Quickstart: Wingman in five minutes

Install the app

Paste the block below into a terminal, with REPLACE_WITH_VERSION replaced by the version on the Downloads page, where the same block appears with the version filled in (Install the desktop app has the full walkthrough). Version 1.6.1 is installed manually; later compatible releases show a compact title-bar update dot and always wait for your explicit Download and Install clicks. Afterwards, wingman --version prints the installed release without opening the app. Releases before 1.7.51 open the app instead, or stop with a display error over SSH; on those, dpkg-query -W wingman prints the installed version.

bash

(
  set -e
  d=$(mktemp -d); chmod 755 "$d"; cd "$d"
  sudo apt-get update || echo "Some package sources could not be refreshed; continuing." >&2
  sudo apt-get install -y curl ca-certificates
  v=REPLACE_WITH_VERSION; a=$(dpkg --print-architecture)
  curl -fsSLO --retry 3 "https://github.com/axelera-ai-hub/wingman/releases/download/v$v/wingman_${v}_$a.deb"
  sudo apt-get install -y "./wingman_${v}_$a.deb"
  dpkg-query -W wingman
)

Sign in once

Click Continue with Axelera SSO. Your browser approves the session, and every surface — Chat, Agent Dev, the dashboard pages — rides on it. No passwords are typed inside the app.

Pick your startup mode

Wingman Home greets you with two modes: Chat for asking and planning, and Agent Dev for building against your workspace (a third, Zendesk support triage, appears when its setting is enabled). Pick one — the big launch button underneath updates to match, so it always names the next action: Open Chat, Resume Agent Dev, or Set up and open Agent Dev.

Open a workspace

For Agent Dev, choose where to work. Open Folder picks any project directory; Open Workspace picks a saved .code-workspace file. Once you have opened something, it appears in Recent workspaces for one-click reopening.

Send your first prompt

Press the launch button and enter Agent Dev. Only a compact green dot proves the selected provider is ready. Compact amber checking or degraded dots are diagnostic states, not proof of readiness; click one for details or a retry. If the control expands to Fix now, click it for the guided install, sign-in, or connection step, then ask for a detection demo in plain words. Have an Axelera card? Confirm the silicon is awake first:

bash

source axelera-env/bin/activate && axdevice
# Device 0: metis-0-1-0 1GiB metis-m2 flver=1.8.0 bcver=7.4

Open chat.wingman.axelera.ai

Sign in with your Axelera account. If your browser already has a session, you are in instantly.

Pick an agent and ask

Start with the Axelera AI coordinator. Attach files or choose a specialist agent when the task needs deeper context.

Know the boundary

Web chat plans and reviews, but it cannot see your machine. Device work hands off to Agent Dev in the desktop app — that is the whole trick.