Option A — No npm (most reliable, Windows/Mac/Linux):

# Windows: double-click INSTALL.bat
# Mac/Linux:
bash INSTALL.sh
node jdeploy-bundle/jdeploy.js start

Option B — npm / yarn / pnpm / bun:

npm install -g automation-tool-manager@latest --foreground-scripts --no-audit --no-fund
# or
yarn global add automation-tool-manager
pnpm add -g automation-tool-manager
bunx automation-tool-manager

--foreground-scripts is required for npm (installer stops and tells you the exact command if you forget it). yarn/pnpm/bun don't need it. Prerequisites: Node 18+ (LTS recommended, check with node -v). No Admin needed — installer writes to User PATH/registry only. On Windows run in a normal terminal. If your Node is older, the installer stops immediately with upgrade steps (download LTS from https://nodejs.org, or brew install node / winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS). This automatically setups required tools for Environment (java, maven, git, chrome, firefox). At the end of install the Tool Manager auto-starts from the installed package (global node_modules or repo checkout). Skip it with AUTOMATION_NO_START=1.

Cloned the repo only to run the tool (no UI changes)? Skip vite entirely: npm install --omit=dev — works on any Node 18+. Only UI developers editing the frontend need the full npm install (which pulls vite).

Cause: old automation-tool-manager start (java) is still running and locks files, or antivirus/Defender is scanning node_modules while npm renames it.

# 1. Stop the old service first (releases locks) — preinstall does this automatically too
node jdeploy-bundle/jdeploy.js stop
# or
automation-tool-manager stop

# 2. Reinstall with --force (required when bin shims already exist)
npm install -g automation-tool-manager@latest --foreground-scripts --force --no-audit --no-fund

# 3. If it still fails: close editors/terminals, pause antivirus, then
npm cache clean --force
npm install -g automation-tool-manager@latest --foreground-scripts --force --no-audit --no-fund

Skip the heavy environment setup on reinstall if Java/Maven already work:

AUTOMATION_SKIP_SETUP=1 npm install -g automation-tool-manager --force --no-audit --no-fund
# then later: npm run setup:full

Default: ~/automation-framework. Three ways to set a custom path (priority order):

# 1. Flag (highest priority) — quote it if it has spaces:
bash scripts/setup.sh --path "/absolute/dir" --skip-git-clone
npm run setup -- --path "D:\my folder\framework"

# 2. Env var (also used by INSTALL.sh / postinstall):
AUTOMATION_PATH="$HOME/my-framework" bash INSTALL.sh
AUTOMATION_PATH="D:\my folder\framework" npm run setup

# 3. Interactive prompt (only when run directly in a terminal, nothing preset):
bash scripts/setup.sh
# >> Enter Automation path ... (or press ENTER for default): /your/dir

The path is persisted (shell profile + Windows registry) and re-runs keep your existing value. Check it with: echo $AUTOMATION_PATH (or echo %AUTOMATION_PATH% on Windows cmd).

Supported, but always quote paths. Use INSTALL.bat / INSTALL.sh (both are space-safe) instead of hand-typed node <path> without quotes:

node "jdeploy-bundle/jdeploy.js" start

Add exclusions for %USERPROFILE%\.automation-tools and your project folder, then re-run INSTALL.bat. The installer itself needs no npm install (runtime is Node built-ins only), so AV can't break it.