Prerequisites
What you need before installing Pilot Shell.
At Least One AI Agent
Pilot Shell supports Claude Code (Anthropic, primary — full feature coverage) and Codex through Codex CLI or the ChatGPT desktop app (OpenAI — all workflows, fewer platform features). Install at least one; the Pilot installer auto-detects and configures the agents present. Platform differences are listed in the agent comparison.
Claude Code
Install Claude Code using the native installer. If you have the npm or brew version, uninstall it first. Requires a Claude subscription:
| Plan | Audience | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Max 5x | Solo — moderate usage | Good for part-time or focused coding sessions |
| Max 20x | Solo — heavy usage | Recommended for full-time AI-assisted development |
| Team Premium | Teams | 6.25x usage per member + SSO, admin tools, billing management |
| Enterprise | Companies | For organizations with compliance, procurement, or security requirements |
Codex
Install Codex CLI using the native installer, or install the ChatGPT desktop app. On macOS, Pilot detects both the CLI and the Codex runtime bundled with ChatGPT. Authenticate with your ChatGPT account or an API key on first run. Requires a ChatGPT subscription:
| Plan | Audience | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plus | Solo — moderate usage | Good for focused coding sessions each week |
| Pro $100 | Solo — heavy usage | 5x Plus limits — recommended for full-time AI-assisted development |
| Pro $200 | Solo — very heavy usage | 20x Plus limits — for the most intensive workflows |
| Business | Teams | Flexible credit-based pricing, cloud integrations |
| Enterprise | Companies | Compliance, admin tools, organization-wide access |
API key is available for automation and CI but is pay-per-token and lacks cloud features (GitHub code review, Slack integration, delayed model access). See pricing for details.
See the agent comparison for the full feature matrix.
System Requirements
Pilot installs once and works across all your projects. Each project can have its own .claude/ rules and skills.
| Platform | Notes |
|---|---|
| macOS | 10.15 Catalina or later, Apple Silicon and Intel |
| Linux | Debian, Ubuntu, RHEL-based distros, and most others |
| Windows | WSL2 required — native Windows not supported |
Install WSL2 first (wsl --install -d Ubuntu), then run the installer inside Ubuntu.