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You can ask a coding agent to set up Alike for you. You do not need an Alike account first. Give your agent this request:
Set up Alike for me: read https://alike.help/install/non-interactive and follow it. I do not need an Alike account first. Never ask me for a password or an email code, and do not edit any config files yourself.

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For the agent: the steps

Follow these steps in order.
  1. Do not ask for secrets. Never ask for a password, the code in a confirmation email, or the contents of ~/.alike/credentials.json. Sign-up, sign-in and approval happen only in the browser.
  2. Tell the user about capture before you start. The installer captures transcripts from every agent that it sets up. The user can say “no capture” or name agents. Use --capture= for no capture, or --capture=claude,codex for named agents.
  3. Run the installer in the background. Run npx @alikeai/setup, with --capture= if the user chose it. It waits up to 10 minutes for approval, which is longer than many shell time limits. Read its output while it runs.
  4. Give the user the link and the code. Show the Open: and Code: lines exactly. Tell the user to open the link in their browser. If they have no account, the link opens sign-up. They confirm their email, create or join a workspace, and then see the code filled in. They select Approve.
  5. Wait for the result. The installer prints ✔ Wired + authenticated. when the machine is connected. If it stopped before approval, or the code expired, run npx @alikeai/setup --doctor. It prints a new link and code.
  6. Show what Alike knows about this work. In the user’s git repository, run ~/.alike/bin/alike me --anchor "$(git branch --show-current)". It links this session to the branch and returns what Alike knows about it: decisions, other sessions on the same work, and history. Summarise it in a few lines. A new account knows little. Say that the record grows with each session.
  7. Tell the user what to do next. Restart each agent. The first time each agent connects, approve the alike MCP server and sign in. For Codex, also approve Hooks need review.
  8. Offer integrations. Ask if the user wants to connect GitHub, Linear, Slack, calendar or email. If yes, give them https://alike.network/settings?tab=integrations.
If anything fails, show the user the error and run npx @alikeai/setup --doctor. Do not edit agent config files.

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What changes without a terminal

A choice that you made before is kept. A run without a terminal never turns on capture for an agent that you said no to.

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Choose capture in the command

Use the agent IDs from Supported agents. The installer ignores IDs that it does not know, and does not show a warning.

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If ALIKE_BASE_URL and ALIKE_TOKEN are set

When both variables are set in the environment, the hooks use them instead of ~/.alike/credentials.json. While they are set, the installer does not pair the machine with a different server. It prints a message that starts with ! ALIKE_BASE_URL/ALIKE_TOKEN are exported. To pair normally, remove them first:

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Flags must use =

Write flags with an equals sign:
  • Correct: --harness=claude,codex
  • Wrong: --harness claude
The installer ignores flags that it does not know. It also ignores flags with a space instead of =. A typo such as --doctr runs a full install, not the doctor. Check the flag spelling in Installer reference.

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Preview the changes

Add --dry-run to preview the install. It shows each agent that it would set up and the type of connection: hooks, MCP, or both. It does not list each file. It does not write files or pair the machine. It still asks the setup and capture questions.