Installing Dex

Installing Dex takes about 5–10 minutes and doesn't require any programming experience. On a Mac, one pasted line does almost everything. On Windows, you clone the official release in Git Bash and run Dex's own installer. This page covers that quick path, an even easier ask-your-AI path, and a step-by-step manual path if you prefer to see every move.

What you're installing runs in the terminal, but a Dex desktop app and mobile app are coming out shortly. Sign up for the beta.

The recommended install

Mac — press Cmd+Space, type "Terminal", press Enter. Paste this line and press Enter:

bashcurl -fsSL https://heydex.ai/install.sh | bash

Windows — install Git for Windows if you need it. Open Git Bash (not PowerShell or Command Prompt), then run:

bashgit clone --branch release --single-branch https://github.com/davekilleen/dex.git Dex
cd Dex
bash ./install.sh

Clone the official release, review install.sh, then run it from Git Bash. Do not pipe a remote script into iex.

Why Git Bash and not PowerShell?

Fair question, since PowerShell is already on every Windows PC. There are four reasons:

• One installer for everyone. Mac and Windows use the same Dex installer, so everyone gets the same tested experience, and a fix lands for everyone at once. We used to keep a separate PowerShell installer, and the two copies kept drifting apart. That caused most of the early Windows install problems.
• Dex needs it anyway. After it's installed, Dex runs small helper scripts behind the scenes, and those need Git Bash.
• It's free, and you're installing it already. Git Bash comes with Git for Windows, which Dex needs either way.
• It's the safer habit. The usual PowerShell shortcut downloads a script from the web and runs it straight away. Cloning first lets you (or your AI) see exactly what you're about to run.

The installer welcomes you, asks which folder to use (press Enter for the suggested Dex folder), and narrates everything it does in plain language. If something's missing — say, Node.js — it opens the exact download page, tells you what to click, and checks again when you press Enter. It's safe to run twice; a second run just picks up where things left off.

When it finishes, it asks: "Would you like to start Dex in Claude Code now?" Say yes and Claude Code opens in your Dex folder and setup starts by itself. (Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan. The first time, it may ask you to pick a text style and sign in first; if setup doesn't start after that, type set up Dex.) Prefer Cursor? Open your Dex folder there and say hi. On a Mac that folder is usually ~/Dex. On Windows it is the Dex folder you just cloned.

Or hand the whole thing to your AI

If you already talk to an AI that can use your computer — Claude, or ChatGPT with computer access — you don't even need to paste the line yourself:

Install Dex on my computer. Follow the instructions at
https://heydex.ai/install.md and walk me through anything
you can't do yourself.

Your AI reads Dex's install runbook, runs the installer, watches for anything unusual on your particular machine, and hands over to Dex when it's done.

What the installer checks for

The installer handles all of this for you — this section is here so nothing feels like magic, and for anyone taking the manual path below.

Dex runs inside an AI coding assistant. You have two good options:

• Cursor — a free desktop app (with a paid tier). The easiest starting point if you've never used a terminal.
• Claude Code — Anthropic's assistant, as a terminal app or desktop app. Requires a Claude Pro or Max subscription; free Claude accounts don't include it. Claude Code gives Dex its most reliable behavior (its automation hooks are guaranteed to run rather than probabilistic), so it's worth considering as you get more comfortable.

You'll also need three standard, free pieces of software. Don't worry if these names mean nothing to you — the checks below tell you if you already have them:

• Git (moves files between your computer and where Dex is published). Macs install it automatically when needed.
• Node.js (runs Dex's background automation). Version 18 or newer.
• Python (runs Dex's task tools). Version 3.11 or newer (3.12 or 3.13 from python.org; not Microsoft Store Python).

To check what you have, open a terminal (in Cursor: the Terminal panel) and run:

bashgit --version       # want: git version 2.x
node --version      # want: v18 or higher
python3 --version   # want: Python 3.11 or higher (3.12 / 3.13 is fine)

On a Mac, the first time you run a command like this you may be asked to install "Command Line Developer Tools" — say yes; it takes two or three minutes and is safe.

The manual path, step by step

Prefer to drive yourself, or did the recommended install hit a snag it couldn't fix? These three steps do the same thing by hand.

Step 1 — Get Dex onto your computer

On Windows, the official path is still the Git Bash clone of the release branch above. In Cursor you can also press Cmd+Shift+P (Mac) or Ctrl+Shift+P (Windows), choose Git: Clone, and paste:

https://github.com/davekilleen/dex.git

Choose the release branch if Cursor asks. Pick a folder you'll remember (Documents works well), then open it.

If cloning fails for any reason, there's a no-terminal fallback: download the ZIP from github.com/davekilleen/dex, unzip it (the folder will be named dex-main), and open that folder in Cursor.

Step 2 — Run the installer

In the terminal panel, from inside your Dex folder, run:

bash./install.sh

This takes a minute or two. It sets up Dex's tools inside the folder itself — nothing is installed system-wide, so removing Dex later is as simple as deleting the folder.

When it finishes, Cursor's MCP panel should show green checkmarks next to Dex's tools. (MCP servers are the small programs that give Dex reliable hands — tasks, calendar, meetings.)

Step 3 — Say hello

In the chat panel, type:

/setup

The first load can take about thirty seconds — if nothing happens, press Enter again. Dex will introduce itself and ask a few questions about you and your work. That conversation is onboarding, covered on its own page — it takes about two minutes.

Using Claude Code instead of (or alongside) Cursor

If you'd like to use Claude Code:

bash# Mac
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

That Windows line is Claude's own official installer from Anthropic, not Dex's, and it's fine to run in PowerShell. ("Git Bash, not PowerShell" applies only to installing Dex.)

Then authenticate with claude auth (it opens your browser), go to your Dex folder in the terminal (cd ~/Dex), and run claude. Same vault, same Dex — both apps read the same files, so you can switch freely.

If something goes wrong

The installer's error messages point to fixes, but here are the common ones:

• Windows: "python is not recognized" — reinstall Python from python.org and tick "Add Python to PATH" during install. Restart the terminal and run ./install.sh again.
• Windows: "git is not recognized" — install Git from git-scm.com, restart the terminal, rerun the installer.
• "Could not install Python dependencies" — run these commands, then rerun the installer:

bashpython3 -m venv .venv
.venv/bin/pip install --upgrade pip
.venv/bin/pip install -r core/mcp/requirements.txt

• Tools show "No server info found" — quit the app fully (Cmd+Q on Mac) and reopen it. If that doesn't fix it, rerun the dependency commands above first.
• Mac: you cancelled the Developer Tools prompt — run xcode-select --install, let it finish, then ./install.sh again.

Once /setup greets you, move on to Your first conversation.

First, fetch and read the page I'm referring to: https://heydex.ai/help/install.md

I just read the Dex Guide's install page. Give my installation a proper
once-over: check that your tools are all connected and healthy, that the
versions of everything you depend on are happy, and that nothing from
setup was left half-finished. Fix anything that's safe to fix yourself,
tell me plainly if something needs my hands, and finish with one thing
about my setup I probably don't know.