Windows Compatibility

import { Tabs, TabItem } from ‘@astrojs/starlight/components’;

Windows Compatibility

Swixter is ~90% compatible with Windows out of the box. All core CLI functionality works identically across platforms.

Configuration Paths

Swixter uses a different config path on Windows for simplicity:

Platform	Path
Windows	C:\Users\<username>\swixter\config.json
macOS/Linux	~/.config/swixter/config.json

Platform	Path
Windows	C:\Users\<username>\.claude\settings.json
macOS/Linux	~/.claude/settings.json

Platform	Path
Windows	C:\Users\<username>\.codex\config.toml
macOS/Linux	~/.codex/config.toml

Note: Codex recommends WSL for best Windows experience.

Platform	Path
Windows	C:\Users\<username>\.continue\config.yaml
macOS/Linux	~/.continue/config.yaml

Installation on Windows

# npm (global)
npm install -g swixter

# or from source
git clone https://github.com/dawnswwwww/swixter.git
cd swixter
bun install
bun run build

Limitations

Shell Completions

• Bash, Zsh, and Fish completions are available
• PowerShell completion is not yet supported
• Workaround: Use Git Bash or WSL

E2E Testing

• Docker-based tests require Docker Desktop + WSL2
• Native Windows test suite planned for future release

Design Principles

Swixter uses cross-platform APIs throughout:

• os.homedir() — correct home directory on all platforms
• path.join() — proper path separators automatically
• Pure JavaScript parsing libraries (smol-toml, js-yaml) — no native deps

// How Swixter handles cross-platform paths
import { homedir, platform } from "node:os";
import { join } from "node:path";

const configDir = platform() === "win32"
  ? join(homedir(), "swixter")
  : join(homedir(), ".config", "swixter");

Common Issues

chmod: command not found

The build script includes chmod +x which isn’t available on Windows. This is harmless — the build succeeds without it.

Shell completions not working in PowerShell

PowerShell completion is not yet implemented. Use Git Bash or WSL as alternatives.

Path separator confusion

Always use path.join() instead of string concatenation with / or \:

// Correct
const configPath = join(homedir(), ".claude", "settings.json");

// Avoid
const configPath = `${homedir()}/.claude/settings.json`;