PalmtopAI preview

Getting started

Install palmtop, pair your devices and review your first checks in a few minutes.

What you need

  • macOS, Linux or Windows. On Windows it runs in PowerShell, or inside WSL.
  • Node.js 22 or newer: check with node --version.
  • A coding agent. Claude Code and Codex are set up for you, with a skill and the palmtop tools; any other agent works too, see Agents.
  • A phone, a tablet or another computer with a modern browser.

Install

Open a terminal (PowerShell on Windows) and run the command for your system. The home page shows the right one for the computer you are reading it on.

System Run this Installer
macOS, Linux, or a WSL terminal curl -fsSL https://palmtop.mtwa.it/install.sh | bash install.sh
Windows, in PowerShell irm https://palmtop.mtwa.it/install.ps1 | iex install.ps1

An agent that has to install palmtop for you can read install.md.

macOS, Linux and WSL

curl -fsSL https://palmtop.mtwa.it/install.sh | bash

The installer checks your system, downloads palmtop into ~/.palmtopai/bin and verifies its SHA-256, then asks:

  1. Which agents should use palmtop: Claude Code and Codex, the ones installed on this computer. It adds the palmtop skill, the palmtop tools (an MCP server) and the permissions to use them, and backs up the files it changes. See Agents.
  2. Whether to add palmtop to your PATH, at the end of your shell file (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, ~/.bash_profile on macOS, or a file in fish’s conf.d), after a backup. Only if palmtop isn’t on your PATH yet.
  3. Whether to pair a device now: it shows a QR code, see Pair your devices.

Then open a new terminal and start Claude Code or Codex in your project.

  • Run the installer again to update palmtop, or palmtop setup to set up an agent you installed later.
  • An agent that isn’t installed can’t be chosen. To set it up anyway: curl -fsSL https://palmtop.mtwa.it/install.sh | bash -s -- --force-agents-install.
  • It never uses sudo. Read the script before running it if you like.
  • Run by an agent or a script (no terminal), it asks nothing: it sets up the agents it finds and prints the steps left to you, including the PATH line.

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://palmtop.mtwa.it/install.ps1 | iex

It needs Windows PowerShell 5.1 or newer (the one every Windows has, or PowerShell 7) and Node.js 22 or newer. The installer downloads palmtop into %USERPROFILE%\.palmtopai\bin, verifies its SHA-256 and then runs palmtop setup, which asks:

  1. Which agents should use palmtop, as above.
  2. Whether to add palmtop to your Path: the user’s own variable, not the system’s, with the old value saved in %USERPROFILE%\.palmtopai\path-backup-*.txt. It also writes palmtop.cmd next to the program, which is what your terminal runs.
  3. Whether to pair a device now.

Then open a new terminal and start Claude Code or Codex in your project.

  • Run the installer again to update palmtop.
  • To pass an option to palmtop setup: & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://palmtop.mtwa.it/install.ps1))) --force-agents-install.
  • It never asks for administrator rights, and it doesn’t close your PowerShell window. Read the script before running it if you like.
  • Run by an agent or a script (no terminal), it asks nothing: it sets up the agents it finds and prints the steps left to you, including the PowerShell line for the Path.
  • The folder %USERPROFILE%\.palmtopai is limited to your Windows user and to the system.

Install by hand

On macOS, Linux or WSL:

mkdir -p ~/.palmtopai/bin && cd ~/.palmtopai/bin
curl -fsSL https://palmtop.mtwa.it/palmtop.mjs -o palmtop.mjs
chmod +x palmtop.mjs && ln -sf palmtop.mjs palmtop
./palmtop setup   # agents, PATH and pairing, as the installer does

On Windows, in PowerShell:

$dir = "$env:USERPROFILE\.palmtopai\bin"
New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force $dir | Out-Null
Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing https://palmtop.mtwa.it/palmtop.mjs -OutFile "$dir\palmtop.mjs"
node "$dir\palmtop.mjs" setup   # palmtop.cmd, Path, agents and pairing, as the installer does

The checksum to compare with is in version.json.

Windows (WSL)

If you work in WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux), palmtop runs there as a Linux tool, and the command for macOS and Linux above is the one to use. To get WSL, from PowerShell:

wsl --install

Open the Ubuntu terminal it installs, then do everything else inside WSL: Node.js 22, palmtop and your coding agent too. Start the agent from the WSL terminal: one started from PowerShell or from a Windows app doesn’t see the palmtop command and can’t put checks on your devices.

  • Install Node.js 22 in WSL (for example with nvm), not on Windows.
  • Run the installer from the WSL terminal.
  • palmtop pair opens the QR page in your Windows browser from WSL. If nothing opens, copy the link it prints into the browser.

Pair your devices

The installer offers to pair a device. To pair one later, or another one, open a terminal and run:

palmtop pair

A QR code opens, scan it with your phone or tablet: the app opens already paired with this computer, and shows every project on it — including the ones you start later. On a phone, add the page to your home screen so it feels like an app.

  • The QR page works once and expires after a minute: run palmtop pair again if needed.
  • To use the app in a browser on the same computer, click Open on this computer.
  • Pair once per device and per computer. Each device needs its own QR code.
  • App added to the Home Screen: it shows a code instead. Run palmtop pair CODE with that code, then check that the terminal and the device show the same number, see On the Home Screen.
  • Everything between your computer and your devices is end-to-end encrypted: see Security and privacy.

Your first checks

Ask your agent for something and for the checks, for example:

implement the plan and put the checks on palmtop

The agent does the work, then writes a checklist of things for you to test. Your devices show it live (and notifies you, if you turned notifications on). Try each check and mark it:

Mark Meaning
✓ It works. A note can confirm, or ask for a change
✕ It doesn’t work. A note can say what happens, or ask to remove the feature
? You need more information. The agent explains, without changing code

Leave a check unmarked if you didn’t test it. See review statuses for what the agent does with each mark and note. When you are done, tap Review done at the bottom of the session (Claude Code picks your review up by itself; other agents are not supported yet), or tell the agent in the chat, for example “I reviewed the checks on palmtop”, or just “Done”. It reads your review, fixes what doesn’t work and asks you to check those items again.

Next: learn the concepts behind projects, sessions and reviews.