# career-ops on Windows

Source: https://career-ops.org/docs/windows (canonical HTML, identical content)

> 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 [#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` on an update — runs a `materializeSkillEntrypoints` step that replaces those pointer files with the full skill content. 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-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"](https://github.com/santifer/career-ops/blob/main/docs/FAQ.md) — the canonical answer, kept in sync with the installer.
* [docs/SETUP.md](https://github.com/santifer/career-ops/blob/main/docs/SETUP.md) — full setup guide.

Once installed, pick your engine in [Set up a free AI engine](https://career-ops.org/docs/free-ai-engine.md) or use any [supported CLI](https://career-ops.org/docs/supported-clis.md), then continue to the [Quick Start](https://career-ops.org/docs.md).