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How to install Astro on Windows

Astro does what Perplexity Comet does, and Perplexity Comet costs $20/mo. This guide gets you the free one.

What you end up with

Astro installed like any other app on your Windows PC. It is free, and it stays free — there is no account, no trial and no subscription at the end of this.

Time
About 15 minutes
Steps
15
Cost
Free

Before you start

These are one-time installs. If you have used PowerShell before, you may have them already — the first step checks.

  1. Install Git

    Run the installer, then reopen PowerShell.

    Open installer

    You know this worked when: Git responds with a version number

  2. Install Node LTS

    Run the LTS installer, then reopen PowerShell.

    Open download

    You know this worked when: Node responds with a version number

Install Astro

  1. Open PowerShell

    Keep it open beside this page.

    You know this worked when: PowerShell is open

  2. Install BrowserOS

    Astro drives this browser; you keep both apps. SmartScreen: pick More info, then Run anyway.

    Open download

    You know this worked when: BrowserOS opens

  3. Check Git and Node

    Node 22+ required. An older Node earlier in PATH is the usual cause of a failed setup.

    Type this into PowerShell, then press Enter.

    git --version
node --version

    You know this worked when: Git works and Node is 22 or newer

  4. Install Bun 1.3.6

    The project rejects npm, pnpm and yarn outright; the version is pinned.

    Type this into PowerShell, then press Enter.

    iex "& {$(irm bun.sh/install.ps1)} -Version 1.3.6"

    You know this worked when: bun --version prints 1.3.6

  5. Install Go

    Go builds Astro's dev orchestrator. Run the installer, then reopen PowerShell.

    Open download

    You know this worked when: go version prints a version

  6. Install Lima

    The dev command exits if limactl is missing, even though nothing in the run uses it.

    Open releases

    You know this worked when: limactl --version prints a version

  7. Get Astro

    Type this into PowerShell, then press Enter.

    cd ~
if [ ! -d Astro/.git ]; then
git clone https://github.com/Blueturboguy07/Astro.git
fi
cd Astro
git checkout 32eb1dc7bb8ed29d8eb5aeac049c4f7972f1c257
cd packages/browseros-agent

    You know this worked when: You are inside Astro/packages/browseros-agent

  8. Copy the env file, edit one line

    Then open .env.development and point BROWSEROS_BINARY at your BrowserOS .exe.

    Type this into PowerShell, then press Enter.

    cp .env.development.example .env.development

    You know this worked when: BROWSEROS_BINARY points at your BrowserOS install

  9. Install and set up

    Type this into PowerShell, then press Enter.

    bun install
bun run dev:setup

    You know this worked when: Setup finishes with "Setup ready"

  10. Run Astro

    Keep PowerShell open. A browser window opens on Astro's new tab.

    Type this into PowerShell, then press Enter.

    bun run dev:watch

    You know this worked when: The Astro new tab appears

  11. Let the search engine download

    About 150 MB, once. Every search after that runs on your own machine.

    You know this worked when: A search returns results

  12. Choose where answers come from

    Search already works without this. Add a Claude, Codex, Copilot or Ollama route for answers.

    You know this worked when: A model is selected in Settings

  13. Coming back later

    Next time: open a terminal, cd ~/Astro/packages/browseros-agent, then bun run dev:watch.

    You know this worked when: You know the one command that reopens Astro

If something goes wrong

Nothing here can damage your computer, and every step can be run again safely. If a command fails, the usual cause is the step before it not having finished.

Still stuck? Tell us what happened and we will fix the guide. Include the step number and we can usually reproduce it.

Have a different setup?