diff --git a/docs/user-guide.md b/docs/user-guide.md
index 892e3a0..42161eb 100644
--- a/docs/user-guide.md
+++ b/docs/user-guide.md
@@ -116,9 +116,13 @@ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cloudstic/cli/main/scripts/install.
 
 # Install completion for a specific shell
 curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cloudstic/cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- --with-completion --shell zsh
+
+# Skip checksum verification (not recommended)
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Cloudstic/cli/main/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- --no-verify
 ```
 
-The installer verifies release checksums by default.
+The installer verifies release checksums by default. `--no-verify` is available
+for constrained/debug environments but is not recommended.
 Completion files are written to user directories (for example `~/.zfunc` for zsh,
 `~/.config/fish/completions` for fish, and `~/.local/share/bash-completion/completions` for bash).
 
@@ -126,9 +130,16 @@ Completion files are written to user directories (for example `~/.zfunc` for zsh
 
 Download the latest release for your platform from the [GitHub Releases](https://github.com/cloudstic/cli/releases) page. Binaries are available for macOS (Intel & Apple Silicon), Linux (amd64 & arm64), and Windows.
 
+> Prefer the curl installer above when possible; it verifies checksums automatically.
+
 ```bash
 # Example: macOS Apple Silicon
-curl -L https://github.com/cloudstic/cli/releases/latest/download/cloudstic_$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/cloudstic/cli/releases/latest | grep tag_name | cut -d '"' -f 4 | sed 's/^v//')_darwin_arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
+VERSION=$(curl -fsSL https://api.github.com/repos/cloudstic/cli/releases/latest | awk -F '"' '/tag_name/{gsub(/^v/,"",$4); print $4; exit}')
+ASSET="cloudstic_${VERSION}_darwin_arm64.tar.gz"
+curl -fsSL "https://github.com/cloudstic/cli/releases/latest/download/${ASSET}" -o "${ASSET}"
+curl -fsSL https://github.com/cloudstic/cli/releases/latest/download/checksums.txt -o checksums.txt
+grep " ${ASSET}$" checksums.txt | shasum -a 256 -c -
+tar -xzf "${ASSET}"
 mv cloudstic /usr/local/bin/
 ```
 
diff --git a/scripts/install.sh b/scripts/install.sh
index 5ac191b..ec7b713 100755
--- a/scripts/install.sh
+++ b/scripts/install.sh
@@ -124,6 +124,11 @@ parse_args() {
   done
 }
 
+print_install_dir_hint() {
+  echo "Try running with sudo or choose a user-writable directory:" >&2
+  echo "  sh -s -- --install-dir \"$HOME/.local/bin\"" >&2
+}
+
 detect_default_shell() {
   if [ -n "${SHELL:-}" ]; then
     shell_name="$(basename "$SHELL")"
@@ -203,7 +208,10 @@ install_binary() {
   if [ "$VERSION" = "latest" ]; then
     tag="latest"
   else
-    tag="$VERSION"
+    case "$VERSION" in
+      v*) tag="$VERSION" ;;
+      *) tag="v$VERSION" ;;
+    esac
   fi
 
   if [ "$tag" = "latest" ]; then
@@ -253,14 +261,25 @@ install_binary() {
     exit 1
   fi
 
-  mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR"
+  if ! mkdir -p "$INSTALL_DIR" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "Error: cannot create install directory: $INSTALL_DIR" >&2
+    print_install_dir_hint
+    exit 1
+  fi
+
   target="$INSTALL_DIR/$BIN_NAME"
-  if cp "$tmpdir/$BIN_NAME" "$target" 2>/dev/null; then
-    chmod +x "$target"
+  cp_err_file="$tmpdir/cp.err"
+  if cp "$tmpdir/$BIN_NAME" "$target" 2>"$cp_err_file"; then
+    chmod_err_file="$tmpdir/chmod.err"
+    if ! chmod +x "$target" 2>"$chmod_err_file"; then
+      echo "Error: failed to set executable bit on $target" >&2
+      cat "$chmod_err_file" >&2
+      exit 1
+    fi
   else
-    echo "Permission denied writing to $INSTALL_DIR." >&2
-    echo "Try running with sudo or choose a user-writable directory:" >&2
-    echo "  sh -s -- --install-dir \"$HOME/.local/bin\"" >&2
+    echo "Error: failed to install $BIN_NAME to $target" >&2
+    cat "$cp_err_file" >&2
+    print_install_dir_hint
     exit 1
   fi
 
@@ -275,6 +294,7 @@ install_binary() {
 main() {
   need_cmd curl
   need_cmd tar
+  need_cmd awk
   parse_args "$@"
   os="$(detect_os)"
   arch="$(detect_arch)"