Install VCode on Windows

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

irm https://fezu.dev/install.ps1 | iex

Run in PowerShell, this command installs VCode on Windows itself: no WSL, no Linux, no administrator rights and no restart. It puts VCode in your user profile, starts it, and opens your browser to connect the computer to your account. VCode then starts each time you log in to Windows and keeps itself up to date. The command also installs the VCode desktop app, in the Start menu as VCode (desktop-app).

Why you would use it

Your desk PC or a spare laptop runs Windows, and you want to drive the agents on it from your phone. The install takes about a minute, and the agents run as Windows programs in your Windows folders.

How to use it

You need Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer, or Windows 11, on an x64 PC.

1. Open PowerShell (Start, type PowerShell, Enter). You do not need to run it as administrator.

2. Run:

   irm https://fezu.dev/install.ps1 | iex
   

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   Or copy the Windows command from Add a workstation on fezu.dev/account (add-a-workstation). It sets a join code first, so the computer links to the account that made the code with no browser step:

   $env:V_CODE_JOIN='<code>'; irm https://fezu.dev/install.ps1 | iex
   

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3. At the end VCode opens on its login card: in the desktop app the command has just installed, else in Chrome, else Edge. The card reads Create an account or log in to connect <computer>. We send a code to your email. Type your email and click Continue, then enter the code the email brings. A new email makes a new account with 30 days of the full plan (free-trial); an email you have used logs in to your account. The PC is linked to that account, VCode comes back signed in with the PC in it, and PowerShell prints Linked to <email> (link-this-box). A join command opens the desktop app signed in instead.

4. Open app.fezu.dev on your phone and sign in with the same email. The computer is in your list.

5. Later, type v-code in a new terminal to open VCode. On a computer linked to your email it opens the desktop app signed in, or app.fezu.dev in the browser without the app. On a PC not linked it runs v-code box link, and on one still on an older trial account it runs v-code box trial, which gets no new start link now: open VCode on a device signed in to that account.

To drive an agent, it must be installed on the computer. The installer does not check. New thread in the app offers to install one (install-an-agent).

What you see

Every line from the installer starts with v-code:. A first install prints:

• v-code: installing <version>, then v-code: downloading <version> (<n> MB)
• v-code: wrote <your profile>\.config\v-code\env (port <port>), or on a second run v-code: env file exists, left alone: <path>
• v-code: added <your profile>\AppData\Local\v-code\bin to your PATH; in a new terminal, v-code opens VCode
• v-code: wrote <Startup folder>\VCode.lnk, which starts VCode when you log in to Windows
• VCode desktop app: installed <version>, or a reason it was skipped or failed (desktop-app). A failed app step never stops the install
• v-code: VCode <version> is running on port <port>
• 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, unless you set V_CODE_NO_ANALYTICS (install-counts)
• the link step's lines: Opening VCode to connect this computer… and If it doesn't open, go to <address> on any device, and paste the code it shows here:, then Linked to <email> once you have logged in (link-this-box). Or Opened the VCode app. when the desktop app opened after a join, the trial's lines on a PC still on an older trial account (free-trial), or v-code: Already linked to <email> on a computer that is linked. A link that fails prints v-code: The link did not complete. Try again with: v-code box link.
• v-code: Use it in the app: https://app.fezu.dev, when the step before gave no link: after a join, on a computer already linked to an email, with V_CODE_NO_LINK, or after a link that failed.

The checks that stop it before anything is written:

A download that does not check out stops it too: v-code: signature check failed for releases/<v>/manifest-win-x64.json: ..., v-code: the download does not match the signed manifest: ....

When VCode does not answer within 90 s: v-code: VCode did not answer on port <port>. Its log: <your profile>\AppData\Local\v-code\logs\server.log.

Options and settings

Set these in the same PowerShell window before the command, for example $env:V_CODE_CHANNEL = 'dev'.

Limits and known gaps

• Beta. Checked on a Windows 11 virtual machine: install, link, an agent turn, ! lines, files, an update, a rollback and a restart. The full list of what differs from Linux is kept with the code.
• x64 only. No Windows on ARM yet.
• VCode runs while you are logged in to Windows. It starts from VCode.lnk in your Startup folder at each login, and stops when you log out. A computer installed before version 0.0.849 does not start it at login: run the install command again, and the new shortcut replaces the old one.
• The Terminal panel (a shell on the computer, in the app) is not available on Windows. ! lines in a thread work: they run in Git Bash when Git for Windows is installed, else in PowerShell.
• Hourly agent updates, and the agent step of /update, do not run on Windows. Update each agent with its own command (claude update).
• The app installs Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, Devin, Copilot and Muse on Windows. Copilot installs with winget install --id GitHub.Copilot --exact --silent --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements, and Muse with irm https://dev.meta.ai/install.ps1 | iex.
• Voice dictation, per-tab memory limits and previews of local web servers are not available on Windows yet.
• A computer whose clock is wrong cannot connect: the page says the request signature is missing, stale or wrong; check this device's clock, then reload the page.

Remove it

In PowerShell:

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

It stops VCode and removes the app, the Startup shortcut and the PATH entry, and the desktop app with its Start menu entry and its start at login. Your threads stay in %LOCALAPPDATA%\v-code\state and your settings in %USERPROFILE%\.config\v-code\env. Remove the computer from your account under Workstations on fezu.dev/account.

Related

• free-trial: the 30 days a new account gets
• link-this-box: the link step at the end
• add-a-workstation: the command with a join code
• update-automatically: how a box keeps itself up to date
• release-channels: stable and dev
• install-on-linux: the same on Linux
• install-on-macos: the same on a Mac
• install-counts: what the installer reports, and how to turn it off
• use-the-app: where you use the box once it is linked
• desktop-app: the window the command installs