Everything an owner needs: install, activate, open the local app, work with your agent, and keep things updated.
macOS / Linux — paste in a terminal:
curl -fsSL https://snippet-vault-site.kareemkatieokatelo.workers.dev/install.sh | bashWindows — paste in PowerShell:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://snippet-vault-site.kareemkatieokatelo.workers.dev/install.ps1 | iex"The installer checks for Node.js (and installs it if missing), installs Snippet Vault
to ~/snippet-vault, connects your AI agents, and starts your free trial.
Restart your agent afterwards.
If you bought a key, in the snippet-vault folder run:
node scripts/license.mjs activate sv-YOUR-KEY --server https://snippet-vault-licenses.kareemkatieokatelo.workers.dev --email you@example.comCheck any time with node scripts/license.mjs status. Lost your key? The
"Lost your key?" box on the home page recovers it with your PayPal order id.
In the snippet-vault folder:
npm run webYour browser opens http://localhost:8787 automatically (set
SNIPPET_VAULT_NO_OPEN=1 to skip). If it's already running, the same
command just opens the existing page instead of failing. There you can browse, edit,
and delete everything your agent saved, see paste statistics, and manage your
license — click ⚖ license in the top bar to activate a key or start
a trial without touching a terminal.
First run after unzipping by hand? npm run web installs its
dependencies automatically. Offline, or prefer doing it yourself once:
npm install --omit=devPort 8787 taken by another program? Start it on another port:
PORT=8788 npm run web → http://localhost:8788After install, just talk normally. Things your agent now does on its own:
"save this for reuse" → saves it to the vault with a description"add the same handler as a POST" → pastes the saved bytes, swapping get→post"make this our standard router pattern" → extracts & saves the pattern from your codebaseSaved snippets live as plain files in ~/.snippet-vault — back that folder
up and you've backed up everything.
Because the vault is one shared library, two different models can collaborate through it — a stronger model as the architect, a faster/cheaper model as the builder:
1. Strong model (architect): "read this spec and save production-grade snippets for it to folder 'blueprint'"2. Weak/fast model (builder): "build the spec; check folder 'blueprint' first and paste what fits"In our recorded test, snippets authored by a larger model lifted a smaller model's output from 14 to 18 passing tests with cleaner structure — the small model adapted (not blindly pasted) via paste-time find/replace. Tips that made it work:
~/.snippet-vault/library and any agent on any machine shares the same
snippets and skills.node scripts/upgrade.mjs --check → see if a new version existsnode scripts/upgrade.mjs → update (snippets + license untouched)The home page's "Check my version" button does the check from the browser.
Your agent stops seeing the vault tools and gets a clear message with renewal
instructions. Open the local app (npm run web) → ⚖ license → activate a new
key, and everything returns on the agent's next start. Your snippets are never touched.
Snippet Vault rewrites its own code at build time as an anti-tampering measure. A few heuristic scanners treat that pattern as suspicious even though the tool only manages your own local snippet files. Here's how to be sure you have the real thing:
version.json. On Windows PowerShell:
Get-FileHash snippet-vault.zip — it must match the published value
for that version, byte for byte.Nothing in the vault phones home: no telemetry, no account, your library never leaves your disk unless you copy it yourself.