Installation

macOS / Linux

Automatically detects your platform and installs the latest version:

curl -fsSL https://metascriptlang.org/install.sh | sh

Windows

Run in PowerShell (no admin required):

irm https://metascriptlang.org/install.ps1 | iex

Using WSL? Install inside WSL with the macOS/Linux command above — WSL is Linux.

Manual Download

macOS / Linux

# decompress into ~/.metascript
mkdir -p ~/.metascript && tar -xzf msc-*.tar.gz -C ~/.metascript

# add to your shell config (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, etc.)
export PATH="$HOME/.metascript/bin:$PATH"

Windows

Right-click the .zip → Extract All, or in PowerShell:

Expand-Archive msc-*.zip -DestinationPath $HOME\.metascript

Then add to your user PATH (one-time, new shells pick it up):

[Environment]::SetEnvironmentVariable('Path', "$HOME\.metascript\bin;$([Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable('Path','User'))", 'User')

Install a specific version

Override the version via environment variable:

# macOS / Linux
MSC_VERSION=0.2.5 curl -fsSL https://metascriptlang.org/install.sh | sh

# Windows
$env:MSC_VERSION = '0.2.5'; irm https://metascriptlang.org/install.ps1 | iex

Override the install directory with MSC_INSTALL_DIR.

Verify Installation

Check that MetaScript is installed correctly:

msc --version

You should see version e.g: Metascript v0.2.1

Editor Setup

Get syntax highlighting, autocomplete, and full LSP support for Neovim, VS Code, or Zed.

See the Editor Setup guide for detailed installation instructions.

Sign In (optional)

Connect your GitHub account to publish packages:

msc login

This unlocks:

• Publishing to pkg.metascriptlang.org
• Your username namespace
• Organization management (package under @organization)
• API keys for CI/CD

Uninstall

macOS / Linux

rm -rf ~/.metascript
# then remove the PATH entry from your shell config (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, etc.)

Windows

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force $HOME\.metascript
# PATH entry in your user environment variables must be removed manually:
# System Properties → Environment Variables → User variables → Path → Edit

Troubleshooting

"command not found: msc" (macOS / Linux)

Add MetaScript to your PATH:

export PATH="$HOME/.metascript/bin:$PATH"

Add this line to your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc to make it permanent.

"msc is not recognized" (Windows)

Open a new PowerShell window (the installer sets user PATH, which existing shells don't pick up). If it still fails, verify the bin directory is on PATH:

$env:Path -split ';' | Select-String '\.metascript'

If nothing prints, re-run the install command or add manually (see Windows manual install).

Permission denied (macOS / Linux)

Ensure the binary is executable:

chmod +x ~/.metascript/bin/msc

Script execution blocked (Windows)

If PowerShell blocks the install script, run with a relaxed policy for the current process only:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force
irm https://metascriptlang.org/install.ps1 | iex

Next Steps

• Compile Targets — Understand deployment options
• Metaprogramming — Compile-time code generation and macros