Install, update & uninstall
Agent Switch is one npm package. The desktop app comes with it: it downloads on first use, so there is nothing else to install.
Requirements
Section titled “Requirements”- Node.js 20 or newer.
- macOS, Linux or Windows. The desktop app runs on macOS (Apple silicon and Intel), Linux x64 and Windows x64.
- The tools you want to switch. Install Claude Code, Codex or Antigravity as you normally would. Agent Switch uses their own sign-in and their own binary.
Install the CLI
Section titled “Install the CLI”npm install -g @event4u/agent-switchThis puts agent-switch on your PATH. The package name is
@event4u/agent-switch; the bare name agent-switch on npm belongs to an
unrelated project.
To try it without installing anything:
npx @event4u/agent-switch doctorFor daily use, install it globally, so that the shell wrapper and asw always
find it.
Start the desktop app
Section titled “Start the desktop app”agent-switchWith no command, Agent Switch starts the desktop app (same as
agent-switch gui). On first use it downloads the app that matches your
installed version from the project’s GitHub release, keeps it under
~/.agent-switch/gui/<version>/, and runs it. It never runs an installer.
| Platform | What is downloaded |
|---|---|
| macOS | the app bundle (.app.tar.gz, universal) |
| Linux x64 | an .AppImage |
| Windows x64 | a portable .exe |
If a new release is still being built, it takes the newest release that already has the app. With no network, it starts the newest copy it already downloaded. Only one copy runs at a time: if the app is already open, a second one is not started.
Prefer an installer?
Section titled “Prefer an installer?”Every GitHub release
also carries installers: .dmg (macOS), .msi and -setup.exe (Windows),
.deb and .rpm (Linux). They are not code-signed yet, so the first launch
needs one extra click:
Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, find the message about
agent-switch, and click Open Anyway. On macOS 14 and earlier you can
also right-click the app in Finder and choose Open. Or remove the
quarantine flag in a terminal:
xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/agent-switch.appSmartScreen says “Windows protected your PC.” Click More info › Run anyway.
Make the AppImage executable before you run it:
chmod +x agent-switch_*.AppImageThe app that agent-switch downloads for you does not need this step on macOS.
It is not fetched through a browser, so macOS does not quarantine it.
Run it in the background
Section titled “Run it in the background”agent-switch service installThe background service checks every enabled account’s usage every few minutes.
It is what keeps balanced starts and limit warnings working while the desktop
app is closed. It starts at login through launchd (macOS), systemd --user
(Linux) or Task Scheduler (Windows).
agent-switch service status # is it running, and when did it last check?agent-switch service stop # stop it for nowagent-switch service uninstall # remove itThe desktop app starts at login by default after its first run. You can turn that off in Settings › General.
Update
Section titled “Update”agent-switch updateThis installs the latest version through npm and restarts the background
service on it. agent-switch check-update only checks. The desktop app checks
for updates on its own and offers Restart now when a new version is ready.
Uninstall
Section titled “Uninstall”-
Remove Agent Switch’s data and service.
Terminal window agent-switch uninstall # lists what will be removedagent-switch uninstall --force # removes itIt removes:
- every profile Agent Switch created, including its stored login (for Claude on macOS, the profile’s keychain entry);
- folder rules, settings and the background service;
- the app launchers in
~/Applications/Agent SwitchmacOS.
Your default Claude Code, Codex and Antigravity installs are not touched.
-
Remove the shell line. Delete the
agent-switch shellenvline from your shell’s startup file (~/.zshrc,~/.bashrcor~/.bash_profile,~/.config/fish/config.fish, or$PROFILE). -
Remove the CLI.
Terminal window npm uninstall -g @event4u/agent-switch -
If you used an installer, remove the desktop app the way you remove any app on your system.
Build from source
Section titled “Build from source”git clone https://github.com/event4u-app/agent-switch.gitcd agent-switchnpm ci && npm run build && npm link