Install PaneScale

#Download

Get the latest version from the downloads page. PaneScale is a native app with a Rust core and uses the web view that comes with your system instead of bundling a browser, so the downloads are small:

Every file has its SHA-256 checksum on the downloads page.

#Install on Windows

If Windows shows Windows protected your PC after a browser download, choose More info → Run anyway. Or install from PowerShell — one line downloads the current installer, checks its SHA-256 and installs it without that prompt:

irm https://panescale.com/install.ps1 | iex

Run the same line again any time to repair or update an installation.

#Install on macOS

Dictation asks for microphone access the first time you use it — that is the only permission PaneScale needs. Start PaneScale from the Applications folder, not from the disk image: updates replace the app in place.

#Install on Linux

Run the installer from a terminal or by double-clicking it in your file manager:

sh PaneScale-<version>-linux-x86_64-setup.run

Options: --quiet installs without questions, --uninstall removes PaneScale.

Prefer your package manager? Install the .deb with sudo apt install ./PaneScale_<version>_amd64.deb (Debian, Ubuntu) or the .rpm with sudo dnf install ./PaneScale-<version>-1.x86_64.rpm (Fedora, openSUSE). Package installs are updated with new packages rather than from inside the app.

Because program and data are separate on every system, updating or reinstalling never touches your settings, chats or runs. See Your data for everything that is stored.

#Install a coding CLI

PaneScale finds supported CLIs on your PATH and in the usual install locations (npm, Cargo, Bun, Volta, Homebrew, pnpm, fnm, nvm and others). On macOS and Linux it also reads the PATH of your login shell, so tools set up in .zshrc or .bashrc are found too. If one is missing, the pane picker and Settings → Agents & accounts show the command to install it. The most common ones install with npm:

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
npm install -g @openai/codex
npm install -g @google/gemini-cli

Run each CLI once in a normal terminal — or in a PaneScale terminal pane — to sign in. PaneScale uses that sign-in. If you use several accounts for the same CLI, add them as profiles.

After installing something new while PaneScale is open, click Check again in Settings → Agents & accounts.

#First start

On the first start PaneScale:

• looks for your shells and picks a default for new terminals — on Windows the first of PowerShell 7, Windows PowerShell, Command Prompt and Git Bash; on macOS and Linux your login shell. Change it in Settings → General,
• detects your coding CLIs and their versions in the background,
• reads your Claude Code and Codex session logs once to build the spend overview — the first time can take a moment, afterwards only new entries are read,
• opens in Code mode with an empty grid and a button to open your first project.

#Updates

PaneScale looks for a new version when it starts, every ten minutes and whenever the window gets focus. When one is ready, an Update x.y.z button appears in the title bar. Nothing happens until you click it. Then:

1. the release is checked against PaneScale’s update signature and the download against its SHA-256 checksum — an update that isn’t signed by PaneScale is never shown or installed, and an interrupted download continues where it stopped,
2. it installs silently in the background — on macOS the app in Applications is replaced, and the old version stays if anything goes wrong,
3. PaneScale restarts after a few seconds with your workspaces as you left them.

Settings → Updates & support shows the installed version, whether an update is ready, its release notes, size and build date, and a Check button. What’s new lists the changes of the build you are running.

#Uninstall

• Windows: Settings → Apps → Installed apps, then remove PaneScale.
• macOS: quit PaneScale and drag it from Applications to the Trash.
• Linux: use the uninstall action of the PaneScale entry in your app menu (right-click), or run sh ~/.local/share/PaneScale/uninstall.sh --uninstall. Packages are removed with your package manager.

Your data folder is kept, so a later reinstall picks up where you left off. Delete it yourself (see the tables above) if you want to remove everything.