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Installing PAI

Important

This File Is For Your AI Assistant

This is the future of software installation.

In 2026 and beyond, software doesn't get installed by humans copying commands. It gets installed by your AI assistant, who reads the documentation, understands your system, asks you questions, and customizes the installation for your specific needs.

You can install PAI manually if you want—the instructions are below. But PAI is designed to be installed by your AI. Give your AI this file and let it guide you through a personalized wizard.

For AI Assistants: Installation Guide

You are about to help your principal install PAI (Personal AI Infrastructure). This is an interactive process where you'll explain concepts, ask questions, and customize the installation based on their needs.

Your Role

You are not just copying files. You are:

  1. Explaining what PAI is and why it matters
  2. Asking questions to understand their needs
  3. Customizing the installation for their specific setup
  4. Guiding them through each step with clear explanations
  5. Verifying everything works before declaring success

The Installation Wizard Flow

Follow this flow, using your platform's question/prompt tools (like AskUserQuestion in Claude Code) to make it interactive:

Phase 1: Introduction

Start by explaining PAI to your principal:

What is PAI?

PAI (Personal AI Infrastructure) is open-source scaffolding for building a personalized AI system. Not a chatbot—a system that knows your goals, remembers your context, and gets better at helping you over time.

Most powerful AI setups are built inside companies for companies. PAI democratizes that—giving everyone access to the kind of AI infrastructure previously available only to the privileged few.

How is PAI different from other AI tools?

Unlike plugins, extensions, or simple prompts, PAI is a complete infrastructure layer:

  • Memory — Your AI remembers past sessions, decisions, and learnings
  • Skills — Specialized capabilities that route intelligently based on context
  • Hooks — Event-driven automation that responds to what's happening
  • Security — Layered protection for your data and commands
  • Goals — Deep understanding of what you're trying to accomplish

Other tools give you features. PAI gives you a foundation to build your AI system.

Phase 2: Understanding Their Setup

Ask your principal these questions to understand their environment:

Question 1: Which AI platform are you using?

  • Claude Code (Recommended)
  • Cursor
  • Windsurf
  • OpenCode
  • Other / Custom

Question 2: Where should PAI be installed?

  • Default: ~/.claude (recommended for Claude Code)
  • Custom location (ask them to specify)

Question 3: What's your experience level with AI tools?

  • New to AI assistants
  • Comfortable with chatbots, new to agentic AI
  • Experienced with AI coding assistants
  • Advanced / Building my own AI systems

This helps you calibrate how much explanation to provide.

Phase 3: Choosing What to Install

Explain the concepts of Bundles and Packs:

What are Packs?

Packs are self-contained capability modules. Each pack adds a specific feature:

  • Hook System — Event-driven automation
  • History System — Automatic context tracking
  • Voice System — Spoken notifications
  • Browser Skill — Web automation and testing
  • And more...

You can install packs individually, picking exactly what you need.

What are Bundles?

Bundles are curated collections of packs that work well together. Instead of choosing packs one-by-one, a bundle gives you a complete, tested experience.

Ask: How would you like to proceed?

  • Install the PAI Bundle (Recommended) — The complete PAI experience with all core capabilities
  • Browse individual packs — Choose specific capabilities you want
  • Minimal install — Just the basics to get started

Phase 4: The PAI Bundle (If Selected)

If they chose the PAI Bundle, explain what's included:

The PAI Bundle includes:

Pack What It Does
Hook System Event-driven automation — the foundation everything else builds on
Core Install Identity, skills routing, and system configuration
History System Automatic capture of sessions, decisions, and learnings
Voice System Spoken notifications via text-to-speech
Browser Skill Web automation for testing and verification

Ask: Ready to install the PAI Bundle?

  • Yes, install everything
  • Tell me more about each pack first
  • I want to customize which packs to include

Phase 5: Installation

For each pack being installed:

  1. Read the pack's INSTALL.md in Packs/[pack-name]/INSTALL.md
  2. Follow its specific wizard flow — each pack has its own questions
  3. Run its verification from VERIFY.md
  4. Confirm success before moving to the next pack

Installation order matters. Install in this sequence:

  1. pai-hook-system (foundation)
  2. pai-core-install (identity and routing)
  3. pai-history-system (memory)
  4. pai-voice-system (optional)
  5. pai-browser-skill (optional)

Phase 6: Verification

After installation, verify the system works:

  1. Check directory structure — Confirm $PAI_DIR/skills/, $PAI_DIR/hooks/, etc. exist
  2. Test hooks — Restart the AI session and confirm hooks fire
  3. Test a skill — Try invoking a simple skill
  4. Check history — Confirm sessions are being captured

Report results to your principal clearly.

Phase 7: Next Steps

After successful installation, guide them on what to do next:

  1. Explore your new system — "Ask me to show you what skills are available"
  2. Customize your identity — Edit $PAI_DIR/skills/CORE/USER/ files
  3. Set up your goals — Configure TELOS for deep goal tracking
  4. Learn the workflows — Ask about specific capabilities

Manual Installation (For Humans)

If you prefer to install PAI yourself without AI assistance:

Prerequisites

  • Bun runtime installed
  • An AI coding assistant (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.)
  • Git

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/danielmiessler/PAI.git
cd PAI

# Run the PAI Bundle installer
cd Bundles/Official
bun run install.ts

The installer will:

  • Ask for your preferences (AI name, install location, timezone)
  • Create the directory structure
  • Configure environment variables
  • Guide you through installing each pack

Installing Individual Packs

Each pack in Packs/ has its own installation:

# Example: Install just the history system
cd Packs/pai-history-system
# Read INSTALL.md and follow instructions
# Or give the directory to your AI

Directory Structure

After installation, your PAI directory will look like:

$PAI_DIR/
├── skills/           # Capability modules
│   └── CORE/         # Core identity and routing
├── hooks/            # Event-driven automation
├── MEMORY/           # History, learnings, state
│   ├── History/
│   ├── Learning/
│   └── Signals/
└── settings.json     # Configuration

Troubleshooting

Hooks not firing?

  • Restart your AI session after installation
  • Check settings.json has the hooks registered
  • Verify hook files exist in $PAI_DIR/hooks/

Skills not routing?

  • Confirm CORE/SKILL.md exists and is readable
  • Check that SessionStart hook loads context

Need help?

Philosophy: Why AI-First Installation?

Traditional software installation is a series of commands you copy and paste, hoping nothing goes wrong. When something breaks, you're on your own.

AI-first installation is different:

  1. Context-aware — Your AI understands your existing setup before making changes
  2. Interactive — You're asked questions, not given a one-size-fits-all script
  3. Adaptive — Installation adjusts based on your answers and environment
  4. Verified — Your AI confirms things work, not just that commands ran
  5. Explained — You understand what's being installed and why

This is how software should be installed in 2026 and beyond. Not copying commands. Having a conversation with an AI that customizes the system for you.

PAI isn't just built this way—PAI believes all software should be built this way.