CLIO Coder

Install CLIO Coder

Read the full guide
On this pageInstall Confirm the installation Open a project Update, roll back and remove Give CLIO Coder a useful first task Keep going When you need more detail Related tutorials

Install CLIO Coder

Install, update, and launch CLIO Coder on your machine.

Install

You need a model with tool calling. Linux, macOS and WSL are the primary platforms; native Windows is best effort. Every command below installs the latest release. Choose the tab for your system.

macOS, Linux and WSL

Shell

curl -fsSL https://coder.iowarp.ai/install.sh | sh

The installer brings its own Node.js 24 and needs no root, including on x64 HPC login nodes with glibc 2.17 or newer. It checks the Node download against its published SHA-256 checksums, and their OpenPGP signature when gpg is installed. It installs under ~/.local/share/clio-coder-install on Linux or ~/Library/Application Support/clio-coder/install on macOS, and writes the launcher ~/.local/bin/clio-coder.

On Linux, an install run from a terminal ends by offering the desktop app, which starts at login and appears in your app menu. The optional Claude Agent SDK, about 224 MB, is skipped; CLIO Coder offers to fetch it the first time you need it.

Pass options after sh -s --. For example, --modify-path adds the launcher directory to your shell profile, --gui sets up the desktop app without asking, and --include-claude-sdk installs the SDK now:

Shell

curl -fsSL https://coder.iowarp.ai/install.sh | sh -s -- --modify-path

On a cluster, read Install on a cluster.

PowerShell

Native Windows is best effort, so use the current stable release. Install, repair, rollback and uninstall were checked by hand on an earlier release, on one x64 machine with PowerShell 5.1. An optional release job boots the package on Windows and runs only --version and --help, and no automated check covers the native install. The install needs no administrator rights. WSL with the macOS, Linux and WSL command is the better-tested route.

PowerShell

irm https://coder.iowarp.ai/install.ps1 | iex

PowerShell shows PS C:\> at the prompt. If curl ... | sh reports that sh is not recognized, you are in Windows rather than WSL.

CMD

The same best-effort install, started from CMD.

CMD

powershell -NoProfile -Command "irm https://coder.iowarp.ai/install.ps1 | iex"

CMD shows C:\> without the PS. If you see 'irm' is not recognized as an internal or external command, you ran the PowerShell command in CMD; use the command above.

npm

With your own Node.js 22.19 or newer on PATH:

Shell

npm install -g @iowarp/clio-coder

bun

Shell

bun add -g @iowarp/clio-coder

bun installs the package, but clio-coder still runs on Node.js, so it needs Node.js 22.19 or newer on PATH too.

Confirm the installation

Open a new terminal and run:

Shell

clio-coder --version

It prints the installed version. If the shell says clio-coder: command not found, the launcher directory is not on your PATH yet. Add the line the installer printed to ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc, or install again with --modify-path:

Shell

export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"

command -v clio-coder shows which file the name runs. If it is not ~/.local/bin/clio-coder, an older install comes first on your PATH; remove it or reorder PATH. clio-coder doctor checks the installation and connections.

Open a project

Shell

cd /path/to/your/project
clio-coder configure
clio-coder

On first launch, Guided setup asks what you have: an API key, a subscription, a model server or gateway, or a setup file from your lab or team. It sends the model one short test request and saves when the model answers. CLIO Coder has no account of its own; your provider may require credentials and charge for inference.

A new installation starts guided setup by itself, so clio-coder configure is optional. If you have used CLIO Coder before and no chat route is saved, it looks for a route it can use, such as a provider key in your environment, and opens chat with it. A model server found on a local port is used only after you say yes.

/config opens your connections inside a session, where Add a target runs setup again.

Prefer the desktop alpha? It is served from your own machine, opens in your browser, and shares the terminal's saved connections and settings. See the desktop app:

Shell

clio-coder gui --open

The browser has its own Guided setup; configuring in the terminal first is optional.

Update, roll back and remove

Installer installs update themselves in the background, at most once a day. On Linux and macOS, npm, pnpm, bun, and volta installs whose prefix you own update after an interactive session quits and no other process of that install remains. Set interface.autoUpdate: false or CLIO_CODER_AUTO_UPDATE=0 to keep only the notice. /upgrade reviews an update from inside the terminal. From the shell, update with the tool that installed it:

Installed with Update Remove the program
Installer clio-coder upgrade. The new version installs beside the current one and must start before the launcher switches to it. clio-coder uninstall
npm clio-coder upgrade npm uninstall -g @iowarp/clio-coder
bun bun add -g @iowarp/clio-coder@latest, then clio-coder upgrade --post-install bun remove -g @iowarp/clio-coder

The installer keeps the previous version. clio-coder upgrade --rollback makes it current again. An install made with an exact --version stays pinned to that version until you run the installer with --version latest.

If an upgrade is refused over a setting the installed version cannot repair, the installer prints the new version's own doctor --fix command to run.

clio-coder uninstall removes your settings, credentials, sessions and caches, the launcher, the desktop app's background service, and for an installer install the managed Node and every package version. It previews what it will delete and asks first, and it stops with exit 1 while a session is open on this state directory. Add --keep-binary to keep the program, --keep-config to keep settings and credentials, or --dry-run to only look. Removing the program with npm or bun keeps those files. Project .clio-coder/ directories are never removed.

If coder.iowarp.ai is unreachable, the latest GitHub release carries the full installer, at https://github.com/iowarp/clio-coder/releases/latest/download/install.sh.

Give CLIO Coder a useful first task

Start with a request that lets you assess its understanding of your project:

Explain how this repository builds and runs its tests. Identify the main entry points and suggest one verification task. Do not change files yet.

Then ask for a small change, name the files or behavior you care about, and tell CLIO Coder which checks should pass. Review the diff and recorded results before accepting the work.

Follow the desktop and terminal walkthrough, or try a numerical change with seven tests.

Keep going

When you need more detail

These web guides cover the essentials. Detailed documentation ships with CLIO Coder; ask it to look up the bundled guide for the feature you're using. Each page also links to its full source guide.