Windows
Open PowerShell as your normal user (not “Run as administrator”) and paste:
irm https://dev.hostwares.com/install.ps1 | iex
It installs VS Code, the HW Dev extension, the hw CLI and Git, then opens VS Code. Already have VS Code? It is detected and skipped, and the extension is added to your existing install. The same goes for Node.js and Git.
No admin rights are needed and Windows shows no “unknown publisher” warning: the installer is a script, and VS Code comes from Microsoft’s own signed installer. It works on Windows 10 and 11, on both x64 and ARM PCs.
macOS & Linux
Install VS Code first, then run this in a terminal:
curl -fsSL https://dev.hostwares.com/install.sh | bash
It installs the hw CLI (and Node.js if needed) and adds the extension to every VS Code-family editor it finds. If the extension is skipped, open VS Code, run Shell Command: Install ‘code’ command in PATH from the Command Palette, and run the installer again.
What gets installed
| Component | What it is | If already installed |
|---|---|---|
| VS Code | The editor (Windows installer only) | Skipped |
| HW Dev extension | AI chat sidebar that writes code in your project and deploys it | Updated to the latest version |
| hw CLI | The same AI agent in your terminal | Updated to the latest version |
| Node.js | Runs the CLI. Installed privately, only if you do not have version 18 or newer | Skipped |
| Git | Used for commits and deploys (Windows installer only, optional) | Skipped |
At the end you get a summary with a line per component. Anything that did not install is marked [X] with the reason, so a failed step is never reported as done.
Sign in
Open a new terminal (so it sees the updated PATH) and run:
hw login
Approve the code in your browser. The extension and the CLI share one login, so the HW Dev sidebar in VS Code signs in automatically. You can also start from VS Code: open the HW Dev icon in the Activity Bar and click Login.
Updating
Run the same install command again. It keeps what you already have and replaces the extension and CLI with the newest release. Reload the VS Code window afterwards (Developer: Reload Window) to activate the new extension. VS Code itself updates on its own, as usual.
Manual install
If you prefer to install each part yourself:
# 1. Extension - download, then install into VS Code # https://dev.hostwares.com/downloads/hw-dev.vsix code --install-extension hw-dev.vsix --force # 2. CLI - requires Node.js 18+ npm install -g hostwares-cli
You can also install the extension from VS Code: Extensions view → ... menu → Install from VSIX...
Uninstall
code --uninstall-extension hostwares.hw-dev npm uninstall -g hostwares-cli
Your login is stored in ~/.hostwares/config.json (on Windows, %USERPROFILE%\.hostwares). Delete that folder to remove it along with the private Node.js copy, if one was installed. VS Code and Git are yours to keep or uninstall as normal.
Troubleshooting
“hw is not recognized”
The terminal was opened before the install changed your PATH. Close it and open a new one. On Windows, if a new terminal still does not find it, sign out of Windows and back in.
“running scripts is disabled on this system”
Re-run the installer: it removes the PowerShell script shims that trigger this, so hw runs without changing your execution policy.
The HW Dev sidebar does not appear
Reload the window (Developer: Reload Window). If it is still missing, check that code --list-extensions shows hostwares.hw-dev, and if not, run the installer again and read the line marked [X].
VS Code could not be installed (Windows)
Install it from code.visualstudio.com and run the installer again. It will find it and continue with the rest.
Behind a company proxy or firewall
The installer needs to reach dev.hostwares.com, registry.npmjs.org, nodejs.org and Microsoft’s VS Code download servers. If npm is blocked, the CLI falls back to a checksum-verified download from dev.hostwares.com.