Installation

Learn how to install and configure CCW (Claude Code Workflow) on your system.

What is CCW?

CCW is a Claude Code extension system that provides advanced workflow orchestration, team collaboration, and MCP integration. It is NOT an npm package or standalone CLI tool.

CCW is installed as a set of command definitions, skills, and agents in your ~/.claude/ directory, and is invoked directly within Claude Code using slash commands.

Prerequisites

Before installing CCW, make sure you have:

• Claude Code installed and configured
• Git >= 2.30.0 (for version control features)
• Node.js >= 20.0.0 (only required for MCP servers)
• npm >= 10.0.0 or bun >= 1.0.0 (only for MCP server installation)

Note: CCW itself runs within Claude Code and doesn't require Node.js for its core functionality. Node.js is only needed if you want to use MCP servers.

Install CCW

Method 1: Clone and Install (Recommended)

# 1. Clone the CCW repository
git clone https://github.com/catlog22/Claude-Code-Workflow.git
cd Claude-Code-Workflow

# 2. Install dependencies
npm install

# 3. Install CCW to your system (interactive)
ccw install

# Or specify installation mode directly:
# ccw install --mode Global    # Install to home directory (recommended)
# ccw install --mode Path      # Install to specific project path

The ccw install command will:

• Copy .claude/, .codex/, .gemini/, .qwen/, .ccw/ directories to the appropriate locations
• Create installation manifest for tracking
• Preserve user settings (settings.json, settings.local.json)
• Optionally install Git Bash fix on Windows

Method 2: Manual Installation

If you prefer manual installation, copy the directories:

# Copy to your home directory
cp -r .claude ~/.claude/
cp -r .codex ~/.codex/
cp -r .gemini ~/.gemini/
cp -r .qwen ~/.qwen/
cp -r .ccw ~/.ccw/

Verify Installation

In Claude Code, invoke the CCW commands:

/ccw

You should see the CCW orchestrator prompt with workflow options.

To check available CCW commands, you can list them:

Available CCW Commands:
- /ccw - Main workflow orchestrator
- /ccw-coordinator - External CLI orchestration
- /workflow:spec:setup  - Initialize project configuration
- /workflow:status - Generate project views
- /issue:discover - Discover and plan issues
- /brainstorm - Multi-perspective brainstorming
- /review-code - Multi-dimensional code review

Configuration

CLI Tools Configuration

Create or edit ~/.claude/cli-tools.json to configure external AI tools:

{
  "version": "3.3.0",
  "tools": {
    "gemini": {
      "enabled": true,
      "primaryModel": "gemini-2.5-flash",
      "secondaryModel": "gemini-2.5-flash",
      "tags": ["analysis", "debug"],
      "type": "builtin"
    },
    "codex": {
      "enabled": true,
      "primaryModel": "gpt-5.2",
      "secondaryModel": "gpt-5.2",
      "tags": [],
      "type": "builtin"
    },
    "qwen": {
      "enabled": true,
      "primaryModel": "coder-model",
      "secondaryModel": "coder-model",
      "tags": [],
      "type": "builtin"
    }
  }
}

See CLI Tools Guide for more configuration options.

CLAUDE.md Instructions

Create CLAUDE.md in your project root to define project-specific instructions:

# Project Instructions

## Coding Standards
- Use TypeScript for type safety
- Follow ESLint configuration
- Write tests for all new features

## Architecture
- Frontend: Vue 3 + Vite
- Backend: Node.js + Express
- Database: PostgreSQL

## CLI Endpoints
- **CLI Tools Usage**: @~/.ccw/workflows/cli-tools-usage.md
- **CLI Endpoints Config**: @~/.claude/cli-tools.json

Project Configuration

Initialize CCW in your project:

/workflow:spec:setup

This creates .workflow/project-tech.json with your project's technology stack.

MCP Integration (Optional)

CCW works best with MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers for enhanced capabilities:

• ACE Context Engine - Real-time codebase semantic search
• Chrome DevTools MCP - Browser automation and debugging
• Web Reader MCP - Web content extraction
• File System MCP - Enhanced file operations

See MCP Setup Guide for detailed installation instructions.

Updating CCW

# Navigate to your CCW clone location
cd ~/.claude/ccw-source  # or wherever you cloned it

# Pull latest changes
git pull origin main

# Copy updated files
cp -r commands/* ~/.claude/commands/
cp -r skills/* ~/.claude/skills/
cp -r agents/* ~/.claude/agents/

Uninstallation

CCW provides a smart uninstall command that automatically handles installation manifests, orphan file cleanup, and global file protection.

Using CCW Uninstall Command (Recommended)

ccw uninstall

Uninstallation flow:

1. Scan Installation Manifests - Automatically detects all installed CCW instances (Global and Path modes)
2. Interactive Selection - Displays installation list for you to choose which to uninstall
3. Smart Protection - When uninstalling Path mode, if a Global installation exists, global files (workflows, scripts, templates) are automatically preserved
4. Orphan File Cleanup - Automatically cleans up skills and commands files no longer referenced by any installation
5. Empty Directory Cleanup - Removes empty directories left behind
6. Git Bash Fix Removal - On Windows, after the last installation is removed, asks whether to remove the Git Bash multi-line prompt fix

Uninstall Output Example

  Found installations:

  1. Global
     Path: /Users/username/my-project
     Date: 2026/3/2
     Version: 7.0.5
     Files: 156 | Dirs: 23

──────────────────────────────────────
? Select installation to uninstall: Global - /Users/username/my-project
? Are you sure you want to uninstall Global installation? Yes

✔ Removing files...
✔ Uninstall complete!

╔══════════════════════════════════════╗
║           Uninstall Summary          ║
╠══════════════════════════════════════╣
║ ✓ Successfully Uninstalled           ║
║                                      ║
║ Files removed: 156                   ║
║ Directories removed: 23              ║
║ Orphan files cleaned: 3              ║
║                                      ║
║ Manifest removed                     ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════╝

Manual Uninstallation

If you need to manually remove CCW files (not recommended):

# CCW installed directories (safe to remove)
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/ccw.md
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/ccw-coordinator.md
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/workflow
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/issue
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/cli
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/memory
rm -rf ~/.claude/commands/idaw
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/workflow-*
rm -rf ~/~  or <project>/.claude/skills/team-*
rm -rf ~/.claude/skills/review-*
rm -rf ~/.claude/agents/team-worker.md
rm -rf ~/.claude/agents/cli-*-agent.md
rm -rf ~/.claude/workflows
rm -rf ~/.claude/scripts
rm -rf ~/.claude/templates
rm -rf ~/.claude/manifests
rm -rf ~/.claude/version.json

# Codex related directories
rm -rf ~/.codex/prompts
rm -rf ~/.codex/skills
rm -rf ~/.codex/agents

# Other CLI directories
rm -rf ~/.gemini
rm -rf ~/.qwen

# CCW core directory
rm -rf ~/.ccw

Danger

Do NOT run rm -rf ~/.claude - this will delete your Claude Code personal configurations:

• ~/.claude/settings.json - Your Claude Code settings
• ~/.claude/settings.local.json - Local override settings
• MCP server configurations, etc.

Always use ccw uninstall for controlled uninstallation.

Troubleshooting

Command Not Found

If /ccw or other CCW commands don't work:

1. Verify files are in the correct location:

   ls ~/.claude/commands/ccw.md
   ls ~/.claude/commands/ccw-coordinator.md

2. Restart Claude Code - Commands may need a restart to be detected

3. Check file syntax - Ensure .md files have valid frontmatter

MCP Tools Not Working

If MCP tools (like mcp__ace-tool__search_context) don't work:

1. Verify MCP servers are running:

   • Check Claude Code Settings → MCP Servers
   • Ensure required MCP servers are enabled

2. Install missing MCP servers:

   # ACE Context Engine
   npm install -g @anthropic/ace-mcp
   
   # File System MCP
   npm install -g @modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem

3. Check MCP configuration - See MCP Setup Guide

Permission Issues

If you encounter permission errors when copying files:

# Use appropriate permissions for your system
# On Linux/macOS with sudo
sudo cp -r commands/* ~/.claude/commands/

# Fix ownership
sudo chown -R $USER:$USER ~/.claude/

Configuration Errors

If cli-tools.json has syntax errors:

1. Validate JSON:

   cat ~/.claude/cli-tools.json | python -m json.tool

2. Check for trailing commas - JSON doesn't allow them

3. Verify version field - Should match expected format (e.g., "3.3.0")

Next Steps

After installation, check out the Quick Start guide.

Quick Start Example

After installation, try these commands to verify everything works:

# 1. Initialize in your project
/workflow:spec:setup 

# 2. Try a simple analysis using the CLI tool
Bash: ccw cli -p "Analyze the project structure" --tool gemini --mode analysis

# 3. Run the main orchestrator
/ccw
# Prompt: "Summarize the codebase architecture"

# 4. Try brainstorming
/brainstorm "Improve the authentication flow"

Expected Output

Using /ccw command:

You: /ccw
Claude: CCW Orchestrator - 5-Phase Workflow Execution

Phase 1: Intent Understanding
What would you like to accomplish? Please describe your task.

Using workflow init:

You: /workflow:spec:setup 
✔ Created .workflow/project-tech.json
✔ Project configuration complete

Common First-Time Issues

Issue	Solution
/ccw command not recognized	Verify commands copied to ~/.claude/commands/ and restart Claude Code
Permission denied copying files	Use sudo or fix directory ownership with chown
MCP tools not available	Install and configure MCP servers (see MCP Setup)
CLI tools configuration error	Validate ~/.claude/cli-tools.json has correct JSON syntax