Requirements & Installation

Requirements

• Obsidian desktop — Windows, Mac, or Linux. Mobile is not supported.
• Claude Code CLI — installed and authenticated. (Full install guide)
• Claude Pro or Max subscription — Cortex rides your existing subscription. No separate API key needed.

Installing Claude Code

Windows (PowerShell)

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Mac / Linux

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Windows note

Claude Code must be installed natively in PowerShell. A WSL-only or CMD-only install will not work with Cortex.

After installing, verify it works:

claude --version

Then run claude once in your terminal to authenticate — it will open a browser window. If the browser doesn't open automatically, press c to copy the login URL.

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Installation

Via BRAT (recommended for beta)

BRAT installs and auto-updates beta plugins directly from GitHub.

1. Install BRAT from the Obsidian community plugin browser
2. In BRAT settings, click Add Beta Plugin
3. Enter: ScottKirvan/ObsidianCortex
4. BRAT installs Cortex and keeps it updated automatically

Manually

1. Download cortex-<version>.zip from the Releases page
2. Extract the zip — you should have a cortex/ folder containing main.js, manifest.json, and styles.css
3. Move the cortex/ folder into <your-vault>/.obsidian/plugins/
4. In Obsidian: Settings → Community Plugins → disable Safe Mode (if prompted)
5. Find Cortex in the installed plugins list and enable it

From Source

See CONTRIBUTING.md for building from source.