Windows native

Gormes has a native PowerShell install path for Windows 10 and Windows 11. You do not need WSL, Python, Node, Docker, or admin rights for the core installer. install.ps1 is release-first: by default it downloads the latest signed release archive for the host architecture, verifies its SHA-256, and publishes gormes.exe under %LOCALAPPDATA%\gormes\bin. It falls back to a managed source build when needed.

WSL2 is still a useful option when you want Linux shell semantics. Native Windows and WSL2 keep separate install homes, so both can coexist.

60-second install

Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal:

irm https://gormes.ai/install.ps1 | iex

No admin rights are required. By default, Gormes installs under %LOCALAPPDATA%\gormes and publishes gormes.exe under %LOCALAPPDATA%\gormes\bin. Open a new terminal after install so the updated user PATH is visible.

After the installer finishes:

gormes --version
gormes doctor --offline

Inspect first

For the safer inspect-first path:

Invoke-WebRequest https://gormes.ai/install.ps1 -OutFile install.ps1
Get-Content .\install.ps1
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\install.ps1
gormes doctor --offline

The script served from https://gormes.ai/install.ps1 is the canonical public installer mirror for the current release line.

Customize

install.ps1 exposes operator controls as both PowerShell parameters and environment variables. Pass parameters with the scriptblock form when you are still using the one-liner:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://gormes.ai/install.ps1))) -DryRun -Branch main

Parameter	Purpose
`-FromSource`	Build from source instead of fetching the release binary. Equivalent env var: `GORMES_INSTALL_FROM_SOURCE=1`.
`-Local`	Build from the current source checkout instead of cloning.
`-DryRun`	Print the resolved plan without changing the machine.
`-Branch <name>`	Target a non-default branch. Triggers a source build because release binaries are only published from `main`.
`-InstallHome <path>`	Override the managed install home (default: `%LOCALAPPDATA%\gormes`).
`-InstallDir <path>`	Override the managed checkout directory.
`-BinDir <path>`	Override the directory `gormes.exe` is published to.
`-RestartGateway auto\|always\|never`	Control whether the installer restarts a live gateway after upgrade.
`-NoRestart`	Shortcut for `-RestartGateway never`.

The same controls are available as environment variables: GORMES_INSTALL_HOME, GORMES_INSTALL_DIR, GORMES_BIN_DIR, GORMES_BRANCH, GORMES_GO_VERSION, GORMES_GO_SHA256, GORMES_RESTART_GATEWAY, and GORMES_INSTALL_FROM_SOURCE.

When the installer needs a source build it looks for Go on PATH, then tries winget (GoLang.Go), then choco (golang), and finally downloads a managed Go toolchain from go.dev into %LOCALAPPDATA%\gormes\go. Git is bootstrapped the same way via winget / choco if it is missing.

Verify

Open a fresh terminal so PATH refreshes:

Get-Command gormes
gormes --version
gormes doctor --offline

Once the offline doctor passes, run gormes setup to configure providers, channel credentials, and tool defaults.

Rerun the installer to update Gormes. The update path uses git fetch, git checkout, and git pull --ff-only when source-building, or a fresh release archive download when fetching the binary. To remove Gormes:

gormes uninstall --dry-run
gormes uninstall --yes

Common pitfalls

Symptom	Fix
`gormes` is not found after install	Open a new terminal so the user PATH refreshes.
PowerShell blocks script execution	Use the inspect-first command with `-ExecutionPolicy Bypass` for that invocation.
Go is missing and `winget`, `choco` are unavailable	Let the installer use the managed `go.dev` fallback, or install Go manually and rerun.
A gateway was running during upgrade	Use `-RestartGateway always` to force restart, or `-NoRestart` to leave it alone.
You want an isolated test install	Set `GORMES_INSTALL_HOME` and `GORMES_BIN_DIR`, then run with `-DryRun` first.