How to Install Amazon Q CLI on Windows (Step-by-Step Guide)

Amazon Q CLI is a powerful tool that brings conversational and command-based productivity to your terminal. While it officially supports Linux and macOS, Windows users can still access its full potential using WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux). This guide walks you through a beginner-friendly installation on Windows.

✨ What You'll Achieve

By the end of this tutorial, you'll have:

• Amazon Q CLI fully installed on your Windows system (via Ubuntu WSL)

• Access to Q CLI features like q chat, q translate, and more

• A setup that feels seamless despite being on a non-Linux system

🤖 Step 1: Enable WSL On Your Windows Machine

1. Click on the Start Menu and search for “Turn Windows features on or off”.

2. Open the result. A new window will appear with a list of Windows features.

3. Scroll down and check the following two boxes:

   • Windows Subsystem for Linux

   • Virtual Machine Platform

4. Click OK. Windows will apply the changes and may ask you to restart your computer.

5. After restarting, WSL will be enabled on your system.

Note: These features are required to run Ubuntu using WSL 2.

🤖 Step 2: Install WSL and Ubuntu

1. Open PowerShell/cmd as Administrator

2. Run:

   wsl --install -d Ubuntu

   This installs Ubuntu with WSL 2.

Create a default Unix user account:

🔧 Step 3: Install Dependencies

Inside your Ubuntu terminal, run:

sudo apt update && sudo apt install wget -y

This ensures you have wget to download the package.

🚀 Step 4: Download and Install Amazon Q CLI

Run the following commands one by one:

wget https://desktop-release.q.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/latest/amazon-q.deb
sudo apt install ./amazon-q.deb

This installs the latest version of Amazon Q CLI for Debian-based systems like Ubuntu.

🔐 Step 5: Log In to Q CLI

After installation, run:

q login

Choose "Use for Free with Builder ID" and follow the link that appears in your browser to authenticate.

🎡 Step 6: Verify Everything Works

Test your installation:

q doctor or q help

You should see confirmation that Q CLI is properly installed and configured.

✨ Optional: Create a Desktop Shortcut (Advanced)

To quickly launch Q CLI, create a .bat file with the following content:

@echo off
wsl -d Ubuntu q chat

Save it as q-launcher.bat and double-click to open Q Chat anytime.

🚀 You’re Ready to Go!

Start using:

• q chat for conversational AI

• q translate "your goal" to turn natural language into shell commands

• q help to explore available features

Amazon Q CLI is now fully functional on your Windows machine – powered by the magic of WSL.