Install counts

Agents: claude, codex, opencode, cursor · On: desktop

The installer tells VCode's own analytics service that an install started, whether it finished, and whether VCode came up after it, with your operating system and the version, and no ID. The service keeps your country, which Cloudflare reads from your IP address, as a count, and does not store the address. Counts are on unless you turn them off before you install.

Why you would use it

You want to know what the install command sends before you paste it, or you want it to send nothing.

How to use it

To send nothing from Add a workstation on fezu.dev/account, untick Send install counts. The command it shows then sets V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS.

To send nothing from a command you type yourself, set V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS=1 for the installer:

curl -fsSL https://fezu.dev/install | V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS=1 sh

On Windows, in PowerShell:

$env:V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS='1'; irm https://fezu.dev/install.ps1 | iex

What you see

When it sends counts, the installer prints this once its own install lines are done, right before the link step:

v-code: VCode sends install counts: an "install started", an "install completed" and a "VCode launched" event with your operating system and the app version, and no ID. The request exposes your IP address to our analytics service, which does not store it. Set V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS=1 before the install to opt out. Details: https://fezu.dev/privacy#installer

The same line comes on Linux, a Mac and Windows. "Install started" has gone out by then, so to send nothing, set V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS before you run the command.

With V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS set it prints nothing about counts and sends nothing.

Options and settings

Option	Default	What it changes
`V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS`	unset	Any value but empty: the installer sends no install counts

Limits and known gaps

The hourly updater sends no counts; only an install you run does. It does download the list of releases from dl.fezu.dev each hour, which Cloudflare serves.
The opt-out on fezu.dev/privacy and Global Privacy Control cover the site, not the installer. Only V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS or the unticked box stops install counts.
"Install started" goes out when the command starts, so a run on a machine VCode does not support counts as started and not finished.
A run on a box that already has the newest release counts as finished. It counts as launched only when it runs that release's installer again.
"VCode launched" goes out when VCode answers as the version just installed, once the installer has waited for it. A VCode that comes up after that wait counts as finished and not launched.
Each count waits at most 5 seconds. If the service does not answer, the install goes on. "VCode launched" first asks VCode for its version, for up to 5 seconds more.
On Windows the counts come from the PowerShell installer, with os set to windows. A test run against another release server (V_CODE_BASE) sends none.