How to Set Up Goose on Windows 🦢

Goose 🦢 is a powerful, AI-driven tool designed to assist developers with programming and operational tasks. Setting it up on Windows might not be a straightforward process. In this post, I will walk you through a step-by-step process to get your Goose running on your Windows machines in Visual Studio Code (VS code). This basically involves installing pipx, configuring your environment, and running the Goose.

pipx is a tool to help you install and run end-user applications written in Python. It's roughly similar to macOS's brew, JavaScript's npx, and Linux's apt.
Learn more...

Step 1: Install Python

Goose requires Python to run. If Python isn’t already installed on your system:

1. Download the latest Python version from the official Python website and follow the installation steps on the website.
2. During installation:
   • Check the box for "Add Python to PATH"
   • Click Install Now
3. Confirm Python is installed by opening PowerShell and running:

python --version

You should see the Python version printed on the screen.

Option One

Step 2: On Windows install via:

• install via Scoop
• scoop install pipx
• pipx ensurepath

Install via Scoop

To install pipx on Windows using Scoop and set up your environment, follow these steps.

Install Scoop

If you don't have Scoop installed already, do this first:

• Open PowerShell as an administrator.

Run the following command to install Scoop:

 iwr -useb get.scoop.sh | iex

This command downloads and installs Scoop, a package manager for Windows.

Close and reopen PowerShell to refresh the environment.

Install pipx Using Scoop

Now that Scoop is installed, you can install pipx.

• In PowerShell, run:

  scoop install pipx

• Wait for the installation to complete. Scoop will handle downloading and installing pipx

Ensure pipx is in Your PATH

After installation, you need to ensure pipx is in your system PATH so you can use it from any directory:

• Run the following command to add pipx to your PATH:

pipx ensurepath

• Close and reopen PowerShell to apply the changes.

Verify the Installation

• To confirm that pipx is set up correctly, run:

pipx --version

If you see the version number, pipx is successfully installed and ready to use.

If the aforementioned steps don't work for you, still stay with me. Because it didn't work on my end as well. Let's try another way around it. I hope you are still following me. Relax, don't be frustrated. I got you on this, I mean it! 😃

Option Two

Step 2: Manually Download and Run the Scoop Script

If PowerShell 7 isn't resolving the issue, you can try manually downloading the installation script outside of PowerShell:

• Open a web browser and go to this URL
• Download and save this file as install.ps1 in a directory of your choice, like C:\Users\user\scoop.
• Open PowerShell as an administrator and navigate to the directory where you saved the file. For example:

cd C:\Users\user\scoop

• Run the script directly with:

.\install.ps1

Guess what, this option didn't work on my end. No, don't give up. Let us look for another way that can work for us if you are still stuck at this point like I did.

Option Three

install via pip (requires pip 19.0 or later)

# If you installed python using Microsoft Store, replace `py` with `python3` in the next line.
py -m pip install --user pipx

This particular option works on my Dell Window PC

PowerShell is giving a warning that the installation directory (C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python312\Scripts) is not in my system PATH. Adding this directory to my PATH will allow me to run pipx from any command prompt.

Here's how to add it to your PATH:

Open Environment Variables

• Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter to open the System Properties window.
• Go to the Advanced tab and click on Environment Variables. Edit the PATH Variable
• In the User variables section, look for a variable named Path and select it. Then click Edit.
• Click New and add the following path:

C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python312\Scripts

Click OK to close all dialogs and apply the changes.

Verify the PATH Update
Close and reopen PowerShell or Command Prompt, and then verify the installation by running:

pipx --version

If the version appears, pipx is now ready for use. You can also run:

pipx ensurepath

This command ensures that pipx and any tools it installs are available in your PATH.

Now that we have pipx installed, we can now install goose by running the following command in your PowerShell terminal:

pipx install goose-ai

It seems pipx installed goose successfully, but it’s still warning that C:\Users\user\.local\bin is not in my PATH. The best thing to do at this juncture is to restart my Powershell or PC so the installation can take effect. After that, we can now verify to be sure:

To verify that C:\Users\user\.local\bin is now in my PATH

$env:PATH -split ";"

It seems the installation is now in my PATH!

The next thing is to test goose

Test goose

After verifying your PATH, try running goose --help

goose --help

Goose is now successfully installed!
If you followed me to this point, it is good to say;
goose is installed and accessible from your command line. You can now use goose to manage providers, run sessions, and use its AI-powered functionalities.

Last Step

Install goose in VS code

Go to the extension in VS Code and type goose-ai in the search bar and get it installed

Well done!

You can now start working with Goose!

Thanks for reading!

If you want to get started with goose, check this out!

Join the goose community today for any questions!

Checkout my post on how to use goose as a GitHub action