Opinionated setups for Windows dev boxes. Idempotent. CI-tested.
Go from a fresh Windows install to a fully configured dev box in one command. These CI-tested setups install your tools, settings, and shells the same way every time — so any machine can be your machine in minutes.
Three developer setups live in this repo. Pick the one that matches what you want:
| You want... | Go to |
|---|---|
| A complete dev workstation: tools, OS settings, WSL, and terminal. One command, restarts once. | Windows Dev Config |
| A polished WSL shell: zsh/bash, Starship, CLI tools, and a themed terminal profile. Interactive or unattended. | WSL Comfort |
| A single language toolchain: Node, Python, SQL, PowerShell, .NET, Rust, Go, Java, PHP, WinForms, or WinUI 3. One command each. | Workloads |
Most of the single-language workloads use winget configure. If you've never used it before, enable it once:
winget configure --enableImportant
If winget is being invoked from a non-elevated environment, the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (aka.ms/vcredist) must also be installed — without it winget configure fails with an internal error. Install it once with the command for your machine's architecture:
# x64:
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x64
# ARM64:
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.arm64If that fails or winget configure is still not recognized, see Troubleshooting. Windows Dev Config doesn't use winget configure and needs none of this.
Turns a fresh Windows 11 box into a clean, distraction-free dev workstation in one shot.
A set of PowerShell scripts that installs dev tools, applies opinionated Windows settings, and sets up WSL + Ubuntu through the required reboot. Nothing to clone, nothing to install first. Idempotent, so it's safe to re-run on an existing machine.
Open any PowerShell window — elevated or not — and run:
$url = 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/WindowsDeveloperConfig/main/src/windows-dev-config/bootstrap.ps1'
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm $url))) -AllowUnsignedIf you're not already elevated, setup requests UAC consent before starting. It requests consent again when resuming after a reboot. Expect about 30 minutes on a clean machine.
-AllowUnsignedruns the source copy undersrc/instead of the signed copy at the repository root.
⚠️ It will restart your machine, once. Enabling WSL needs a Windows optional feature that requires a restart. You get a 10-second warning, and a scheduled task resumes setup after you sign back in and accept the UAC prompt. Save your work before you start.
What you get
- Dev tools: Windows Terminal, PowerShell 7, Git, GitHub CLI, GitHub Copilot CLI, VS Code, .NET SDK 10, Python 3.14 + uv, Node.js LTS + nvm, Coreutils for Windows, Windows App CLI, Oh My Posh, and PowerToys.
- Terminal: PowerShell 7 as the default profile, Oh My Posh in your prompt, Cascadia Mono NF as the default font, and a GitHub Copilot profile in the dropdown.
- Windows settings: Dark theme, Developer Mode, Sudo, long paths, File Explorer defaults, Start/Search cleanup, Do Not Disturb, widgets off, and Edge policies.
- WSL: WSL platform + Ubuntu, including the restart and the automatic resume afterwards.
Full details — every setting it changes, how to undo them, and troubleshooting: windows-dev-config/README.md.
Also known as Comfort Shell. An interactive setup for a polished Windows + WSL shell environment.
WSL Comfort stands apart. It supports both interactive and non-interactive modes, and lets you pick and choose individual components. The Windows side handles WSL, the distro, the Cascadia Code Nerd Font, and a themed Windows Terminal profile. The Linux side runs inside the distro and configures the shell itself.
.\wsl-comfort\install.ps1Interactive by default. Use -NonInteractive for unattended runs; the bootstrap also takes --minimal for a smaller setup. The Linux half is standalone, so you can copy comfort-shell-bootstrap.sh onto any Ubuntu host and run it directly.
What you can pick
- Your choice of shell: zsh or bash.
- Optional Starship prompt.
- Optional modern CLI tools:
fzf,rg,fd,bat,eza,zoxide,jq. - Optional clipboard and
openshims (pbcopy,pbpaste,open). - Optional Homebrew.
- Optional Git defaults.
- A themed Windows Terminal profile using Cascadia Code Nerd Font.
Full details: wsl-comfort/readme.md.
Just want one toolchain? Pick a row. Each workload ships a configuration.winget file plus a matching install.ps1 shim that applies it and refreshes PATH in the current session.
| Workload | Installs | Run |
|---|---|---|
| TypeScript | Node.js LTS + global typescript |
winget configure -f .\Workloads\typescript\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| PHP | PHP 8.5 | winget configure -f .\Workloads\php\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| .NET | .NET SDK 10 | winget configure -f .\Workloads\dotnet\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| Go | Go (rolling) | winget configure -f .\Workloads\go\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| Java | Microsoft Build of OpenJDK 25 LTS | winget configure -f .\Workloads\java\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| Rust | Rust stable via rustup | winget configure -f .\Workloads\rust\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| Python | Python 3.14 + uv | winget configure -f .\Workloads\python\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| SQL | Lightweight SQL Developer: SQL Server + sqlcmd + VS Code extension | winget configure -f .\Workloads\sql\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| PowerShell | PowerShell 7 + VS Code PowerShell extensions + PSScriptAnalyzer settings | winget configure -f .\Workloads\powershell\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| WinForms | .NET SDK 10 + Windows Forms desktop workload | winget configure -f .\Workloads\winforms\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
| WinUI 3 | .NET SDK 10 + Visual Studio Community + Windows App SDK / WinUI 3 + WinAppCLI | winget configure -f .\Workloads\winui\configuration.winget --accept-configuration-agreements --disable-interactivity |
Want the PATH refresh in your current shell? Use the matching shim instead of calling winget configure directly:
.\Workloads\python\install.ps1Heads up: WinForms and WinUI 3 pull down several gigabytes of Visual Studio components. Fine on a real workstation, painful on a small VM.
A PowerToys Command Palette extension lives under src/future/cmdpal/. It reads the same flow list as the rest of the repo and surfaces every flow as a launchable entry, so you don't have to remember which configuration.winget to point winget at.
See src/future/cmdpal/README.md for build and install instructions.
"Unrecognized command: configure"
Run winget configure --enable. If winget configure is still not recognized after that, Workloads/_common/assert-winget-configure.ps1 tells you whether App Installer is too old, policy has disabled configuration, or something else needs fixing.
winget configure fails with "internal error" / error code -2146233079
This usually means the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable is missing — winget configure depends on it when invoked from a non-elevated environment. Install it once with the command for your architecture, then re-run:
# x64:
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.x64
# ARM64:
winget install Microsoft.VCRedist.2015+.arm64See aka.ms/vcredist for the standalone installer. The repo's Workloads/_common/enable-winget-configure.ps1 script also installs it automatically as part of enabling winget configure.
A workload says it succeeded but python / node / the tool isn't on PATH
Open a new terminal, or run the matching install.ps1 shim to refresh PATH in the current session.
Windows Dev Config rebooted the machine and looks stuck
It registered a scheduled task named WindowsDevConfigResume, so the run picks itself back up about 30 seconds after you sign back in. A window opens on its own and finishes the WSL setup. If nothing appears after a couple of minutes, run the one-liner again — it's safe to re-run and skips everything already done. More detail in windows-dev-config/README.md.
Comfort Shell bootstrap fails because WSL is missing
Run .\wsl-comfort\install.ps1 on the Windows side instead. It installs WSL first.
WSL install fails with wsl --install ... failed with exit code -1
WSL needs hardware virtualization available to the OS. Two common root causes:
-
On bare metal: virtualization (VT-x / AMD-V) is disabled in BIOS/UEFI. Reboot into firmware settings, enable it, save, and reboot back into Windows. The exact label varies by vendor — check your motherboard or laptop manufacturer's documentation if you can't find it.
-
Inside a VM: the host hasn't exposed nested virtualization to the guest. For a Hyper-V host, run this from an elevated PowerShell session on the host (with the guest VM powered off):
Set-VMProcessor -VMName <VM_NAME> -ExposeVirtualizationExtensions $true
Other hypervisors have their own equivalent settings — check your hypervisor's documentation.
Hit a bug, a stale doc, or a setup that fails on your machine? Open an issue at github.com/microsoft/WindowsDeveloperConfig/issues. Include your Windows build (winver), the exact command you ran, and the failing output. This helps us triage faster.
Contributions of all kinds are welcome: bug reports, doc fixes, new workloads, voice-and-tone tweaks. Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, then read src/docs/development.md for the CI matrix, the "how to add a language" walkthrough, and how the sign pipeline works.
Note on the repo layout: the
src/tree is the source of truth. The top-levelwindows-dev-config/,Workloads/, andwsl-comfort/folders are Authenticode-signed release copies regenerated by the sign pipeline, so please don't edit them directly. Full details insrc/docs/development.md.
The single source of truth for every flow (paths, build/run commands, ids, language metadata) is src/manifest.yml. The Command Palette extension, the CI harness, and the per-flow shims all read from it, so keep it in sync when you add or rename a flow.