Quick start: Windows, Claude desktop

For a Windows PC with the Claude desktop app, working on files on this computer. About ten minutes. The first two steps are done once per computer.

1. Get the computer ready

Claude needs Git on the computer before it can add a plugin. Node.js is optional (the tests check uses it; Steadyship installs it when needed).

The easy way: one script installs Git and Node.js if they are missing, checks for Claude desktop, and downloads a spare copy of the plugin. It changes nothing else.

1. Open PowerShell: press Start, type PowerShell, press Enter.

2. Paste this line and press Enter. Say Yes if Windows asks for permission.

   irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cookc/steadyship/main/scripts/setup-windows.ps1 | iex

3. Read what it printed. Anything marked to do is for you; RESULT: READY means you are done here.

By hand:

1. Open PowerShell.
2. Run winget install --id Git.Git -e and say Yes to the permission prompt.
3. Optional: run winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e.

Then: if Claude desktop was already open, quit it fully (right-click its icon by the clock, then Quit) and open it again. It only notices Git after a restart.

2. Add the plugin to Claude

1. Click Customize in the left sidebar, then the Plugins tab.
2. Click Add marketplace, type cookc/steadyship, and add it.
3. Find steadyship in the list and click Install.

If it fails with “failed to update marketplace”, “couldn’t check for updates”, or the plugin stays on an old version: that is a known Claude desktop problem, not your computer. Use the spare copy instead.

1. The zip is at Downloads\steadyship-plugin.zip if you ran the setup script. Otherwise download steadyship-plugin.zip from https://github.com/cookc/steadyship/releases/latest.
2. Customize, Plugins, Add, Upload plugin, and choose the zip.

3. Set it up for your business

1. Start a new chat and point it at a new, empty folder: use the folder chooser below the message box (“Choose…”, then “Open folder…”), pick or create an empty folder, and allow it as trusted when asked.
2. Say Set up Steadyship for and answer the questions: the business name, who holds the accounts, who decides what the business relies on, and where the shared spreadsheets live. Creating a private GitHub repository is an optional last step; it only happens if you say yes.
3. Copy your apps into the new folder’s apps/, one folder per app. File Explorer is fine for this. If you have notes on how the business works (a process guide, a glossary, who uses what), put them in docs/context/business/ as .md files, or ask Steadyship to write them from your Word documents. Steadyship reads them before every assessment, review and change.
4. Say Check this computer. Three one-minute checks run in one go: can Claude reach GitHub from here, can it read and write the shared drive your apps depend on, can it open one of your apps in a test browser. Each ends in a plain PASS, FAIL or SKIP, and the results are written into the repository so nobody has to wonder again. A FAIL is good news arriving early: the thing that would have bitten you three months in, found before anything was built on top of it.
5. Say What apps do we have and where is the same information kept twice? Steadyship lists your apps by name and writes an assessment of each into docs/assessment/.
6. Say Review the , using one of the app names from that list, for a plain Yes / No / Prototype verdict on whether the team can rely on it.
7. From then on, ask for changes the way you normally would. Steadyship asks one or two questions first (what the new thing attaches to, where its data should live, whether something you already have does it), records the answer, and then builds.

4. Just looking? Try the demo business

No apps to hand yet? Demo Boatworks is a made-up boat builder with six apps its staff built with Claude, and the spreadsheets they run on. In a new, empty folder say Try Steadyship with the demo business, then the same prompts as step 3 from “Check this computer” on. Its app list includes job-board, so Review the job board is a good first review.

The tests check installs Node.js and a test browser if they are missing. No terminal needed beyond step 1.

Quick start: Windows, Claude Code in a terminal

For a Windows PC using Claude Code from PowerShell or Windows Terminal. About ten minutes. The first two steps are done once per computer.

1. Get the computer ready

Claude needs Git on the computer before it can add a plugin. Node.js is optional (the tests check uses it; Steadyship installs it when needed).

The easy way: one script installs Git and Node.js if they are missing, checks for Claude desktop, and downloads a spare copy of the plugin. It changes nothing else.

1. Open PowerShell: press Start, type PowerShell, press Enter.

2. Paste this line and press Enter. Say Yes if Windows asks for permission.

   irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cookc/steadyship/main/scripts/setup-windows.ps1 | iex

3. Read what it printed. Anything marked to do is for you; RESULT: READY means you are done here.

By hand:

1. Open PowerShell.
2. Run winget install --id Git.Git -e and say Yes to the permission prompt.
3. Optional: run winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e.

If Claude Code is not installed yet, install it from https://claude.ai/code and sign in once with claude.

2. Add the plugin to Claude Code

In a terminal, run:

claude plugin marketplace add cookc/steadyship
claude plugin install steadyship@steadyship

Or, inside a Claude Code session, /plugin marketplace add cookc/steadyship then /plugin install steadyship@steadyship. Restart Claude Code afterwards.

3. Set it up for your business

1. Make a new, empty folder, open a terminal in it, and run claude.
2. Say Set up Steadyship for and answer the questions: the business name, who holds the accounts, who decides what the business relies on, and where the shared spreadsheets live. Creating a private GitHub repository is an optional last step; it only happens if you say yes.
3. Copy your apps into the new folder’s apps/, one folder per app. If you have notes on how the business works (a process guide, a glossary, who uses what), put them in docs/context/business/ as .md files, or ask Steadyship to write them from your Word documents. Steadyship reads them before every assessment, review and change.
4. Say Check this computer. Three one-minute checks run in one go: can Claude reach GitHub from here, can it read and write the shared drive your apps depend on, can it open one of your apps in a test browser. Each ends in a plain PASS, FAIL or SKIP, and the results are written into the repository so nobody has to wonder again. A FAIL is good news arriving early: the thing that would have bitten you three months in, found before anything was built on top of it.
5. Say What apps do we have and where is the same information kept twice? Steadyship lists your apps by name and writes an assessment of each into docs/assessment/.
6. Say Review the , using one of the app names from that list, for a plain Yes / No / Prototype verdict on whether the team can rely on it.
7. From then on, ask for changes the way you normally would. Steadyship asks one or two questions first (what the new thing attaches to, where its data should live, whether something you already have does it), records the answer, and then builds.

4. Just looking? Try the demo business

No apps to hand yet? Demo Boatworks is a made-up boat builder with six apps its staff built with Claude, and the spreadsheets they run on. In a new, empty folder say Try Steadyship with the demo business, then the same prompts as step 3 from “Check this computer” on. Its app list includes job-board, so Review the job board is a good first review.

The tests check installs Node.js and a test browser if they are missing.

Quick start: Mac, Claude desktop

For a Mac with the Claude desktop app. About ten minutes. On a Mac, Claude desktop runs its tools in a separate Linux environment and shows your attached folder inside it, so a few things differ from Windows; this page says where. The first two steps are done once per computer.

Last checked on an earlier Steadyship version (19 Oct 2026); if something on this page does not match what you see, say so.

1. Get the computer ready

Git is usually already on a Mac. If adding the plugin in step 2 complains that git is required, open Terminal (Spotlight, type Terminal), run xcode-select --install, accept the prompt, then quit and reopen Claude desktop.

2. Add the plugin to Claude

1. Click Customize in the left sidebar, then the Plugins tab.
2. Click Add marketplace, type cookc/steadyship, and add it.
3. Find steadyship in the list and click Install.

If it fails with “failed to update marketplace”, “couldn’t check for updates”, or the plugin stays on an old version: that is a known Claude desktop problem, not your computer. Download steadyship-plugin.zip from https://github.com/cookc/steadyship/releases/latest, then Customize, Plugins, Add, Upload plugin, and choose the zip.

3. Set it up for your business

1. Start a new chat and point it at a new, empty folder: use the folder chooser below the message box (“Choose…”, then “Open folder…”), pick or create an empty folder, and allow it as trusted when asked.
2. Say Set up Steadyship for and answer the questions: the business name, who holds the accounts, who decides what the business relies on, and where the shared spreadsheets live. Creating a private GitHub repository is an optional last step; it only happens if you say yes.
3. Copy your apps into the new folder’s apps/, one folder per app. Finder is fine for this. If you have notes on how the business works (a process guide, a glossary, who uses what), put them in docs/context/business/ as .md files, or ask Steadyship to write them from your Word documents. Steadyship reads them before every assessment, review and change.
4. Say Check this computer. Three one-minute checks run in one go: can Claude reach GitHub from here, can it read and write the shared drive your apps depend on, can it open one of your apps in a test browser. Each ends in a plain PASS, FAIL or SKIP, and the results are written into the repository so nobody has to wonder again. A FAIL is good news arriving early: the thing that would have bitten you three months in, found before anything was built on top of it.
5. Say What apps do we have and where is the same information kept twice? Steadyship lists your apps by name and writes an assessment of each into docs/assessment/.
6. Say Review the , using one of the app names from that list, for a plain Yes / No / Prototype verdict on whether the team can rely on it.
7. From then on, ask for changes the way you normally would. Steadyship asks one or two questions first (what the new thing attaches to, where its data should live, whether something you already have does it), records the answer, and then builds.

4. Just looking? Try the demo business

No apps to hand yet? Demo Boatworks is a made-up boat builder with six apps its staff built with Claude, and the spreadsheets they run on. In a new, empty folder say Try Steadyship with the demo business, then the same prompts as step 3 from “Check this computer” on. Its app list includes job-board, so Review the job board is a good first review.

Two Mac-specific notes. The environment check may say persistence is “unknown” the first time: run “Check this computer” again in a new chat to get the answer. The tests check may FAIL because the test browser cannot be downloaded in that environment; Steadyship records that and the tests run on GitHub instead once the repository is there.

Quick start: Mac or Linux, Claude Code in a terminal

For a Mac or Linux computer using Claude Code from a terminal. About ten minutes. The first two steps are done once per computer.

1 and 2. Get the computer ready and add the plugin

One line does both. It checks for Git and Node.js, tells you what to do if either is missing, and installs the plugin into Claude Code. Safe to run again.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/cookc/steadyship/main/scripts/setup.sh | bash

Read what it printed. Anything marked to do is for you; RESULT: READY means you are done here. If Claude Code itself is missing, install it from https://claude.ai/code, sign in once with claude, and run the line again.

By hand, the same thing is:

claude plugin marketplace add cookc/steadyship
claude plugin install steadyship@steadyship

3. Set it up for your business

1. Make a new, empty folder, open a terminal in it, and run claude.
2. Say Set up Steadyship for and answer the questions: the business name, who holds the accounts, who decides what the business relies on, and where the shared spreadsheets live. Creating a private GitHub repository is an optional last step; it only happens if you say yes.
3. Copy your apps into the new folder’s apps/, one folder per app. If you have notes on how the business works (a process guide, a glossary, who uses what), put them in docs/context/business/ as .md files, or ask Steadyship to write them from your Word documents. Steadyship reads them before every assessment, review and change.
4. Say Check this computer. Three one-minute checks run in one go: can Claude reach GitHub from here, can it read and write the shared drive your apps depend on, can it open one of your apps in a test browser. Each ends in a plain PASS, FAIL or SKIP, and the results are written into the repository so nobody has to wonder again. A FAIL is good news arriving early: the thing that would have bitten you three months in, found before anything was built on top of it.
5. Say What apps do we have and where is the same information kept twice? Steadyship lists your apps by name and writes an assessment of each into docs/assessment/.
6. Say Review the , using one of the app names from that list, for a plain Yes / No / Prototype verdict on whether the team can rely on it.
7. From then on, ask for changes the way you normally would. Steadyship asks one or two questions first (what the new thing attaches to, where its data should live, whether something you already have does it), records the answer, and then builds.

4. Just looking? Try the demo business

No apps to hand yet? Demo Boatworks is a made-up boat builder with six apps its staff built with Claude, and the spreadsheets they run on. In a new, empty folder say Try Steadyship with the demo business, then the same prompts as step 3 from “Check this computer” on. Its app list includes job-board, so Review the job board is a good first review.

The tests check needs Node.js; on Mac and Linux it says so rather than installing it (https://nodejs.org).