebrew, use brew upgrade bun instead.
• Package cache. Bun keeps every package it downloads in a global cache in ~/.bun/install/cache, which grows with your projects.

If Bun doesn’t work

• «command not found: bun». Open a new Terminal window. If it still fails, check that ~/.zshrc has the lines export BUN_INSTALL="$HOME/.bun" and export PATH="$BUN_INSTALL/bin:$PATH".
• Bun fails on an older Mac. Check your macOS version in About This Mac: Bun needs macOS 13 or later.
• Two copies of Bun. If you installed Bun both with the script and with Homebrew, which bun shows which one runs. Keep one of them.
• Start over. To remove Bun installed with the script, delete the ~/.bun folder, then run the install command again.

Alternatives to Bun

• Node.jsThe standard JavaScript runtime most projects use.
• DenoA secure runtime with TypeScript built in.