diff --git a/scripts/install-cli.sh b/scripts/install-cli.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..f71743a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/install-cli.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Install colony + colony-agent binaries on the current machine
+# Run from the apes repo root: sudo bash scripts/install-cli.sh
+# Or remotely: gcloud compute ssh colony-vm ... --command="cd /opt/colony-src && sudo bash scripts/install-cli.sh"
+
+REPO_DIR="${1:-$(pwd)}"
+INSTALL_DIR="/usr/local/bin"
+
+echo "=== Installing Colony CLI binaries ==="
+echo "Repo: ${REPO_DIR}"
+echo "Install to: ${INSTALL_DIR}"
+
+# Check if cargo is available
+if ! command -v cargo &>/dev/null; then
+    echo "cargo not found. Installing Rust..."
+    curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh -s -- -y --default-toolchain stable
+    source "$HOME/.cargo/env"
+fi
+
+# Build release binaries
+echo "building colony CLI..."
+cd "${REPO_DIR}"
+cargo build --release -p colony-cli -p colony-agent 2>&1 | tail -5
+
+# Install
+cp "${REPO_DIR}/target/release/colony" "${INSTALL_DIR}/colony"
+cp "${REPO_DIR}/target/release/colony-agent" "${INSTALL_DIR}/colony-agent"
+chmod +x "${INSTALL_DIR}/colony" "${INSTALL_DIR}/colony-agent"
+
+echo ""
+echo "=== Installed ==="
+echo "colony:       $(${INSTALL_DIR}/colony --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'installed')"
+echo "colony-agent: $(${INSTALL_DIR}/colony-agent --version 2>/dev/null || echo 'installed')"
+echo ""
+echo "Next: install Claude Code if not already installed:"
+echo "  npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code"
+echo ""
+echo "Then birth an agent:"
+echo "  sudo bash scripts/birth.sh scout 'help with research'"