⚙️ Install contextd for Claude Code

Set up once in about 5 minutes, then use in any project.

Works on Linux · macOS · Windows

Need source code too? Open it on GitHub

VIEN
Pre-check 📥 Download (no Git needed) 1. Clone (with Git) 2. Run installer 3. Setup project Common issues Update ← Onboarding
🪟 Windows / Bash 🔍 No commands 📂 wiki_root error 🏢 Workspace not found 🔒 Permission error

📋 Before you start

Before you start, check these basics:

  • ✅ Claude Code CLI or an installed IDE extension with login complete (verify by running claude --version in terminal, or by seeing the Claude icon in VS Code/JetBrains).
  • ✅ Bash shell:
    • Linux/macOS: available by default (your standard terminal)
    • Windows: install Git for Windows (includes Git Bash) or enable WSL
  • ✅ Git (verify: git --version)
  • ⚪ Optional: Python ≥ 3.9 (only needed for scripts/validate.py and trace tools)

If you do NOT have Bash on Windows, see Common issues under "Windows without Bash".

📥 Easiest way: One command install (release URL via env)

Run one command to download + extract + install automatically from the latest GitHub release.

Linux / macOS one-liner 
curl -fsSL https://github.com/philngt/contextd/releases/latest/download/install.sh | sh
Windows PowerShell one-liner 
iwr https://github.com/philngt/contextd/releases/latest/download/install.ps1 -UseBasicParsing | iex

These URLs always point to the latest published installer assets.

Or download the zip manually if needed, then run the installer.

⬇️ Download contextd-latest.zip

This link works when opening files locally or when hosting a directory that includes release/.

1

Extract the zip

Extract to any folder — for example ~/wiki on Linux/macOS or D:\tool\wiki-template on Windows.

mkdir -p ~/wiki && unzip contextd-latest.zip -d ~/wiki
# The zip contains root folder 'wiki-template' → unzip creates ~/wiki/wiki-template/
cd ~/wiki/wiki-template
# PowerShell
Expand-Archive -Path contextd-latest.zip -DestinationPath D:\tool
# Creates D:\tool\wiki-template\
cd D:\tool\wiki-template

# Or Git Bash
unzip contextd-latest.zip -d /d/tool

Or right-click the zip file and choose "Extract All..." in File Explorer.

2

Run the installer

Same as Step 2 in the Git clone path — the file scripts/install-to-claude.sh is already in the zip:

bash scripts/install-to-claude.sh

Verify the same way as Git install: cat ~/.claude/wiki-global.json should show "wiki_root" with your extracted path.

3

Setup codebase

Same as Step 3 below — run /contextd-setup in your codebase.

⚠️ Future updates: you must download a new zip for each update — there is no git pull. We recommend Git clone if you update often.
💡 For maintainers: create a new zip with bash scripts/package-release.sh. Output is written to release/wiki-template-{version}.zip + release/contextd-latest.zip. It automatically excludes .git/, raw evidence, workspaces other than wiki/, and runs/cache/log files. See scripts/package-release.sh --help.

🔧 Stable path for technical users: Git clone

If you have Git and want easier updates later, use this path.

1

Download the repository

Choose any base folder — for example ~/wiki on Linux/macOS or D:\tool\wiki-template on Windows.

git clone https://github.com/philngt/contextd ~/contextd
cd ~/contextd
git clone https://github.com/philngt/contextd /d/tool/contextd
cd /d/tool/contextd

In Git Bash, Windows path D:\tool\ is written as /d/tool/ (forward slash).

This repo needs no build and no dependency install — it is markdown plus bash scripts.

2

Run the installer

Run this command (safe to run multiple times):

bash scripts/install-to-claude.sh

This command automatically does 3 things:

  • Syncs slash commands + subagents to ~/.claude/commands/ and ~/.claude/agents/ — Claude Code reads these folders automatically
  • Creates ~/.claude/wiki-global.json and points wiki_root to your cloned repo
  • Safe to run again: rerun after each git pull to refresh commands

Verify installation

Check that the config path is correct:

cat ~/.claude/wiki-global.json
# PowerShell
type $env:USERPROFILE\.claude\wiki-global.json

# Or Git Bash
cat ~/.claude/wiki-global.json

You should see field "wiki_root" with an absolute path to your cloned repo. Example:

{
  "wiki_root": "/home/user/wiki",
  "default_workspace": null,
  "obsidian": { ... }
}

Open Claude Code and run /contextd-setup → if the slash command appears in autocomplete, setup is successful.

3

Connect your first project

Go to the codebase folder where you want to use the wiki, open Claude Code (or the IDE extension) there, and run:

/contextd-setup

The setup flow guides you step by step:

  • Automatically detects project name + tech stack from package.json / pom.xml / Cargo.toml / ...
  • Prompts you to choose an existing workspace — or create a new workspace via /new-workspace {name}
  • Step 4.5 (Manage packs): shows checkboxes for all available packs; auto-detects and pre-selects based on stack
  • Creates <codebase>/.claude/wiki.json with complete config + per-codebase pack overrides
💡 You only run this once per project. After that, the wiki just works — you can use slash commands normally (/use-contextd, /find, /tool-design, ...).

Next: open index.html and choose a persona path (PM / Engineer / Wiki Owner / Solo Builder).

🔧 Common issues

Windows without Bash

If you do not have Git Bash or WSL, use these 4 manual steps:

  1. Copy templates\wiki-global.json → %USERPROFILE%\.claude\wiki-global.json
  2. Open the copied file in Notepad, change "wiki_root" to the absolute repo path, and use \\ instead of \: 
    {
  "wiki_root": "D:\\tool\\wiki-template",
  ...
}
  3. Copy folders .claude\commands\ and .claude\agents\ to %USERPROFILE%\.claude\: 
    xcopy /E /I /Y .claude\commands %USERPROFILE%\.claude\commands
xcopy /E /I /Y .claude\agents %USERPROFILE%\.claude\agents
  4. Verify: type %USERPROFILE%\.claude\wiki-global.json

Recommended: install Git for Windows (free) to get Git Bash → installer runs with one simple command.

Commands do not appear in Claude Code

Error wiki_root not found when running slash commands

/contextd-setup shows "workspace not found"

Permission error when running installer

🔄 Future updates

After each git pull in the wiki-template repo, re-run the installer to sync updated slash commands:

cd ~/wiki
git pull
bash scripts/install-to-claude.sh   # idempotent — updates everything
💡 When should you update?
  • The wiki-template repo has new slash commands (e.g. newly shipped /tool-design)
  • New packs were added to packs/
  • Engine constraints / coding-rules were updated (new validator rules)

Your workspaces (workspaces/{your-ws}/) are data — they are not affected by engine updates.

← Back to Onboarding QUICKSTART.md (text) README.md GitHub Repository