Install ContextCode Beta

This page is for ContextCode Beta. It is an optional client and is not how most users access ContextStream today. To use the production product, connect your existing assistant through the ContextStream MCP.

Install it

# macOS and Linux
curl -fsSL https://contextstream.io/cs/install.sh | sh

# Windows, in PowerShell
irm https://contextstream.io/cs/install.ps1 | iex

That puts two names for the same command on your PATH: csc, the short canonical name used in these docs, and contextcode, the long form. csc starts the agent with no subcommand and also handles signing in, updating, headless runs, and session management.

The old cc launcher is retired because that name is commonly the system C compiler. The installer removes it only when it can verify that the file is an older ContextCode binary.

Sign in

csc login

Your browser opens, you approve the device, and you're done. There is no API key to copy and no config file to write.

If this machine has already been set up for ContextStream, csc is signed in before you type anything.

Start working

cd ~/code/your-project
csc

The first run picks up your project. A folder already bound to a project resolves on its own; a new folder offers to create one. Indexing starts in the background — you can work while it runs.

Check everything is wired up

csc doctor

It walks the whole chain — authentication, the API, which project you're scoped to, the state of the index — and prints a fix for anything that's off rather than just a red cross.

Keep it current

csc update

Updates in place, verified against the release manifest's checksum. /update from inside a session tells you the same thing without leaving what you're doing.

If it doesn't work

csc: command not found after installing. The installer puts binaries in ~/.local/bin. Open a new terminal, or add that directory to your PATH.

The browser never opens on csc login. On a headless or remote machine there's nothing to open. The command prints a URL and a code — open the URL on any machine and enter the code.

It starts, but says the project isn't indexed. Indexing runs in the background on first use and takes a few minutes on a large repository. /index shows progress; /index start forces a fresh pass.

Next

• Your first hour — what the loop actually looks like
• Asking for what you want — how to phrase things
• Deciding what runs without asking — before you let it loose