career-ops on Windows
career-ops runs first-class on Windows. The one platform caveat — symlinks — is handled automatically by the installer, with no admin mode, no mklink, and no minimum-OS requirement.
Yes — career-ops runs first-class on Windows. There is one Windows-specific caveat, and the installer handles it for you automatically: no Developer Mode, no manual mklink, and no minimum-OS requirement. If you have Node installed, you install and run career-ops on Windows exactly like anywhere else.
The one Windows caveat, handled for you
Windows does not create symlinks by default, so a fresh Git checkout leaves the CLI skill entrypoints (.claude/skills/, .opencode/skills/, and so on) as plain pointer files instead of real symlinks — which is what causes the "skills aren't loading" error people hit on other tools.
career-ops detects this automatically. Running the installer or updater — npx @santifer/career-ops init on a fresh install, or node update-system.mjs apply --confirm on an update — runs a materializeSkillEntrypoints step that replaces those pointer files with the full skill content. From a linked Git worktree, node update-system.mjs apply --confirm makes this repair in your main checkout. Run git merge main in the worktree to pick it up; worktrees created from the updated main already have it. With CAREER_OPS_UPDATE_IN_WORKTREE=1 set, apply repairs only that worktree's branch instead, and main stays unrepaired. You do not need admin rights, Developer Mode, or any manual mklink command.
No minimum-OS requirement
career-ops does not require any particular Windows (or macOS) version. If Node runs, career-ops runs. Any claim of a minimum OS version you may have seen elsewhere is not accurate.
The canonical setup reference
The technical detail — the exact installer behaviour, PowerShell and CMD command variants, and the rest of the FAQ — lives in the core repo and stays current there:
- docs/FAQ.md — "Skills aren't loading on Windows" — the canonical answer, kept in sync with the installer.
- docs/SETUP.md — full setup guide.
Once installed, pick your engine in Set up a free AI engine or use any supported CLI, then continue to the Quick Start.
AI job search with Claude Code
Use Claude Code as an AI job search agent: career-ops scans job boards, scores listings against your CV and drafts your applications. You decide and send.
What is career-ops
career-ops is a free, open-source AI job-search system that runs locally inside the AI CLI you already use — scoring jobs, tailoring your CV, tracking applications.