Part 2: Install OpenCode on Windows

OpenCode is an AI assistant that lives inside a terminal window and can help you with data work, writing, and coding tasks. You talk to it and it answers. If you’ve never used a terminal or installed anything by typing commands, this guide is for you. Every step is in plain language, and you just copy and paste.

This guide is Part 2 of a short series introducing you to AI-assisted coding. Part 1 explained how an AI agent differs from a chatbot; this post gets you set up and having your first chat. Part 3 walks through a real first task.

What we’re installing, and why

OpenCode is the tool you’ll use. To run it, your computer needs three supporting pieces first. Think of them as ingredients for a recipe:

• Windows Terminal: the window where you’ll talk to OpenCode (download)
• Node.js: the engine that runs OpenCode’s code (download)
• Git: a behind-the-scenes helper OpenCode uses to keep track of changes safely (download)

You won’t download these by hand. A built-in Windows tool called winget (an app store for your terminal) installs them all with one command each (more on winget).

Step 1: Open a terminal

1. Press the Windows key on your keyboard.
2. Type Terminal in the search box.
3. Click Windows Terminal (or Terminal).

Leave this window open; we’ll use it for every step. If Windows asks for permission, click Yes.

Step 2: Make sure winget is up to date

Copy, paste, press Enter:

winget upgrade winget --accept-source-agreements

If you see “winget is not recognized,” install App Installer from the Microsoft Store, then come back.

Step 3: Install Windows Terminal

Windows Terminal is usually already there on Windows 11, but run this to be sure:

winget install --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

You’ll see a progress bar while it downloads. --id Microsoft.WindowsTerminal is just the exact name of what you’re installing.

Step 4: Install Node.js and Git

Now the engine and the helper. Run these one at a time: paste the first line, press Enter, wait for it to finish, then the second:

winget install --id OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

winget install --id Git.Git --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

Step 5: Install OpenCode

Now the main step:

npm install -g opencode-ai

npm is a tool that comes free with Node.js (installed in Step 4) and is how OpenCode is handed out. -g just means “installed once, available everywhere.” This may take a minute or two (that’s normal).

Step 6: Check it worked

Open a new terminal window (close the old one first), then:

opencode --version

If you see a version number (something like 0.1.0), you’re done. OpenCode is now installed and working.

Now that OpenCode is running, what can you do?

You don’t need any planning to start. Just type opencode in a terminal and press Enter:

opencode

When you first run it, opencode walks you through connecting a model provider. You can start with a free model to try things out, so don’t worry about paying for anything yet.

Think of OpenCode as a helpful colleague you can hand tasks to in plain English. Some things data people actually use it for:

• Explain something: “Explain this SQL query to me in plain terms.”
• Fix something: “My query is slow, look at it and tell me why.”
• Crunch data: “Here’s a CSV of sales. Clean it up and tell me my top 5 customers.”
• Write formulas: “Write me an Excel formula that finds the average sales per region.”
• Turn ideas into code: “Write a short script that reads this spreadsheet and summarizes it.”

Try a quick task

To check you’re actually using it (not just running it), give OpenCode this simple instruction:

“Answer in one sentence: what can you help me with?”

If it replies (even a few words), you’re fully set up. That’s your proof it works.

For more ideas, OpencCode’s own docs at opencode.ai/docs are the best place to start exploring.

Give it a memory of past sessions (optional)

By default, OpenCode only sees the conversation in front of it. A free plugin called session search gives it a memory: once installed, OpenCode can list your past sessions, search them, and read them back, so “pick up where we left off yesterday” actually works.

Installing a plugin looks just like any other task: you paste a plain-English instruction and it does the rest. With OpenCode still running, paste this:

Install the opencode-session-search plugin on my machine by downloading and
running its official installer:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/largelanguagemeowing/opencode-session-search/main/scripts/install.sh | bash

The installer downloads the release archive, saves session-search.js to
~/.config/opencode/plugins/, and makes sure ~/.config/opencode/package.json
includes @opencode-ai/plugin. No opencode.json edit is needed. Tell me once it's
installed and ready.

OpenCode loads plugins when it starts, so one last step: close OpenCode (type /exit, or press Ctrl+C twice), then run opencode again. The new memory tools are ready the moment it opens.

To check it worked, ask it:

“List my past sessions.”

If it returns a list (or says there are none yet), the plugin is live. From now on you can say things like “continue the session where we worked on the sales data” and it can find it.

Optional: Make Git Bash your default shell

When you installed Git in Step 4, you also got something called Git Bash, a version of the terminal that understands helper commands some AI features use. It comes free with Git, so nothing new to install.

It’s optional, but recommended if you plan to use OpenCode regularly, because a few things work more smoothly in it. If you’d rather not change how your terminal behaves, skip this section; everything above still works.

To switch:

1. Press Ctrl + , (hold Ctrl, press the comma key) to open Windows Terminal settings.
2. Click Startup in the left menu.
3. Under Default profile, choose Git Bash.

New terminal windows now open in Git Bash. For more on Windows Terminal, see the official Windows Terminal docs.

Optional: Install Python (via uv)

If you want to do Python work too, there’s a tidy helper called uv that installs and organizes Python for you. Purely optional; skip if you only came for OpenCode.

winget install --id astral-sh.uv --accept-source-agreements --accept-package-agreements

Then let uv fetch Python:

uv python install 3.12

All done. uv handles Python for you without installers or path fiddling. See docs.astral.sh/uv for more.

Optional: Stop Python from opening the Microsoft Store

On some Windows setups, typing python opens a Microsoft Store page instead of running Python, because of two small decoy shortcuts (python.exe and python3.exe). If that ever happens to you, turn them off in Settings (no commands needed):

1. Open Settings (press the Windows key, then click Settings).
2. Go to Apps → Advanced app settings → App execution aliases.
3. Turn off both Python and Python3.

Typing python now uses your real Python instead of opening the Store.

Remove-Item "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python*.exe"

If something goes wrong

Most issues share the same simple cause and fix:

1. “X is not recognized”: close your terminal and open a brand new window, then retry. Windows only picks up newly installed tools in fresh windows.
2. Still nothing? Reboot. Restart your computer once and retry; this makes sure Windows notices everything it installed.
3. opencode still not recognized after that: this is less common; search the web for “opencode npm not recognized Windows” for a quick targeted fix.
4. Anything else: OpenCode’s docs at opencode.ai/docs cover this in more depth.

Remember: nothing here can permanently break your computer. If a step doesn’t work, the worst case is you close the window and try again. There’s nothing to be afraid of.