Workflow: - Configure Aliyun OSS Credentials: write the ossutil config file directly with restricted umask instead of invoking `ossutil config -k <secret>`. Passing the access-key secret via argv made it visible in /proc/<pid>/cmdline for the lifetime of that step; writing the INI file in-process keeps the secret out of the process table. upload-aliyun-oss-assets.js: - Upload assets in parallel with `Promise.all` + async `spawn` instead of a sequential `spawnSync` loop. Each asset keeps its own retry budget; failures are aggregated so one flaky upload does not mask a separate failure. - Replace the bespoke `Atomics.wait` retry sleep with `timers/promises#setTimeout` now that the loop is async. INSTALLATION_GUIDE.md: - Drop the misleading "instead of overwriting the global installation/ entrypoint objects" sentence; the workflow has always also refreshed the global versionless objects so curl|bash links keep resolving without a version segment. Document the rollback story instead.
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Installation Guide for Qwen Code with Source Tracking
This guide describes the source-tracking installation scripts for Qwen Code. The scripts prefer standalone release archives and can fall back to npm when a standalone archive is not available.
Overview
The installers are intentionally lightweight:
- They try a standalone archive first by default.
- They do not install Node.js, NVM, or any other Node version manager.
- They do not edit npm config. Standalone installs may update the shell profile
or user PATH so the generated
qwenshim is discoverable. - They do not start
qwenautomatically after installation. - They store source information in
~/.qwen/source.jsonor%USERPROFILE%\.qwen\source.jsonwhen--sourceis provided.
Standalone archives include a private Node.js runtime, so users do not need a
local Node.js installation on the standalone path. Node.js 22 or newer and npm
are only required when the installer falls back to npm or when
--method npm is used.
Installation Scripts
- Linux/macOS:
install-qwen-standalone.sh - Windows:
install-qwen-standalone.ps1 - Linux/macOS uninstall:
uninstall-qwen-standalone.sh - Windows uninstall:
uninstall-qwen-standalone.ps1
Release Artifacts
GitHub releases publish these standalone archives:
qwen-code-darwin-arm64.tar.gzqwen-code-darwin-x64.tar.gzqwen-code-linux-arm64.tar.gzqwen-code-linux-x64.tar.gzqwen-code-win-x64.zipSHA256SUMS
The new standalone-first installer scripts (install-qwen-standalone.sh,
install-qwen-standalone.ps1) are not republished per release. They are served
from a hosted installation endpoint and accept --version to pin a specific
standalone release. The standalone suffix intentionally avoids overwriting the
existing production install-qwen.sh / install-qwen.bat OSS objects during
the staged rollout.
Public installation documentation intentionally continues to use the existing production installer in this PR. Update README and other public quick-install instructions in a follow-up after the standalone-suffixed hosted installers and release archive sync have been validated in production.
Hosted installer assets are staged separately from GitHub Release archives:
install-qwen-standalone.shis the Linux/macOS hosted entrypoint.install-qwen-standalone.ps1is the Windows hosted entrypoint forirm | iex.install-qwen-standalone.batis the Windows installer implementation used byinstall-qwen-standalone.ps1and can also be downloaded and run directly.uninstall-qwen-standalone.shremoves Linux/macOS standalone installs.uninstall-qwen-standalone.ps1removes Windows standalone installs.
The global standalone-suffixed OSS entrypoints are maintained under
installation/install-qwen-standalone.sh,
installation/install-qwen-standalone.ps1,
installation/install-qwen-standalone.bat,
installation/uninstall-qwen-standalone.sh, and
installation/uninstall-qwen-standalone.ps1.
Build them with:
npm run package:hosted-installation -- --out-dir dist/installation
The staged install-qwen-standalone.sh, install-qwen-standalone.ps1,
install-qwen-standalone.bat, uninstall-qwen-standalone.sh, and
uninstall-qwen-standalone.ps1 files map to the standalone-suffixed hosted URLs
shown above. The staging command also writes SHA256SUMS for upload
verification. During a non-dry-run stable release, the publish workflow uploads
a byte-for-byte snapshot to installation/vX.Y.Z/ for audit and rollback, and
also refreshes the global installation/ entrypoint objects so curl | bash
links keep resolving without a version segment. The versioned snapshot lets you
roll back by repointing the global objects to a previous tag if a regression is
caught after publish. The hosted
installers intentionally default to latest; on Aliyun OSS this means reading
releases/qwen-code/latest/VERSION first, then downloading the matching
versioned release directory. Use --version or QWEN_INSTALL_VERSION to pin a
standalone release directly.
Configure the production-release GitHub environment with these required
secrets before enabling OSS sync:
ALIYUN_OSS_ACCESS_KEY_IDALIYUN_OSS_ACCESS_KEY_SECRET
The workflow defaults to the production OSS bucket and Hangzhou endpoint. Set these GitHub Actions variables only when the bucket, endpoint, or public base URL changes:
ALIYUN_OSS_BUCKET(default:qwen-code-assets)ALIYUN_OSS_ENDPOINT(default:https://oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com)ALIYUN_OSS_PUBLIC_BASE_URL(default:https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com)
Archive layout:
qwen-code/
bin/qwen
bin/qwen.cmd
lib/cli.js
node/
package.json
README.md
LICENSE
manifest.json
Install Methods
The default method is detect:
- Detect the current platform.
- Try to download and install the matching standalone archive.
- Verify the archive with
SHA256SUMS. - Fall back to npm if the standalone archive is not available.
You can force a method:
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh --method standalone
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh --method npm
install-qwen-standalone.bat --method standalone
install-qwen-standalone.bat --method npm
Optional Native Modules
The standalone archives bundle Qwen Code and a private Node.js runtime. They do
not currently install npm optional native modules such as node-pty and
@teddyzhu/clipboard. Qwen Code is designed to degrade when these optional
modules are absent, but terminal pty behavior and clipboard image support may
not be identical to an npm installation.
Use --method npm if you specifically need npm to resolve optional native
modules for the current machine.
Linux/macOS Usage
# Default: standalone archive with npm fallback
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh
# Record a source value
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh --source github
# Use npm explicitly
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh --method npm --registry https://registry.npmjs.org
# Use the Aliyun standalone mirror
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh --mirror aliyun
# Install an offline archive
# SHA256SUMS must be in the same directory.
bash install-qwen-standalone.sh --archive ./qwen-code-linux-x64.tar.gz
Standalone installs to:
- Runtime:
~/.local/lib/qwen-code - Shim:
~/.local/bin/qwen
Override with QWEN_INSTALL_ROOT, QWEN_INSTALL_LIB_PARENT,
QWEN_INSTALL_LIB_DIR, or QWEN_INSTALL_BIN_DIR when needed.
Uninstall a standalone Linux/macOS install:
curl -fsSL https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/installation/uninstall-qwen-standalone.sh | bash
The uninstaller removes only the standalone runtime, generated qwen wrapper,
and installer-managed shell PATH block. It preserves ~/.qwen by default. Set
QWEN_UNINSTALL_PURGE=1 to remove ~/.qwen/source.json; other config and auth
files are still preserved.
Windows Usage
REM Default: standalone archive with npm fallback
install-qwen-standalone.bat
REM Record a source value
install-qwen-standalone.bat --source github
REM Use npm explicitly
install-qwen-standalone.bat --method npm --registry https://registry.npmjs.org
REM Use the Aliyun standalone mirror
install-qwen-standalone.bat --mirror aliyun
REM Install an offline archive
REM SHA256SUMS must be in the same directory.
install-qwen-standalone.bat --archive qwen-code-win-x64.zip
Standalone installs to:
- Runtime:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\qwen-code\qwen-code - Shim:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\qwen-code\bin\qwen.cmd
Override with QWEN_INSTALL_ROOT, QWEN_INSTALL_LIB_DIR, or
QWEN_INSTALL_BIN_DIR when needed.
Restart the terminal if qwen is not immediately available on PATH.
Uninstall a standalone Windows install:
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -c "irm https://qwen-code-assets.oss-cn-hangzhou.aliyuncs.com/installation/uninstall-qwen-standalone.ps1 | iex"
The uninstaller removes only the standalone runtime, generated qwen.cmd
wrapper, user PATH entry, and the current-session cmd.exe shim created by the
hosted PowerShell installer. It preserves %USERPROFILE%\.qwen by default. Set
QWEN_UNINSTALL_PURGE=1 to remove %USERPROFILE%\.qwen\source.json; other
config and auth files are still preserved.
Mirrors and Overrides
Options:
--method detect|standalone|npm--mirror github|aliyun--base-url URL--archive PATH--version VERSION--registry REGISTRY--source SOURCE
Environment variables:
QWEN_INSTALL_METHODQWEN_INSTALL_MIRRORQWEN_INSTALL_BASE_URLQWEN_INSTALL_ARCHIVEQWEN_INSTALL_VERSIONQWEN_NPM_REGISTRY
Use --base-url for private mirrors. The URL must contain
qwen-code-<target> archives and SHA256SUMS in the same directory. Custom
base URLs must use https://.
For Aliyun OSS/CDN, release publishing uploads byte-identical artifacts to the
versioned directory, for example releases/qwen-code/vX.Y.Z/. Stable releases
also update the small releases/qwen-code/latest/VERSION pointer used by the
default installer path. The installer reads that pointer and then downloads the
versioned archive plus the versioned SHA256SUMS; nightly and preview releases
do not update the pointer.
Supported Source Values
The source value may only contain letters, numbers, dot, underscore, and dash. Common values are:
githubnpminternallocal-build
Source Tracking
When --source or -s is provided, the installer writes:
{
"source": "github"
}
Locations:
- Linux/macOS:
~/.qwen/source.json - Windows:
%USERPROFILE%\.qwen\source.json
The telemetry logger reads this file when available. Missing, invalid, or unreadable source files are ignored.
Manual Installation
If source tracking is not needed and Node.js 22 or newer is already available:
npm install -g @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest
Homebrew users can also install Qwen Code with:
brew install qwen-code
Troubleshooting
Standalone Archive Missing
In detect mode, the installer falls back to npm. In standalone mode, install
fails so that automation can detect the missing artifact.
Node.js Missing or Too Old
This only blocks npm installation. Install or activate Node.js 22 or newer, then
rerun the installer with --method npm or let detect fall back again.
npm Missing
Install a Node.js distribution that includes npm, then rerun the installer.
Permission Errors During npm Install
The installers do not rewrite npm prefix settings. If global npm installation fails with a permission error, fix the npm global install location or use a user-owned Node.js installation, then rerun:
npm install -g @qwen-code/qwen-code@latest --registry https://registry.npmmirror.com
qwen Is Not on PATH After Installation
Restart the terminal first. For standalone installs, add the shim directory:
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
For npm installs, add npm's global binary directory. On Linux/macOS this is usually:
export PATH="$(npm prefix -g)/bin:$PATH"
On Windows standalone installs, add this directory to PATH:
%LOCALAPPDATA%\qwen-code\bin