Which DeltaForge package should I install first?

Start with the deltaforge desktop application if you want an interactive query editor, catalog browser, and pipeline viewer. Use deltaforge-cli for CI and scripting, deltaforge-mcp for AI assistant integration, and deltaforge-compute to run a production compute node on a cloud VM or server.

Install DeltaForge | Desktop App, CLI, MCP Server, Compute Node

Q: How do I deploy deltaforge-compute on AWS or Azure?

Install deltaforge-compute on a Linux VM or run it as a container. Create a systemd unit with your DELTAFORGE_LICENSE_KEY and DELTAFORGE_CONTROL_PLANE environment variables, and the compute node registers itself with your control plane. The control plane requires a Postgres instance. Table LOCATION paths use s3:// on AWS or abfss:// / wasbs:// on Azure, and instance-profile or Managed Identity credentials are picked up automatically.

Install the desktop application

The interactive query editor, catalog browser, and pipeline viewer. A single signed binary for macOS, Windows, and Linux: no Spark, no JVM.

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh

Or via Homebrew:

# Add the tap (one-time)
brew tap deltaforge-org/tap
brew install --cask deltaforge-platform

PowerShell

iwr -useb https://deltaforge.org/install.ps1 | iex

Or via winget (installs the signed MSI and adds the application to your PATH):

winget install DeltaForge.Platform

Detects your architecture (x64 or ARM64), downloads the matching AppImage, and adds a launcher entry:

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh

Prefer the terminal? Switch to deltaforge-cli above for scripting and CI, or deltaforge-compute to run a production node.

Verify the download

Every release artifact includes a detached GPG signature and a SHA256SUMS manifest.

# Import the signing key (one-time)
curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/pubkey.asc | gpg --import

# Verify a downloaded artifact
gpg --verify deltaforge-cli-1.0.7-linux-x64.tar.gz.sig \
             deltaforge-cli-1.0.7-linux-x64.tar.gz

Fingerprint: B461 8130 D4B0 3CF5 454E 28F0 A859 0BF7 C3DC E5F3 · RSA 4096, UID releases@deltaforge.org

FAQ

Do I need Spark or a JVM?

No. Every DeltaForge package is a single native binary. There is no Spark cluster to stand up and no JVM to configure: install the package for your platform and start querying Delta Lake and Iceberg tables immediately.

Which package should I start with?

Use the deltaforge desktop application for interactive development on macOS, Windows, or Linux. For terminal and CI work, switch to deltaforge-cli. For cloud production deployments, use deltaforge-compute.

How do I deploy on AWS or Azure?

Switch to the deltaforge-compute package above. Install it on any Linux VM and run it as a systemd service, or deploy it as a container. The control plane requires a Postgres instance.

Installed and ready? Browse the live demos or read CSV to Delta Lake Without Spark.

deltaforge-compute

The headless compute node. Deploy as a native binary on any cloud VM via systemd, or as a container in Docker or Kubernetes. The control plane requires a Postgres instance. No JVM, no Spark cluster to manage.

The standard production deployment. Install the binary (detects x64 or ARM64), drop a systemd unit, and start the service.

install

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-compute

systemd unit

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/deltaforge-compute.service >/dev/null <<EOF
[Unit]
Description=DeltaForge Compute Node
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/deltaforge-compute
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=5
Environment=DELTAFORGE_LICENSE_KEY=your-license-key
Environment=DELTAFORGE_CONTROL_PLANE=https://console.deltaforge.org

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now deltaforge-compute

Once running, the node registers itself with your control plane workspace. Add more nodes at any time to scale throughput. See the autoscaling guide.

Useful for local development and testing compute node behaviour before deploying to a cloud VM.

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-compute

Or via Homebrew:

# Add the tap (one-time)
brew tap deltaforge-org/tap
brew install deltaforge-compute

Useful for local development on Windows workstations. For production, use the Linux systemd path.

PowerShell

iwr -useb https://deltaforge.org/install.ps1 | iex; Install-DeltaForge -Pkg deltaforge-compute

Or via winget:

winget install DeltaForge.Compute

How it fits together

Compute nodes run inside your cloud environment and read Delta Lake and Iceberg tables directly from object storage. They report license and metering data to the DeltaForge control plane over outbound HTTPS.

%%{init: {'theme': 'dark', 'themeVariables': {'primaryColor': '#1e1e2e', 'primaryBorderColor': '#b95731', 'lineColor': '#b95731', 'secondaryColor': '#13131a', 'tertiaryColor': '#0d0d14', 'clusterBkg': '#1a1b23', 'clusterBorder': '#444', 'edgeLabelBackground': '#13131a', 'nodeTextColor': '#e0e0e0'}}}%%
flowchart TB
    subgraph clients["Client Tools"]
        pbi["Power BI / Excel / Tableau"]
        db["DBeaver / JDBC Applications"]
        ai["Claude / Cursor via MCP"]
        dfd["DeltaForge Desktop"]
    end

    subgraph cp["Control Plane (self-hosted or cloud)"]
        cpsvc["deltaforge-control-plane :3000"]
        pg[("PostgreSQL")]
        cpsvc --- pg
    end

    subgraph cloud["Your Cloud: AWS, Azure, On-Premises"]
        lb["Load Balancer / ASG / VMSS"]

        subgraph nodes["Compute Fleet - horizontal scale"]
            n1["deltaforge-compute"]
            n2["deltaforge-compute"]
            n3["deltaforge-compute ... +N"]
        end

        subgraph store["Object Storage: S3 / ADLS Gen2"]
            dl["Delta Lake Tables"]
            ice["Iceberg Tables"]
        end
    end

    pbi & db --"ODBC / ADBC"--> cpsvc
    ai --"MCP"--> cpsvc
    dfd --"HTTP API"--> cpsvc
    cpsvc --"query routing"--> lb
    lb --> n1 & n2 & n3
    n1 & n2 & n3 --"Parquet I/O"--> store

AWS EC2

Install on any EC2 instance (x86-64 or ARM64), point table LOCATION paths at s3:// URIs, and IAM role credentials are picked up automatically from the instance profile.

Azure VM

Deploy on any Azure VM or VMSS. Table LOCATION paths use abfss:// (ADLS Gen2) or wasbs:// (Blob Storage) URIs. Managed Identity credentials are picked up automatically.

Container or native binary

Deploy as a Docker container, in Kubernetes via Helm, or as a standalone binary on a VM fleet managed by an Auto Scaling Group or VMSS. The control plane also runs containerised and requires Postgres.

deltaforge-cli

Single binary for scripting queries, running SQL files, executing pipelines, and checking cluster health from any terminal or CI environment.

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-cli

Or via Homebrew (add the DeltaForge tap once, then install deltaforge-cli as a formula):

# Add the tap (one-time)
brew tap deltaforge-org/tap
brew install deltaforge-cli

Tap source: github.com/deltaforge-org/homebrew-tap

PowerShell

iwr -useb https://deltaforge.org/install.ps1 | iex; Install-DeltaForge -Pkg deltaforge-cli

Or via winget (installs the signed binary into your PATH) or Scoop (the preferred choice for portable, no-admin installs):

winget

winget install DeltaForge.CLI

Scoop

# Add the bucket (one-time)
scoop bucket add deltaforge https://github.com/deltaforge-org/scoop-bucket
scoop install deltaforge-cli

Detects your architecture (x64 or ARM64), downloads the matching tarball, and drops the binary on your PATH:

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-cli

Or manually:

# Substitute the latest version from the releases page
curl -fsSL https://github.com/deltaforge-org/delta-forge/releases/download/v1.0.0/deltaforge-cli-1.0.0-linux-x64.tar.gz \
  | sudo tar -xz -C /usr/local/bin

Common commands

A few things you can do from the terminal once the binary is on your PATH.

Run a SQL file

Execute any SQL script against a DeltaForge workspace and stream results to your terminal.

deltaforge-cli run query.sql

Execute a pipeline

Trigger a numbered pipeline script and watch step-by-step progress in the terminal.

deltaforge-cli pipeline run --file pipeline.sql

Health check

Check the reachability and version of every registered compute node in a workspace.

deltaforge-cli status

deltaforge-mcp

Plugs DeltaForge into any MCP-compatible AI assistant. Exposes your Delta Lake catalog, pipeline graph, lineage, and query execution as typed tools an AI can call directly. No custom prompts, no clipboard-pasting schemas.

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-mcp

Or via Homebrew (add the DeltaForge tap once, then install deltaforge-mcp as a formula):

# Add the tap (one-time)
brew tap deltaforge-org/tap
brew install deltaforge-mcp

Tap source: github.com/deltaforge-org/homebrew-tap

PowerShell

iwr -useb https://deltaforge.org/install.ps1 | iex; Install-DeltaForge -Pkg deltaforge-mcp

Or via winget (installs the signed binary into your PATH) or Scoop (the preferred choice for portable, no-admin installs):

winget

winget install DeltaForge.Mcp

Scoop

# Add the bucket (one-time, skip if already added)
scoop bucket add deltaforge https://github.com/deltaforge-org/scoop-bucket
scoop install deltaforge-mcp

Detects your architecture (x64 or ARM64) and downloads the matching binary. --pkg deltaforge-mcp selects the MCP server instead of the default CLI package:

curl -fsSL https://deltaforge.org/install.sh | sh -s -- --pkg deltaforge-mcp

Wire it into your AI assistant

Point your AI assistant's MCP config at the server binary. The format is the same across all MCP-compatible tools.

mcp config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "deltaforge": {
      "command": "deltaforge-mcp",
      "args": ["--workspace", "your-workspace-id"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Desktop

Add the config block to claude_desktop_config.json: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/ on macOS or %APPDATA%\Claude\ on Windows. Restart Claude Desktop to pick it up.

Cursor

Open Cursor Settings, navigate to the MCP section, and paste the config block. Cursor reloads MCP servers without restarting, so the tools become available immediately.

VS Code with Copilot

Add the config block to your workspace or user settings.json under the mcp.servers key. The Copilot chat panel picks up the server on the next activation.

Full reference of exposed tools: MCP server documentation.

Get DeltaForge on your machine

Install the desktop application

Verify the download

FAQ

deltaforge-compute

How it fits together

AWS EC2

Azure VM

Container or native binary

deltaforge-cli

Common commands

Run a SQL file

Execute a pipeline

Health check

deltaforge-mcp

Wire it into your AI assistant

Claude Desktop

Cursor

VS Code with Copilot

Got it installed. What now?