diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7cb1f18..bed2941 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -40,6 +40,22 @@ Want to see what tmux sessions are already created on a specific remote, you can
 
 # INSTALLATION
 
+## curl
+
+If you trust me (or have proofread the install script), you can install smux with a one-liner.
+
+    curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tomeichlersmith/smux/main/install | sh 
+
+By default, this installs smux to ~/.local if you are a non-root user.
+You can define the install prefix (--prefix dir) and 
+choose to use the HEAD of the main branch rather
+than the last release (--next) both of which are optional.
+
+    curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tomeichlersmith/smux/main/install | \
+      sh -s -- --prefix dir --next
+
+## git
+
 You can install or update smux by obtaining the source code from the repository https://github.com/tomeichlersmith/smux either by cloning it or by downloading one of the releases and then running the installation command.
 
     cd smux
diff --git a/install b/install
index 1c6f968..b4de84b 100755
--- a/install
+++ b/install
@@ -27,61 +27,68 @@ set -o nounset
 # Outputs:
 #   print usage with examples.
 show_help() {
-	cat << EOF
+  cat << EOF
 install --prefix /usr/local
 
 Options:
-	--prefix/-p:		base bath where all files will be deployed (default /usr/local if root, ~/.local if not)
+  --prefix/-p:    base bath where all files will be deployed (default /usr/local if root, ~/.local if not)
   --devel/-d:   symlink to install location rather than copy, helpful for testing during development
                 ignored if not in the repository
-	--help/-h:		show this message
-	-v:			show more verbosity
+  --next/-n:    install HEAD of main branch rather than last release
+  --help/-h:    show this message
+  -v:     show more verbosity
 EOF
 }
 
+version=v1.0.0
+next=0
 verbose=0
 devel=0
 prefix=""
 
 # Parse arguments
 while [ "$#" -gt 0 ]; do
-	case $1 in
-		-h | --help)
-			# Call a "show_help" function to display a synopsis, then exit.
-			show_help
-			exit
-			;;
-		-v | --verbose)
-			shift
-			verbose=1
-			;;
+  case $1 in
+    -h | --help)
+      # Call a "show_help" function to display a synopsis, then exit.
+      show_help
+      exit
+      ;;
+    -v | --verbose)
+      shift
+      verbose=1
+      ;;
     -d | --devel)
       shift
       devel=1
       ;;
-		-p | --prefix)
-			if [ -n "$2" ]; then
-				prefix="$2"
-				shift
-				shift
-			fi
-			;;
-		*) # Default case: If no more options then break out of the loop.
-			break ;;
-	esac
+    -n | --next)
+      shift
+      next=1
+      ;;
+    -p | --prefix)
+      if [ -n "$2" ]; then
+        prefix="$2"
+        shift
+        shift
+      fi
+      ;;
+    *) # Default case: If no more options then break out of the loop.
+      break ;;
+  esac
 done
 
 # set verbosity
 if [ "${verbose}" -ne 0 ]; then
-	set -o xtrace
+  set -o xtrace
 fi
 
 if  [ -z "${prefix}" ]; then
-	prefix="/usr/local"
-	# in case we're not root, just default to the home directory
-	if [ "$(id -u || true)" -ne 0 ]; then
-		prefix="${HOME}/.local"
-	fi
+  prefix="/usr/local"
+  # in case we're not root, just default to the home directory
+  if [ "$(id -u || true)" -ne 0 ]; then
+    prefix="${HOME}/.local"
+  fi
 fi
 completion_dest_path="${prefix}/share/bash-completion/completions/"
 dest_path="${prefix}/bin"
@@ -96,29 +103,86 @@ if [ -e "${curr_dir}/smux" ]; then
   if [ "${devel}" -ne 0 ]; then
     copy="ln -sf -t"
     if ! ${copy} "${dest_path}" "${PWD}/smux"; then
-	    printf >&2 "Do you have permission to write to %s?\n" "${dest_path}"
+      printf >&2 "Do you have permission to write to %s?\n" "${dest_path}"
       exit 1
     fi
   else
     copy="install -D -m 0644 -t"
     if ! install -D -m 0755 -t "${dest_path}" smux; then
-	    printf >&2 "Do you have permission to write to %s?\n" "${dest_path}"
+      printf >&2 "Do you have permission to write to %s?\n" "${dest_path}"
       exit 1
     fi
   fi
-	if [ -e "man" ]; then
+  if [ -e "man" ]; then
     for file in "${PWD}"/man/man1/*; do
-		  ${copy} "${man_dest_path}" "${file}"
-		done
-	fi
-	if [ -e "completions" ]; then
+      ${copy} "${man_dest_path}" "${file}"
+    done
+  fi
+  if [ -e "completions" ]; then
     for file in "${PWD}"/completions/*; do
-			${copy} "${completion_dest_path}" "${file}"
-		done
-	fi
+      ${copy} "${completion_dest_path}" "${file}"
+    done
+  fi
 else
-	printf >&2 "\033[1;31m Not inside code repository, cannot install smux\033[0m"
-  exit 1
+  printf >&2 "\033[1;31m Checking dependencies...\n\033[0m"
+  # check that we have base dependencies
+  if ! { command -v curl > /dev/null || command -v wget > /dev/null; } || ! command -v tar > /dev/null; then
+    printf >&2 "Online install depends on tar and either curl or wget\n"
+    printf >&2 "Ensure you have all dependencies installed.\n"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
+  if command -v curl > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    download="curl -sLo"
+  elif command -v wget > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+    download="wget -qO"
+  fi
+
+  printf >&2 "\033[1;31m Downloading...\n\033[0m"
+  if [ "${next}" -eq 0 ]; then
+    release_ver="tomeichlersmith/smux/archive/refs/tags/${version}.tar.gz"
+    release_name=$(echo "${release_ver}" | grep -Eo '[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.tar\.gz$')
+  else
+   release_ver="tomeichlersmith/smux/archive/refs/heads/main.tar.gz"
+   release_name="main"
+  fi
+  # go in tmp
+  tmp_dir="$(mktemp -d)"
+  cd "${tmp_dir}"
+  # download our target
+  ${download} "${release_name}" "https://github.com/${release_ver}"
+  # uncompress
+  printf >&2 "\033[1;31m Unpacking...\n\033[0m"
+  if [ "${verbose}" -ne 0 ]; then
+    tar xvf "${release_name}"
+  else
+    tar xf "${release_name}"
+  fi
+  # enter source
+  cd "smux-$(echo "${release_name}" | sed 's|.tar.gz||' || true)"
+
+  # deploy
+  copy="install -D -m 0644 -t"
+  if ! install -D -m 0755 -t "${dest_path}" smux; then
+    printf >&2 "Do you have permission to write to %s?\n" "${dest_path}"
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  if [ -e "man" ]; then
+    for file in "${PWD}"/man/man1/*; do
+      ${copy} "${man_dest_path}" "${file}"
+    done
+  fi
+  if [ -e "completions" ]; then
+    for file in "${PWD}"/completions/*; do
+      ${copy} "${completion_dest_path}" "${file}"
+    done
+  fi
+
+  # securely delete unneeded files
+  cd
+  if [ -n "${tmp_dir}" ] && [ -e "${tmp_dir}" ]; then
+    rm -rf "${tmp_dir}"
+  fi
 fi
 
 [ ! -w "${dest_path}" ] && printf >&2 "Cannot write into %s, permission denied.\n" "${dest_path}" && exit 1