Packaging & distribution

[kafkade]

Tracks Phase 5.4 — Packaging & Distribution from docs/SPEC.md §5.

Goal

Make Kite installable across all major platforms with first-class native packages.

Scope

Linux

• .deb (Debian/Ubuntu)
• .rpm (Fedora/RHEL)
• AUR (Arch)
• Snap
• Flatpak
• AppImage
• Nix

macOS

• Homebrew formula (see [Feature]: Create a homebrew package #41)
• MacPorts

Windows

• winget manifest
• Scoop bucket
• Chocolatey package
• standalone .exe / .msi

Cross-platform

• cargo install kite-monitor (crates.io) works out of the box
• Static binaries (musl on Linux) for zero-dependency deployment
• Auto-update check (opt-in, checks GitHub releases)

Notes

• The release workflow already builds cross-platform binaries on tag push; these packages should consume those artifacts.
• [Feature]: Create a homebrew package #41 (Homebrew) is a subset of this issue and can be tackled first.