Claude Code Install Manager

Install, update, repair, and diagnose Claude Code on Windows. Single-file batch script (claude-code-install-manager.cmd) plus an optional signed .exe launcher for SmartScreen-friendly distribution.

Why this exists

Windows has no first-class package manager. The official Claude Code installer (irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex) drops a binary into a per-user directory and appends that directory to your User PATH — and that's it. After that succeeds, the operating system itself has no record that anything was installed:

• No entry in Add or Remove Programs.
• No MSI receipt, no AppX manifest, no Windows Installer database row.
• No canonical "where is claude" anyone can query.

You can install Claude Code, watch the installer say Done, and then open a new cmd window where claude is "not recognized as an internal or external command" — because the install location is random across versions, the PATH change does not propagate to already-open sessions, and nothing in the OS even knows the install happened. There is no built-in way to update, repair, uninstall, or diagnose.

That entire problem space is what this wrapper covers. On macOS, Homebrew handles it. On Linux, the distro package manager handles it. On Windows, you write a batch file.

This is that batch file.

What it does

• install Run the official installer and configure User PATH.
• update Re-run the installer to fetch the latest version.
• uninstall Remove the install directory and clean User PATH.
• repair Fix PATH for an existing install (no reinstall).
• repair-system Clean Claude leftovers under the SYSTEM profile (UAC-elevates).
• disable-desktop-alias Remove the Claude Desktop App execution alias that shadows the CLI.
• doctor Diagnose install state, PATH, version, and conflicts.
• path Show install directory, install kind, PATH state, and all detected install candidates.
• version Show wrapper and Claude Code versions.
• where Show where the claude command resolves from.
• help Print usage.

All write operations are idempotent. Running install twice does the right thing. Running repair when nothing is broken is a no-op.

Requirements

• Windows 10 or 11 (cmd, PowerShell 5.1+).
• Standard user account. Do not run as Administrator. Claude Code installs per-user; running elevated tends to land it under the SYSTEM profile.
• Network access to https://claude.ai.

Install

1. Download claude-code-install-manager.cmd to a folder you can find again (for example C:\Tools\claude-code-install-manager\).

2. Optional but convenient: add that folder to your User PATH so you can run claude-code-install-manager from anywhere.

3. Open a regular Command Prompt or PowerShell window.

4. Run:

   claude-code-install-manager install
   

The script will run the official installer, detect where claude.exe landed, add that directory to your User PATH, broadcast the environment change so other applications notice, refresh PATH in the current shell, and verify the binary runs.

Usage

claude-code-install-manager <subcommand> [flags]

Subcommands

Command	Purpose
install	Install Claude Code (default if no subcommand given).
update	Update to the latest version. Falls back to install if absent.
uninstall	Remove the install directory and clean PATH entries.
repair	Fix PATH for an existing install without reinstalling.
repair-system	Clean Claude leftovers under C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\ from an accidental admin-elevated install. Re-launches itself elevated via UAC.
disable-desktop-alias	Remove %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Claude.exe so the Claude Desktop App stops hijacking the claude command. Tries Remove-Item first; falls back to takeown + icacls + del if needed.
doctor	Print a full diagnostic report.
path	Show install location, install kind, PATH state in User and Machine scopes, where claude resolution, Desktop App alias presence, and every detected install candidate.
version	Print wrapper version and claude --version.
where	Show where claude resolves from.
help	Show usage.

Aliases: upgrade for update, remove for uninstall, fix for repair, --repair-system-profile for repair-system, fix-alias for disable-desktop-alias, check for doctor, which for where, --help and -h for help.

Flags

Flags must appear after the subcommand.

Flag	Purpose
--force, -f	Proceed despite warnings; reinstall if already present.
--yes, -y	Auto-confirm prompts (admin warning, uninstall confirm).
--quiet, -q	Suppress informational output. Errors still print.
--verbose, -v	Extra debug output.
--download-only	Download installer to %TEMP%, show SHA256, do not run.

Environment variables

Variable	Effect
CCT_NO_PAUSE	If set (any value), skip the "Press any key to close" pause on exit.
CCT_NO_SPIN	If set (any value), suppress the spinner shown during long operations.

--quiet / -q also suppresses the spinner.

Progress display

For operations that take more than ~1 second and are otherwise silent — installer download, install-directory removal during uninstall, SYSTEM-profile cleanup during repair-system — the script renders a single-line spinner with the elapsed time, refreshing every 120 ms:

[|] Downloading installer from https://claude.ai/install.ps1  00:03

When the operation finishes, the spinner line is replaced in place with an OK / FAIL line plus the total time:

[OK  ] Downloading installer from https://claude.ai/install.ps1  (00:07)

Operations that already produce their own progress output (the upstream Claude Code installer's own stdout, for instance) are deliberately not wrapped in the spinner — that would buffer their output until the end. Set CCT_NO_SPIN=1 for plain text-only output (useful in CI or in terminals that don't honor carriage-return-based overwrites).

Examples

Install fresh:

claude-code-install-manager install

Force a clean reinstall:

claude-code-install-manager install --force

Update to the latest version:

claude-code-install-manager update

Diagnose why claude is not working:

claude-code-install-manager doctor

Fix PATH after a manual installer run that did not register correctly:

claude-code-install-manager repair

Uninstall without prompts:

claude-code-install-manager uninstall --yes

Inspect the installer script before running it:

claude-code-install-manager install --download-only

This prints the SHA256 hash and saved path. Open the .ps1 file, review it, then run it manually:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "%TEMP%\claude-installer-XXXX.ps1"

What the wrapper fixes

The following are real issues encountered using the bare installer:

claude not recognized after install. The native installer writes to the User PATH, but the current cmd or PowerShell session keeps its cached copy. The wrapper refreshes PATH in the current session and broadcasts WM_SETTINGCHANGE so other listening processes (Explorer, new terminals) pick up the change without a reboot.

Install location drift. Four different paths can hold a working claude binary, depending on which installer ran:

Path	Source
%USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\claude.exe	Current native installer
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\claude.exe	winget install Anthropic.ClaudeCode
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\claude\claude.exe (and bin\)	Older native installer
%APPDATA%\npm\claude.cmd	npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

The wrapper checks all of them in that order and records which kind of install it found. There is no canonical "where is claude" you can ask Windows; this list is the answer.

WinGet and native installer collide silently. Running the native installer when WinGet already installed Claude Code creates two complete copies, neither aware of the other, with PATH order deciding which one claude runs. Upstream: anthropics/claude-code#31980. doctor reports both, and uninstall refuses to delete a WinGet-managed copy (which would corrupt WinGet's package database) and tells you to run winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode instead.

Claude Desktop App hijacks the claude command. The desktop app installs a Windows App Execution Alias at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Claude.exe. WindowsApps typically sits high on PATH, so claude from a terminal launches the Electron desktop app instead of the CLI — silently, with no warning. Upstream: anthropics/claude-code#25075, #24903. doctor reports the alias's presence; install, update, and repair warn when their verification step sees claude resolving to it. Disable in: Settings → Apps → Advanced app settings → App execution aliases.

Stale PATH entries after uninstall. Removing the binary by hand leaves dead PATH entries. uninstall cleans them.

Lost REG_EXPAND_SZ on PATH. Some tools write PATH back as REG_SZ, breaking %VAR% expansion for other entries. The wrapper preserves the original registry value kind.

Silent admin-elevation footgun. Running the installer as Administrator puts files under the SYSTEM profile, not yours. The wrapper warns before proceeding.

Console window closes before you can read it. If you launch the script by double-clicking it from Explorer, cmd opens, runs the script, and slams the window shut. Any error message vanishes with it. The wrapper detects double-click invocation (by inspecting %cmdcmdline% for its own basename) and pauses with Press any key to close... before exiting. Running from an existing terminal — where output stays on screen — does not pause, so automation is not blocked. Set CCT_NO_PAUSE=1 to suppress the pause unconditionally.

No diagnostics. When something is wrong, the bare installer offers no help. doctor reports:

• OS, user, Windows version, PowerShell version.
• Privilege level (admin or standard user).
• Install location (which of the four paths, and its detected "kind").
• Installed version.
• PATH status in both User and Machine scopes.
• Command resolution from the current session.
• All conflicting installs (with the upstream issue reference).
• Claude Desktop App execution-alias hijack check.
• PowerShell execution policy across all scopes, with a flag if MachinePolicy or UserPolicy is set by Group Policy (which overrides Set-ExecutionPolicy).
• Git Bash detection — CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH value if set, otherwise where bash.exe. Claude Code's Bash tool requires Git Bash on Windows; the absence of either is a real failure mode (#3461, #25593).
• Config-directory presence.

Unhelpful error output. Common failure paths now include a next-step hint — PATH-write failures point at group policy and at doctor; a present-but-broken claude.exe suggests reinstall under --force; PATH-clean failures point at the manual System Properties fallback.

How PATH is handled

Lookup order

When any subcommand needs to know "where is claude", the wrapper checks five paths in this order and records the kind of install it found:

1. %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin\claude.exe — native
2. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WinGet\Links\claude.exe — winget
3. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\claude\claude.exe — legacy-native
4. %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\claude\bin\claude.exe — legacy-native
5. %APPDATA%\npm\claude.cmd — npm

If none match, the wrapper falls back to where claude — but with %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Claude.exe explicitly filtered out, since that path resolves to the Claude Desktop App's execution alias, not the CLI.

claude-code-install-manager path prints all five candidates (marking the active one with *), the install kind, User and Machine PATH state, what where claude currently resolves to, and a warning if the Desktop App alias is present.

Adding to PATH

The wrapper writes directly to HKCU\Environment via PowerShell, preserving the existing value kind (REG_EXPAND_SZ by default, falling back to REG_SZ only if the original was REG_SZ). After the registry write it broadcasts WM_SETTINGCHANGE with lParam = "Environment" to notify other running processes. Newly launched processes will see the change immediately; already-running ones depend on whether they listen for the broadcast (most shells do not, which is why VS Code or an existing cmd window must be restarted).

Why not setx? setx truncates values at 1024 characters, silently corrupting long PATHs. The wrapper avoids it for that reason.

Removing from PATH

uninstall cleans these directories from the User PATH:

• %USERPROFILE%\.local\bin
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\claude
• %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\claude\bin

The WinGet Links directory is not cleaned, because it's shared by every WinGet-managed CLI on the system. The npm prefix is also not cleaned, for the same reason. If Claude Code was installed via either of those, uninstall refuses (for WinGet) or leaves the PATH entry alone (for npm) — you remove the install through its native package manager.

Privileges

This is a per-user tool. Every operation except repair-system (and the admin-fallback path of disable-desktop-alias) runs as a standard user. The wrapper writes only to HKCU\Environment; it never touches HKLM, C:\Program Files, system services, or anything outside the current user's profile.

install, update, uninstall, repair, doctor, path, version, and where actively refuse to run as Administrator by default (:CheckAdmin warns and aborts unless you pass --yes / --force). That guard exists because running the upstream installer elevated lands claude.exe under C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\ — useless for the actual user. repair-system is the antidote for the case where that already happened, and is the only subcommand that intentionally calls UAC.

Repair / cleanup subcommands

repair-system

Removes Claude Code files left under the SYSTEM account's profile after someone ran the bare installer elevated. The wrapper:

1. Detects whether the current process is elevated.
2. If not, asks for confirmation and re-launches itself via Start-Process -Verb RunAs (Windows shows the UAC prompt). The elevated re-launch passes --yes so the second window does not stall waiting for input.
3. In the elevated session, walks three known paths:
   • %SystemRoot%\System32\config\systemprofile\.local\bin\claude.exe
   • %SystemRoot%\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Local\Programs\claude\
   • %SystemRoot%\System32\config\systemprofile\AppData\Roaming\npm\claude.cmd
4. Refuses (with a hard substring check) to touch any path that does not start with %SystemRoot%\System32\config\systemprofile\, so a bug or a malicious %SystemRoot% override can't escape that tree.
5. Reports cleaned / failed counts.

You can run it directly:

claude-code-install-manager repair-system --yes

or with the long alias the user might guess from the flag-style name:

claude-code-install-manager --repair-system-profile

disable-desktop-alias

Removes the Windows App Execution Alias the Claude Desktop App installs at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Claude.exe. The alias is a reparse point owned by the AppX subsystem and refuses ordinary delete operations, so the wrapper tries the cheap path first and escalates only when needed:

1. Remove-Item -Force via PowerShell. Works on some Windows builds for files the user owns.

2. If that fails: re-prompts for admin (or errors out telling the user how to re-run elevated), then takeown /f + icacls /grant

   • del /f /q.

3. If even step 2 fails, prints the only sticky fix: open Settings → Apps → Advanced app settings → App execution aliases and toggle Claude off. Windows regenerates the alias on the next Claude Desktop App update, so the Settings toggle is the permanent answer even when the delete succeeds — the wrapper tells you this in both branches.

   claude-code-install-manager disable-desktop-alias --yes

Security notes

• The script downloads from https://claude.ai/install.ps1. PowerShell validates TLS by default; no certificate pinning is done beyond that.
• Use --download-only to inspect the installer locally before execution. The SHA256 hash is printed so you can record or compare it.
• No credentials, tokens, or telemetry are sent by this wrapper. It only reads and writes your own HKCU\Environment, calls the official installer, and runs claude --version for verification.
• The wrapper never writes to HKLM or system directories.
• uninstall preserves %USERPROFILE%\.claude\. Configuration and conversation history are kept. Delete that directory manually for a full wipe.

Troubleshooting

claude is still not found after install

1. Close every terminal window (not just the tab; the whole window).
2. Open a new one and try again.
3. If still failing, run claude-code-install-manager doctor and look at the "PATH status" and "Command resolution" sections.

Installer fails behind a corporate proxy

• Use --download-only to download via Invoke-WebRequest, which honors $env:HTTPS_PROXY more reliably, then run the saved script manually.
• If TLS inspection breaks the download, the proxy team needs to add an exception for claude.ai.

"PowerShell execution policy" error

-ExecutionPolicy Bypass is set on every internal PowerShell call, so the wrapper itself runs even under a restricted policy. If the installer sub-script still fails, run from an elevated PowerShell briefly to confirm:

Get-ExecutionPolicy -List

If MachinePolicy is AllSigned or stricter and is set by Group Policy, your IT team controls this and you cannot override it from user space.

Multiple installs reported by doctor

Pick the one you want to keep. Remove the others by deleting their parent folders, then run claude-code-install-manager repair so PATH points to the survivor.

Exception — WinGet-managed install: don't delete it by hand. Run winget uninstall Anthropic.ClaudeCode first, then claude-code-install-manager repair (or install if you want the native installer's copy). uninstall in this wrapper refuses to touch a WinGet copy for this reason.

claude launches the desktop app instead of the CLI

The Claude Desktop App installs a Windows App Execution Alias at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\WindowsApps\Claude.exe that can sit higher on PATH than the CLI. doctor and install/repair verification both flag this. To fix:

1. Open Settings → Apps → Advanced app settings → App execution aliases.
2. Find the Claude entry and toggle it off.
3. Open a fresh terminal.
4. where claude should now point at the CLI, not WindowsApps.

You can also remove the file directly, but Windows may regenerate it on the next desktop-app update; the Settings toggle is sticky.

Claude Code's Bash tool fails on Windows

Claude Code's Bash tool relies on Git Bash on Windows; it cannot use Command Prompt or PowerShell as a shell. If the tool throws "No suitable shell found" or "Raw mode is not supported", install Git for Windows and either:

• Add C:\Program Files\Git\bin\ to PATH, or
• Set CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH to the full path of bash.exe.

doctor reports both states. Upstream references: #3461, #9883, #25593.

Uninstall left some files behind

The most common cause is a running claude process holding a file open. Close any terminals or editors that may have started a claude subprocess, then re-run claude-code-install-manager uninstall.

"Press any key to close" appears when I don't want it

The script pauses on exit when it thinks it was launched by double-click. The detection inspects %cmdcmdline%; if you wrap the script in cmd /c "claude-code-install-manager ..." from another shell, the detection sees the basename and triggers a pause. Set CCT_NO_PAUSE=1 in the environment to disable the pause for the entire process tree, or pass it inline:

cmd /c "set CCT_NO_PAUSE=1 && claude-code-install-manager install"

Known upstream issues this wrapper works around

For convenience, here is the list of anthropics/claude-code issues that motivate specific code paths in claude-code-install-manager.cmd. All are present in the official tracker as of May 2026.

Issue	Symptom	What the wrapper does
#3838	claude CLI not recognized after global install (Windows)	install + automatic PATH registration
#11358	Native installer doesn't add PATH	install + repair write PATH directly to HKCU
#14942	Installer reports success but claude.exe is missing	install re-runs FindClaude after the installer and errors clearly if nothing landed
#21365	Native install.ps1 does not add installation directory to PATH	Same — install adds it itself
#25075	Claude Desktop App installer hijacks the claude command	doctor and install/repair verification flag the alias path
#24903	Desktop App execution alias shadows Claude Code CLI in PATH	Same
#31980	Native installer and WinGet install to different locations silently	doctor lists both; uninstall refuses to delete WinGet's copy
#27634	WinGet install doesn't set up the native install at ~/.local/bin	install from this wrapper uses the native installer's location
#32098, #41578	False "PATH not set" warnings from the installer reading the wrong scope	Wrapper queries the registry directly, not the inherited process PATH
#42337	v2.1.89 regression: native installer succeeds but does not add .local\bin	Same — wrapper handles PATH itself
#3461, #25593	Claude Code requires Git Bash; "No suitable shell found" without it	doctor reports CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH and where bash.exe
#9883	Bash tool incompatible with MSYS / Git Bash (needs cygpath)	Documented; the wrapper can't fix the upstream tool but doctor surfaces the env

Run claude-code-install-manager doctor to see which of these apply to your machine right now.

Releases and code signing

Setting up signing for the first time? See docs/signing.md for the two supported paths (Azure Trusted Signing and PFX-from-a-CA), prerequisites, the exact gh secret set commands, and how to verify a signed build before cutting a real release.

Why a separate .exe

.cmd and .bat files cannot be Authenticode-signed. Windows' signature subsystem can only sign formats that carry a host-defined signature block:

Format	Signable	How signature is stored
.exe, .dll	yes	PE certificate table
.ps1, .psm1	yes	trailing # SIG # Begin signature block lines
.msi, .cab	yes	embedded
.cat	yes	embedded (catalog)
.cmd, .bat	no	no signature slot exists in the format

There is no published technique to attach an Authenticode signature to a .cmd file. SmartScreen sees an unsigned script and a Mark-of-the-Web alternate data stream and warns the user. The work-around used by every signed shell-script-style distribution on Windows (Chocolatey, scoop, etc.) is the same one this project uses: ship a tiny signed PE alongside the script.

Build & sign — scripts/build-launcher.ps1

The build script compiles scripts/launcher.cs into release/dist/claude-code-install-manager.exe, an Authenticode-signable launcher that simply re-exec's claude-code-install-manager.cmd (from the same directory) under cmd.exe, forwarding all arguments and returning the script's exit code. Users who run the signed .exe see the publisher name in the SmartScreen dialog instead of "Unknown publisher".

The launcher uses csc.exe from .NET Framework 4.x (shipped with every Windows 10 / 11 install), so there is no extra SDK dependency to build it.

Unsigned dev build:

.\scripts\build-launcher.ps1

Signed release using a PFX on disk:

$pwd = Read-Host -AsSecureString
.\scripts\build-launcher.ps1 -CertPath C:\certs\codesign.pfx -CertPassword $pwd

Signed release using a thumbprint (recommended for EV certs in a hardware token, where the private key never touches disk):

.\scripts\build-launcher.ps1 -Thumbprint 1234ABCD...

After signing, the script runs signtool verify /pa /v against the output, writes release/dist/SHA256SUMS with post-sign hashes, and copies claude-code-install-manager.cmd next to the EXE so the launcher can find it.

Verify — scripts/verify-release.ps1

Ship this alongside the release. Users (or CI) can run it to confirm a download:

.\verify-release.ps1

The script:

1. Reads SHA256SUMS and re-hashes every file it references.
2. Runs Get-AuthenticodeSignature on claude-code-install-manager.exe and prints the subject, issuer, validity dates, thumbprint, and timestamp status. Warns if the signature has no RFC 3161 timestamp (which would make it expire with the cert).
3. Walks the release directory looking for Zone.Identifier alternate data streams (Mark-of-the-Web) and tells the user how to unblock them.
4. Exits non-zero on any mismatch.

Costs and gotchas

• A standard code-signing cert costs roughly USD 200 / year. EV certs (which build SmartScreen reputation faster) are USD 300+.
• Without an EV cert, a fresh signed .exe still triggers "SmartScreen Filter prevented an unrecognized app from starting" on first launch until enough installs build reputation. Users can click "More info" → "Run anyway" once; subsequent launches on the same machine are silent.
• The build script always passes /tr (RFC 3161 timestamp). Do not remove this — without a timestamp, the signature stops validating the day the cert expires, even on existing downloads.
• Sign artifacts before publishing the SHA256SUMS file. The build script does this in the right order.

Uninstalling the wrapper itself

The wrapper is a single file. Delete claude-code-install-manager.cmd and, if you added its folder to PATH, remove that entry from User environment variables.

License

MIT — see LICENSE. Copyright (c) 2026 Simtabi LLC.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. Vulnerability disclosure lives in SECURITY.md. Project participation is governed by the Contributor Covenant 2.1.