Install on Windows

1. Pick the right build

Most machines take amd64. Windows on ARM — a Surface with a Snapdragon chip, for instance — takes arm64.

$env:PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE
# AMD64  -> termlink-windows-amd64.zip
# ARM64  -> termlink-windows-arm64.zip

Both are on the download page.

2. Verify and unzip

Every release ships a SHA256SUMS file.

Get-FileHash .\termlink-windows-amd64.zip -Algorithm SHA256
# compare with the line in SHA256SUMS

Expand-Archive .\termlink-windows-amd64.zip -DestinationPath .

3. SmartScreen will warn you the first time

Expected, and worth stating plainly: the executable is not code-signed. Windows shows “Windows protected your PC” the first time you run an unsigned binary that came from the internet.

Choose More info, then Run anyway. If you would rather satisfy yourself first, the checksum in step 2 confirms the file is the one we published, and the security page sets out what the relay can and cannot see once it is running.

You may also need to unblock the file if Windows marked it:

Unblock-File .\	ermlink.exe

4. Sign in and share a terminal

.\termlink.exe login     # opens Google sign-in
.\termlink.exe          # share this terminal
.\termlink.exe whoami   # which account am I on?

To share a terminal that already has Claude Code running in it, use termlink claude instead. Put the executable in a folder on your PATH if you would rather not type the .\ prefix.

Leave that window open. TermLink is not a background service, so closing the terminal takes the machine offline.

5. The Esc key, and why the host uses cmd.exe

This is the one Windows-specific thing worth knowing before you start. PowerShell's PSReadLine swallows the Esc key, which terminal UIs — Claude Code included — rely on. So the TermLink host uses cmd.exe by default.

If you change the shell, or run the agent inside PowerShell yourself, Esc stops reaching the application and menus become hard to escape from. The reasoning, and what else differs on Windows, is in running Claude Code on Windows.

Keeping it current

termlink update pulls and verifies the latest release in place, so you do not repeat the download and the SmartScreen prompt.