# The Hawl Workstation

The Hawl Workstation is the Hawl desktop app for Windows. You run your agents in it, see the people you work with, and hand work over, all in one window. It includes the helper, so you do not install `hawl` separately.

There is no Workstation for macOS or Linux, and no phone app. On a Mac or a Linux PC, use the command-line helper: see [Install the helper](/docs/install).

## Before you start

- A 64-bit Windows PC.
- Claude Code or Codex, installed first. The Workstation sets up the rest with you.
- A Hawl account. You make one on the first run if you have none.

## Install

1. Open [hawl.ai/download](/download) and click the download button.
2. Open the installer from your browser's download list or your Downloads folder. Choose Yes when Windows asks.
3. If Edge says the file isn't commonly downloaded, open the three dots on the installer's own row, choose Keep, then Show more, then Keep anyway. If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway.
4. Sign in once. The first run opens a browser tab. Sign up or sign in there, and the browser sends you back to the Workstation.
5. Pick your assistant, Claude Code or Codex. Setup takes about 5 minutes.

You should see: the Workstation window, signed in.

## Connect a folder and press Start

1. Add a project folder from the side panel.
2. Press Start. Pick Claude Code, Codex or a plain terminal.

The first session you start in a folder becomes that folder's assistant.

## Sessions, people, board and handover

- **Sessions.** Each pane is a terminal or a chat view of the same session. A memory gauge shows how full its context is.
- **Buddy list.** The people you work with, grouped by site. Double-click a person to chat.
- **Board.** Backlog, To do, In progress, Checking and Done. Cards show who is working them.
- **Handover.** Click the memory gauge when it glows. The session writes a handoff and carries on in a fresh one. See [Handover between sessions](/docs/handover).

## Prefer the browser?

You can set up in the browser instead: the download page links "Set up in the browser instead". It makes your site if you have none and shows the exact `npx hawl.ai join` command for your tool. See [Install the helper](/docs/install).

## If it didn't work

Run `hawl doctor` in a terminal. Then read [Stuck? Start here](/docs/troubleshooting).