> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://ade-app.dev/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# ADE on Windows

> What the Windows beta supports, what is missing compared with macOS, and how to install it.

ADE is generally available on macOS and runs in **beta on Windows**. The Windows build is the same app, brain, and CLI — lanes, agent chat, PRs, terminals, the built-in browser, and phone pairing all work. A short list of macOS-native capabilities has no Windows counterpart, and this page names all of them.

## Requirements

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="Windows 10 or 11, x64" icon="windows">
    ARM64 is not supported. There is no emulated fallback.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Git" icon="git-alt">
    Git for Windows on `PATH` — ADE uses branches and worktrees to run lanes.
  </Card>

  <Card title="One AI provider" icon="key">
    Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Factory Droid, or OpenCode. Cursor installs natively; WSL is not required.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Install

Download the [**signed Windows installer**](https://ade-app.dev/download/windows), or install from PowerShell:

```powershell theme={null}
irm https://ade-app.dev/install.ps1 | iex
```

The installer is a **per-user NSIS installer**. It does not ask for administrator rights, installs into your user profile, and adds the app, the `ade` CLI, `ade code`, and the background ADE brain.

The brain runs from a per-user startup entry, so it comes back at your next sign-in without a service install or an elevated shell.

<Note>
  Pull-request preview builds are unsigned and are for internal testing, not general use. Install from the link above or the PowerShell one-liner to get the signed build.
</Note>

## What is different from macOS

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Computer use is browser-only" icon="camera">
    Native OS screenshot, video, and GUI automation are unavailable. App Control over CDP, the built-in browser, and attaching proof files with `ade proof attach` all work.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No iOS Simulator or Xcode Preview" icon="mobile-screen">
    Both need macOS and Xcode. The Simulator drawer is hidden on Windows.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No ADE Notch" icon="ellipsis">
    The Notch is a macOS window-server feature with no Windows counterpart.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Claude Code turns are slower" icon="clock">
    Each follow-up prompt respawns the CLI instead of replying into a live background job, so in-flight context is not carried over.
  </Card>

  <Card title="No Claude Code sandbox" icon="shield">
    Permission modes work; the sandbox does not. Claude Code sandboxing is WSL-2 only.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Credentials use DPAPI" icon="lock">
    There is no Keychain. Secrets are protected per Windows user account rather than per item.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

Two more boundaries worth knowing before you plan around them:

* **Remote machines work both ways.** A Windows machine can drive a remote macOS, Linux, or Windows runtime over SSH, provided you installed a released build. Windows can also *be* the target: ADE bootstraps its runtime onto Windows 10 22H2 and Windows 11 x64 boxes over OpenSSH Server, which needs PowerShell 5.1 or newer and the built-in `tar.exe`. WSL, ARM64, and Windows Server are not supported targets.
* **Some operations need real symlinks.** ADE uses junctions where it can. The rest require Developer Mode or an elevated shell, which Windows requires for symlink creation.

Anything else that looks weaker or missing on Windows is a bug worth reporting, not a known gap.

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Connect a provider" icon="key" href="/docs/getting-started/connect-provider">
    Add Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Factory Droid, or OpenCode.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Troubleshooting" icon="wrench" href="/docs/reference/troubleshooting">
    Diagnostics for the brain, providers, and sync.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>