---
title: "Install the Chrome extension"
description: "What the one-line installer does, where it puts the extension, and how an update works."
---

> Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://commentware.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Install the Chrome extension

import CopyText from "../../components/CopyText.astro";

Install the Chrome extension with one command, then load it into Chrome on the
page that command opens. At the end, Commentware is in Chrome, ready to connect
to a server.

## Prerequisites

- **Chrome**.
- **An invite code.** Select **Request access** on the [homepage](/) to ask for
  one. A browser that holds a code shows it on
  **[/lounge/account/](/lounge/account/)**, under "Your invite code".

## Run the installer

The same wherever your server ends up. One command, and no package manager is
involved.

1. Run the command for your system:

   **macOS and Linux**

```sh
curl -fsSL https://commentware.com/install/extension.sh | sh
```

It lands in ~/Commentware/bin. Run this command again to update the extension.

**Windows**

```powershell
iwr -useb https://commentware.com/install/extension.ps1 | iex
```

PowerShell 5.1, which is what Windows ships. It lands in %USERPROFILE%\Commentware\bin.

2. When the installer prints `Commentware is invite-only for now. Enter your
   invite code:`, type your code and press Enter. If it answers `That is not a
   valid invite code.`, it asks again, three tries in all.

3. Follow the page it opens in Chrome to load the extension.

Have the code ready: the installer asks for it first and keeps it on your
machine.

The command downloads `commentware-installer-cli` — a small binary with no runtime
behind it — and runs it. It checks the extension's signature, unpacks it into
`~/Commentware/extension` (`%USERPROFILE%\Commentware\extension` on Windows),
and opens **[/setup-extension/](/setup-extension/)** in Google Chrome, in a
profile called `Commentware`. That page walks you through loading the
extension into Chrome, with the directory ready to copy.

Learn more about [the invite code](/docs/concepts/install/#the-invite-code),
[what the installer checks before it unpacks
anything](/docs/concepts/install/#what-the-installer-checks-before-it-unpacks-anything)
and [the profile and how to choose
another](/docs/concepts/install/#a-chrome-profile-just-for-this).

## Check that it worked

The page the installer opened ends with the check.

## Update

To update, run the install command above again. The page the command opens
takes you through the rest, and [Update Commentware](/update-extension/) is the
same update from the start. The same run updates a server installed on this computer. Learn more
about [what a run installs and updates](/docs/concepts/install/#what-a-run-installs-and-updates).

## What you did

- Entered your invite code, which the installer checked and kept.
- Installed the extension, checked against its signature, into its own Chrome
  profile.
- Loaded it into Chrome from the directory the installer unpacked, on the page
  it opened.

## Next steps

- [Install a server](/docs/install-server/): run a server of your own, connect
  the extension to it, and leave your first comment.
- [Connect to a server](/docs/connect/): join a server somebody else runs.