Install Deliberate

Deliberate ships one Agent Skill with an Agent Plugins 1.0.0 root manifest, native adapters for GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, and Cursor, and portable installation for OpenCode and Windsurf. The harness supplies the model and tools; Deliberate supplies the product method, files, and review workflow. Native marketplace manifests continue to ship because the portable specification standardizes plugin packages and discovery, not marketplace registration or installation.

Before you install

Use Node.js 22.20 or newer across these installation paths. The Deliberate runtime itself supports Node.js 22.5 or newer, but the generic skills installer used by OpenCode and Windsurf requires Node.js 22.20 or newer. A standard installation is thin: on first invocation, the skill resolves the exact matching deliberate-cli runtime from npm. The npm package is not a user-facing installer, and Deliberate never resolves an unpinned latest runtime.

GitHub Copilot CLI

copilot plugin marketplace add Sonorance/deliberate
copilot plugin install deliberate@deliberate

Copilot CLI has deprecated direct repository, URL, and local-path plugin installs, so register the Deliberate marketplace first and then install from it. You only need to add the marketplace once.

Start a new CLI session after installation. If you add the skill during an active session, /skills reload refreshes skill discovery. Verify with /skills info deliberate, then run /deliberate help.

Update with copilot plugin update deliberate. Remove with copilot plugin uninstall deliberate. Refresh the catalog with copilot plugin marketplace update deliberate.

GitHub Copilot app

Open App settings > Plugins and install Deliberate, then start a new app session. Update or remove the plugin from the same settings page. Installing from the CLI changes CLI state only; it does not populate the app.

GitHub Copilot cloud agent

Add this file to the repository where the cloud agent will use Deliberate:

{
  "enabledPlugins": {
    "deliberate@deliberate": true
  },
  "extraKnownMarketplaces": {
    "deliberate": {
      "source": {
        "source": "github",
        "repo": "Sonorance/deliberate"
      }
    }
  }
}

Save it as .github/copilot/settings.json. The configuration also works as repository-scoped plugin policy for Copilot CLI. Start a new cloud-agent task after changing it.

Claude Code

Run these commands inside Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add Sonorance/deliberate
/plugin install deliberate@deliberate
/reload-plugins

Verify with /deliberate:deliberate help. Refresh the marketplace with /plugin marketplace update deliberate. Update Deliberate from /plugin, or remove it with /plugin uninstall deliberate@deliberate.

Claude Code requires the marketplace registration before the plugin install. You only need to add the marketplace once.

Codex

codex plugin marketplace add Sonorance/deliberate

Start Codex, open /plugins, install Deliberate, and start a new session. Invoke $deliberate and ask for help. Upgrade the marketplace with codex plugin marketplace upgrade deliberate; update or uninstall Deliberate from /plugins.

Gemini CLI

gemini extensions install https://github.com/Sonorance/deliberate

Without --ref, Gemini installs the GitHub Latest stable release. Restart Gemini, run /extensions list and /skills list, then ask Gemini to use the deliberate skill and show its help. Approve skill activation when prompted.

Update with gemini extensions update deliberate. Remove with gemini extensions uninstall deliberate. Add --ref <tag> to the install command when you need to pin a release.

Cursor

The repository ships the Cursor plugin manifest, but public installation begins only after Cursor Marketplace review. Once the listing is approved, open Customize, find Deliberate in the Marketplace, and install it at user or project scope.

Confirm Deliberate under Customize > Skills, then run /deliberate help in Agent chat. Update or remove it from Customize.

OpenCode

npx skills add Sonorance/deliberate --skill deliberate --global --agent opencode

Restart OpenCode, then ask it to use the deliberate skill and show its help. Omit --global for a project-local install.

Update with npx skills update deliberate --global. Remove with npx skills remove deliberate --global --agent opencode. The generic skills installer currently requires Node.js 22.20 or newer.

Windsurf

npx skills add Sonorance/deliberate --skill deliberate --global --agent windsurf

Restart Cascade, then enter @deliberate and ask for help. Omit --global for a workspace-local install.

Update with npx skills update deliberate --global. Remove with npx skills remove deliberate --global --agent windsurf. The generic skills installer currently requires Node.js 22.20 or newer.

Managed and offline environments

Download deliberate-v<version>.tar.gz from the matching GitHub Release. The self-contained archive includes every native manifest, the canonical skill, and its bundled runtime. Load the extracted directory through the harness’s supported local plugin or extension flow.

If Deliberate is not found

• Fully restart the harness. Most harnesses scan for skills only at startup.
• Confirm the plugin, extension, or skill appears in the harness’s native list.
• GitHub Copilot: run /skills reload, then /skills info deliberate.
• Claude Code: run /reload-plugins and confirm both the marketplace and plugin in /plugin.
• Codex: start a new session after installation and confirm Deliberate in /plugins.
• Gemini CLI: confirm both /extensions list and /skills list.
• OpenCode or Windsurf: run npx skills list --global --agent <agent> and confirm deliberate.

Reinstall from the same source if the entry is missing. The installed skill pins its matching runtime version; do not install deliberate-cli directly as a workaround.