Rig on Windows and Mac: what matches and what differs
Rig for Windows and Rig for Mac are the same app. They are built from one code base, they use the same Rig account, and they show the same screens in the same places. A project you know how to run on a Mac runs the same way on a PC, and an AI assistant linked to Rig sees the same set of tools. This guide lists what matches, then the handful of places where Windows works differently, and why. Read it before you move to a PC, or before you add a PC to a Mesh of Macs.
Windows is in public beta. The Mac app reached its first stable release, 1.0, in October 2026. Windows has its own version numbers, starting at 0.0.1. Where this guide says a feature matches, it means the feature is there on Windows today. If you find a gap this guide does not mention, please tell us, because that is exactly what the beta is for.
What is the same on both
- Projects, processes and logs. Add a folder, let Rig find the start scripts, start and stop projects, group them, and read every process’s output in one searchable log view. Crash reasons, health checks and start order work the same.
- Ports. Rig shows which program holds a port and can reclaim it for you, on both systems.
- The MCP hub for AI assistants. The hub listens at the same local address,
http://127.0.0.1:47823/mcp, and offers the same tools. Linking Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot CLI, OpenCode, Pi, Windsurf or VS Code is one click from Connections on both. - Sessions, lanes and env profiles. Named sessions, branch and env pairings, and masked env files behave the same way.
- Git. Branches, changes, history and pull requests in the Git view, plus the git tools your assistant can use through MCP.
- Managed Postgres and Redis. Both run in Docker on both systems.
- Cloud account, sync and Continuity. Sign in with the same account. Preferences and project lists sync, and Continuity backups are encrypted on the machine before upload, on Windows as on Mac.
- Live Link and LAN share. Share a running project with a link or a QR code from either system.
- Mesh. A Windows PC can join your private network as a full machine, next to your Macs. You can wake it, reach it and run rules against it.
- Your plan. Plans count machines, not operating systems. A PC uses one machine slot, just like a Mac. See Plans, billing and limits.
Small differences you will notice
- Keyboard shortcuts use Ctrl. Where a Mac shortcut uses ⌘ (Command), Windows uses Ctrl. The command palette is
Ctrl+K. - The tray icon instead of the menu bar. On a Mac, Rig sits in the menu bar at the top of the screen. On Windows it sits in the system tray near the clock. Right click it to see how many projects are running, start or stop all, check the MCP hub, contact support, or quit Rig. Windows apps have no menu bar at the top of the screen, so actions that live in the Mac’s Help menu are in the tray menu or inside the app.
- Where files live. On a Mac, Rig keeps settings in
~/Library/Application Support/Rig. On Windows it uses%APPDATA%\Rig. The MCP token file,mcp.json, and thelogsfolder are inside it on both. - Updates. The Mac app updates through Sparkle and has separate stable and beta feeds. The Windows app updates itself from userig.app on a single beta feed, and installs the new version when you quit.
- The first run setup. Windows has its own short setup that checks Docker Desktop and offers local HTTPS. See Install Rig on Windows (beta).
PHP and Laravel
Laravel Valet and Homebrew are Mac tools, so they are not part of Rig on Windows. Rig finds PHP where Windows developers usually install it: Laravel Herd, Laragon, scoop, XAMPP, or a PHP folder under Program Files. If one of those is installed, Rig uses it to run artisan commands, queue workers and other PHP processes. Rig does not install PHP for you on Windows. Install one of the options above first, then add the project.
Sites that Valet would serve as something.test on a Mac are served by Herd or Laragon on Windows, in the same way. Rig still runs the rest of the stack around them, such as queues, the scheduler and Vite, and tails laravel.log into the log view.
Node, Python and other runtimes
On a Mac, when a project pins a runtime version that is missing, Rig can offer to install it. On Windows, Rig tells you which version the project wants and asks you to install it with a version manager such as nvm for Windows, fnm, asdf or Herd, then try again. Once the runtime is installed, Rig uses it the same way on both systems.
Docker and databases
On Windows, Rig always uses Docker Desktop for containers. It does not ship its own container engine and it does not install database servers such as MySQL, Postgres or Redis directly on the PC. Managed Postgres and Redis, and Docker Compose projects, need Docker Desktop installed and running. If Docker is not running, Rig says so in the project and in Setup diagnose, and the rest of your projects keep working.
Local HTTPS and friendly addresses
Local HTTPS works on both. On Windows, Rig makes a local certificate with mkcert, which you can install with scoop or winget, and adds it to Windows. Rig also manages a marked block in the Windows hosts file for local addresses. Both steps need administrator permission, so Windows asks you to confirm when you turn HTTPS on. Rig never edits hosts file lines outside its own block.
Mesh on a Windows PC
A PC on your Mesh is a full member. It gets a private address, follows your tags and rules, and can be reached from your Macs, your other PCs and the Rig iPhone app. A few parts work the Windows way:
- Screen uses Remote Desktop. On a Mac, Screen opens Apple Screen Sharing. When you screen into a Windows PC, Rig opens the Remote Desktop app that comes with Windows, over the private Mesh connection on port 3389. There is no viewer inside Rig. Windows only accepts Remote Desktop connections on Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise and Education. A PC running Windows 11 Home can join the Mesh and be woken, but you cannot screen into it.
- Getting a PC ready to connect. When you add a PC to the Mesh, Rig offers one step that prepares it, behind a single Windows permission prompt. It turns on Wake on LAN for the network adapter, turns on Remote Desktop, installs and starts the OpenSSH server that comes with Windows, and stops the PC sleeping while it is plugged in. You can undo this later from the same place.
- Waking a PC. As with a Mac, waking needs a second Rig machine that is awake on the same network to send the signal. A PC that is hibernating, or has Wake on LAN turned off in its firmware settings, may not wake. That is a hardware limit, not something Rig can change.
- BitLocker. If the PC uses BitLocker and stops at the BitLocker screen after a restart, someone has to unlock it at the machine. Rig never unlocks BitLocker remotely, by design.
Teleport between Mac and PC
Teleport moves a project from one machine to another by cloning the repository, applying the project’s non secret settings, and starting it. It works with any machine on your account, including PCs. The Windows beta has fewer Teleport screens than the Mac app, so if you cannot find the option on the PC, start the Teleport from a Mac or from your AI assistant using the teleport_project tool. See Project Teleport.
AI assistants on Windows
Linking an assistant works the same as on a Mac: open Connections and press Link next to it. Rig writes the assistant’s settings file for you. The files are in the same places inside your user folder on both systems, for example .cursor\mcp.json for Cursor and .codex\config.toml for Codex. Assistants that start Rig as a command use the launcher at %APPDATA%\Rig\bin\rig-mcp.cmd. If you set an assistant up by hand, copy the settings Rig shows in Connections rather than writing them yourself, because they include the access token.