rtk-ai/rtk

Request: Add totally manual install instructions

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#941 opened on Mar 31, 2026

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Description

The "installer" often breaks. Having a clear manual install path would be helpful in these scenarios: what files to copy and where to copy them to, what lines to add various documents, what directories to create, etc.

It seems there has been a little pushback on this or at least avoidance, not sure if there is reasoning behind having a solid documented manual install approach.

I'm on Windows using Claude Code, and attempted to follow install instructions with all the various approaches, to no avail. Nothing gets copied to hooks for example. Lines get added to CLAUDE.md, but the installer complains about various things.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
rustshell
Domain
documentationcli
Issue type
documentation
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
fresh
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
basic command line usageWindows file system navigation
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Review the existing installer script (likely in the repository's scripts or build directory) to understand which files are copied where. Check the repository's directory structure and any existing CLAUDE.md configuration. Document the manual steps: which binary or files to download, where to place them (e.g., in a PATH directory), and any configuration file additions. On Windows, specify exact paths like %APPDATA% or %LOCALAPPDATA%. Ensure the instructions cover the scenarios where the installer fails.