# Install Set up ByteAsk with one prompt in your coding agent: Context, Cloud Agent or the ByteAsk CLI, whichever you choose. Your agent tells you the cost and shows you every change first. ## From your coding agent Copy the prompt and paste it into your agent. It points your agent at ByteAsk’s setup guide and asks it to tell you the cost before anything paid, and to show you every change before it makes it. ``` Set up ByteAsk (https://byteask.ai) for me. Here are your instructions: https://byteask.ai/agent-guide.txt Read them in full and follow them step by step. Ask me what you need in one message, then do the whole setup yourself. Never spend money without asking me first. ``` [Manual setup](https://byteask.ai/docs/setup/) Works with - Claude Code - Codex - Cursor - Windsurf - VS Code ## What your agent does It looks first Which agent, system and tools you have, and whether ByteAsk is already set up, with read-only commands. Nothing is installed yet. It asks one question Which products you want. Context is selected; Cloud Agent and the ByteAsk CLI are yours to add. It tells you the cost $0 to set up on the Free plan. Using the CLI and the Cloud Agent later draws usage credit. See [Pricing](https://byteask.ai/pricing). It installs with one script `byteask.ai/install.sh`, checked against its pinned SHA-256. A dry run shows every change first. It writes only under `~/.byteask` and your agent’s own configuration. It signs you in A few short approvals in your browser, all with one ByteAsk account. It checks and hands over It verifies each part, then shows you what to do next and how to remove everything (`sh install.sh uninstall`). ## Manual setup Prefer to do it by hand? Each product’s reference: Every agent The same setup by hand for Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other MCP clients, and how to remove it: [Set up with your coding agent](https://byteask.ai/docs/setup/) in the docs. Context Step by step in Claude Code, with every command, in the [Context setup guide](https://byteask.ai/context/setup#manual). ByteAsk CLI The install commands for Linux, macOS, Windows, pip, uv and npm are in [the docs](https://byteask.ai/docs/overview#installation). What the CLI installer writes is [below](https://byteask.ai/install#installer). Cloud Agent Nothing to install on your machine: set it up in the browser at [app.byteask.ai](https://app.byteask.ai/welcome). Editors Plugins for VS Code, Cursor, JetBrains, Neovim and Emacs drive the CLI. See [Editors](https://byteask.ai/install#editors). The guide The exact steps your agent follows, for every agent: [byteask.ai/agent-guide.txt](https://byteask.ai/agent-guide.txt). ## What the CLI installer does The ByteAsk CLI part of setup runs the CLI installer, `code.byteask.ai/install.sh`, after checking its pinned SHA-256. On native Windows the setup guide does not apply yet: install the CLI by hand with `install.ps1` ([the docs](https://byteask.ai/docs/overview#installation)). Read off the two live scripts. Nothing here is inferred. ### Linux and macOS, `install.sh` Platforms Linux and macOS, on x86_64 or arm64. Any other `uname` exits with an error before anything is downloaded. On Windows the script tells you to use WSL, or use the PowerShell installer below. Install directory Your `PREFIX` if you set one, otherwise `/usr/local/bin` when that is already writable by you, otherwise `~/.local/bin`. The script never elevates to create it. What lands there Two executables, `byteask-engine` and the `byteask` launcher (a small POSIX shell script), plus a `.engine-release` marker file recording which release asset produced the engine, so a later update can skip a download it does not need. Directories created The install directory, `~/.byteask` (or `BYTEASK_HOME`), and `~/.byteask/skills/compress` and `~/.byteask/skills/terse` for the two bundled skills. Files in ~/.byteask A `gateway` file, a `config.toml`, a downloaded `models-catalog.json`, the own-key sidecar and its translator modules, a `SKILL.md` per skill, and a one-shot `referral` file if you passed `--ref=`. An existing login token is read out of the old `config.toml` and written back into the new one, so an update does not sign you out. Shell startup files Not touched. The script does not append to `.bashrc`, `.zshrc`, or any other startup file. If the install directory is not already on your `PATH` it prints the `export` line and leaves you to add it. ~/.gdbinit One block is appended, wrapped in marker comments and skipped if the marker is already present, so re-running does not duplicate it. The block sources `~/.byteask/byteask_gdb_bridge.py` when that file exists, which is what defines the `byteask-bridge` gdb command. The block's own comment says nothing is armed until you run that command, and that you disable it by deleting the block or running `byteask --uninstall-gdb-bridge`. sudo Two best-effort package installs, each only when the tool is missing. On Linux: `bubblewrap` (the sandbox the engine uses for model-run shell commands) and `ripgrep`, through whichever of apt-get, dnf, yum, pacman, zypper or apk is present, prefixed with `sudo` when you are not root. On macOS bubblewrap is skipped entirely and ripgrep goes through `brew`, with no sudo. Every one of those branches swallows its exit code, so a failure is never fatal: the script prints a note and carries on. Checksums Before each candidate download the script fetches `SHA256SUMS` from the same source. If the manifest lists that asset and the digest disagrees, the file is deleted and refused outright. If the manifest is unreachable or does not list the asset, the install continues with a printed note. Set `BYTEASK_REQUIRE_SHA256=1` to make a missing entry fatal as well. Either way every download must also clear a size floor of roughly 20 MB and an ELF or Mach-O magic-byte check. Where the engine comes from The release assets at [github.com/ByteAsk/cli](https://github.com/ByteAsk/cli/releases/latest) first, with code.byteask.ai as the fallback if that is unreachable. It walks a compressor ladder, `.zst` then `.xz` then `.gz` then the uncompressed asset, using only the decompressors actually on your PATH. The `byteask` launcher script itself comes from `BUNDLE_URL`, which is code.byteask.ai unless you override it. Install ping One short request to `/byteask/dl/-`, code.byteask.ai by default, capped at 3 seconds and ignoring failure. The script's comment calls it the per-platform install signal. Environment overrides `PREFIX`, `BYTEASK_HOME`, `ENGINE_URL`, `BUNDLE_URL`, `GATEWAY_URL`, `MODEL` (the model id written into config.toml), `BYTEASK_REQUIRE_SHA256`, `BYTEASK_FORCE_ENGINE_DOWNLOAD`, and `BYTEASK_REF`. All are read from the environment with a default, so exporting one before the pipe is enough. ### Windows, `install.ps1` Platforms 64-bit Windows only. The script errors out on a 32-bit OS. It runs under the built-in Windows PowerShell 5.1 or pwsh 7. Install directory Your `PREFIX` if set, otherwise `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ByteAsk`. What lands there `byteask-engine.exe`, a `byteask.ps1` wrapper, a `byteask.cmd` shim so the command works from any shell, and the same `.engine-release` marker. PATH This one does edit your environment: if the install directory is not already in your user `Path`, it is appended to the registry-backed user PATH. The script tells you to open a new terminal to pick it up. Config `%USERPROFILE%\.byteask` (or `BYTEASK_HOME`) gets the same set of files as the Unix installer: gateway, config.toml, model catalog, the own-key sidecar and translators, and the two skills. An existing login token is carried across. Elevation None. Ripgrep is attempted through winget, scoop or choco if one of them is on PATH, inside a try/catch, and a failure only prints a note. There is no `~/.gdbinit` step on Windows. Checksums The same policy as the shell installer: a listed digest that disagrees is refused, an absent manifest is a printed note, and `BYTEASK_REQUIRE_SHA256=1` makes absence fatal. Downloads must also clear the 20 MB floor and an `MZ` magic-byte check. ## Uninstall the CLI If your agent set it up, ask it to run the uninstall step (`sh install.sh uninstall --components cli`). By hand, delete what the CLI installer created: Executables Delete `byteask`, `byteask-engine` and `.engine-release` from your install directory: `PREFIX`, otherwise `/usr/local/bin` or `~/.local/bin`. ~/.byteask Delete it (or `BYTEASK_HOME`): config, model catalog, sidecar files and skills. ~/.gdbinit Delete the ByteAsk block, from the marker comment to the matching end marker. Windows Delete `%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\ByteAsk` (or your `PREFIX`) and `%USERPROFILE%\.byteask`, then remove the install directory from your user `Path`. Left behind bubblewrap and ripgrep stay installed; remove them with your package manager. Shell startup files on Unix are never touched. ## Editors The CLI does the work; these connectors bring it into your editor. - VS Code Marketplace Live [Open in Marketplace](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=byteask.byteask-vscode) - Cursor Open VSX Live [Open in Open VSX](https://open-vsx.org/extension/byteask/byteask-vscode) - JetBrains CLion, IDEA, PyCharm Live [Get on the Marketplace](https://plugins.jetbrains.com/plugin/32655-byteask) - Neovim lazy.nvim / packer Live [View the plugin](https://github.com/ByteAsk/ByteAsk.nvim) - Emacs use-package, vc Live [Emacs setup](https://github.com/ByteAsk/byteask-extensions/tree/main/emacs) - Zed Coming to the registry Soon [Track progress](https://github.com/ByteAsk/byteask-extensions/tree/main/zed) --- HTML version: https://byteask.ai/install