Windows & WSL Installation

Step-by-step guide for installing and configuring aitasks on Windows via the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).

Prerequisites

• Windows 10 version 2004+ or Windows 11
• Administrator access (for WSL installation)

Install WSL

aitasks runs inside WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). If you don’t have WSL installed:

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator
2. Run:

   wsl --install
   

3. Restart your computer when prompted
4. On first launch, create a Unix username and password

For detailed instructions, see the official WSL installation guide.

Important: All subsequent commands in this guide should be run from within the WSL shell (not PowerShell or CMD).

To open a WSL shell: search for “WSL” in the Windows search box, or type wsl in PowerShell.

Install aitasks

From within your WSL shell, navigate to your project directory and run:

cd /path/to/your-project
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/beyondeye/aitasks/main/install.sh | bash

Then run the setup:

ait setup

The setup will automatically detect WSL and install dependencies via apt. If you already have the global ait shim installed (from a previous project), you can skip the curl step and just run ait setup in the new project directory — it will auto-bootstrap the installation.

After setup completes, see Authentication with Your Git Remote to configure GitHub access for task locking, sync, and issue integration.

Install Claude Code

Claude Code must also be installed from within WSL to work with aitasks. Follow the Claude Code quickstart guide for Linux installation instructions — WSL uses the Linux installation path.

# Install Node.js if not already present (Claude Code requires it)
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_lts.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt-get install -y nodejs

# Install Claude Code
npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Terminal Options

VS Code with WSL Extension

If you prefer an IDE-based workflow:

1. Install the WSL extension in VS Code
2. Open VS Code and connect to WSL (click the green icon in the bottom-left corner, or run code . from your WSL shell)
3. Use VS Code’s integrated terminal for running ait commands and Claude Code

Default WSL Terminal

The default WSL terminal (Windows Terminal) supports tabs and is fully functional for all aitasks features including ait board.

Warp Terminal

Warp offers built-in Claude Code integration, multi-tab support, and real-time diff viewing.

Setup with WSL:

1. Install Warp for Windows from warp.dev
2. Configure your default shell to use WSL in Warp’s settings
3. Warp will automatically connect to your WSL environment

Known Issues

• Legacy console: The old Windows Console Host (conhost.exe) has limited TUI support. Use Windows Terminal, Warp, or VS Code’s integrated terminal instead.