Install Rig on Windows (beta)

This guide takes you from nothing to a working copy of Rig on a Windows PC. It covers what you need before you start, how to download and run the installer, what the Windows SmartScreen prompt means, the short setup Rig walks you through the first time it opens, how updates work, where Rig keeps its files, and how to remove it cleanly. It should take about ten minutes, most of which is waiting for downloads.

Rig for Windows is in public beta. It is the same app as Rig for Mac, so once it is running, almost everything in the rest of these docs applies to you too. Where Windows behaves differently, this guide says so, and the companion guide Rig on Windows and Mac: what matches and what differs has the full list.

Before you start

Check these four things first. They save most of the problems people write in about.

You do not need a Rig account to install or use Rig on your own PC. An account is only needed for things that involve more than one machine, such as Mesh, Live Link and Continuity backups.

Download the installer

  1. On the PC, open userig.app/download. The page notices that you are on Windows and offers the Windows build first.
  2. Choose Download for Windows. You get a single file named like Rig-0.0.1-x64.exe. The number is the Windows version, which has its own numbering, separate from the Mac app.
  3. Only download Rig from userig.app. We do not publish Windows installers anywhere else, so a copy from another site is not ours.

Run the installer, and the SmartScreen prompt

The installer is signed by Rig, so Windows can check that it really comes from us and has not been changed. Double click the downloaded file. Windows may still show a blue box that says “Windows protected your PC”. This is Microsoft Defender SmartScreen. It can appear for new programs that not many people have run yet, even when they are signed, and a new beta is exactly that. It is a caution, not a virus warning.

  1. Choose More info.
  2. Look at the Publisher line. It should say Rig. If it says “Unknown publisher” or any other name, do not run the file. Delete it, download a fresh copy from userig.app, and tell us where the other copy came from.
  3. If the publisher is Rig, choose Run anyway.

The installer is a standard Windows setup wizard. It installs Rig for your user account only, so it does not change other people’s accounts on the same PC. You can keep the suggested folder or pick another one. It adds Rig to the Start menu and puts a Rig shortcut on the desktop. It also registers Rig’s own web links, which start with rig://, so that buttons on userig.app and in your account dashboard can open the app directly.

The first run setup

The first time Rig opens on Windows it shows a short setup with five steps. You can skip any of them and come back later. Nothing in it is required to start using Rig.

  1. Find your projects. Add a folder Rig can watch, such as the folder where you keep your code. Rig looks inside for things it knows how to run: package.json scripts, Procfiles, Docker Compose files, Composer and Laravel projects, and more. You can also skip this and add projects from the sidebar.
  2. Check Docker Desktop. Rig checks whether Docker Desktop is installed and running. On Windows, Rig always uses Docker Desktop for containers; there is no built in engine. If none of your projects need containers, skip this step.
  3. Local addresses and HTTPS. Rig can give your projects friendly local addresses and a trusted HTTPS certificate. To do that it adds a certificate to Windows (made on this PC, it never leaves it) and looks after a marked block in your hosts file. Windows asks you to confirm, because both changes need administrator permission. Rig only ever edits the lines inside its own block.
  4. Connect your AI assistant. Link Claude Code, Cursor, Codex or another assistant to Rig’s local MCP hub, so it can see which projects are running, read their logs and start or stop them for you. You can do this any time from Connections. See Connect AI editors (MCP).
  5. Sign in for Mesh, optional. Mesh, devices and team features need a Rig account. Local projects work without one. If you already use Rig on a Mac, sign in with the same account and this PC joins your list of machines.

Your first project

Once a folder is added, select a project in the sidebar and press Start. Rig runs the start script it found, shows the port the project is listening on, and streams everything the project prints into one log view. When it is ready, open its address from the project page. The steps are the same as on a Mac, and the guide Add a project and start it walks through them. The command palette opens with Ctrl+K on Windows, where the Mac uses ⌘K.

If Windows Defender Firewall asks whether to allow a program to accept connections, that is usually your project’s dev server, such as Node.js or PHP, asking to listen on a port. Allowing it on private networks is enough for most people. Choose public networks only if you know you need it.

Updates

Rig for Windows keeps itself up to date. It checks userig.app for a new version while it runs, downloads it in the background, and installs it the next time you quit Rig. You do not need to download a new installer by hand. There is a single update channel on Windows during the beta, so every Windows user gets the same builds. If you want a newer build straight away, quit Rig from the tray icon (not just the window), then open it again.

Where Rig keeps its files

Rig stores its settings and logs in your user profile, in the folder %APPDATA%\Rig. You can paste that into the File Explorer address bar to open it. Useful things in there:

Your project folders are never moved or copied. Rig runs them where they already are.

Uninstall

  1. Quit Rig from its tray icon so nothing is running.
  2. Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find Rig, and choose Uninstall.
  3. The uninstaller removes the app but keeps your settings, so a reinstall picks up where you left off. To remove everything, delete the %APPDATA%\Rig folder as well.
  4. If you linked AI editors, remove the Rig entry from their MCP settings too, or they will report that Rig is not reachable.
  5. If this PC was on your Mesh or listed under your devices, remove it from Devices in your Rig account so it no longer appears in your fleet.

Common problems

Related

https://userig.app/docs/windows-install