# Install in VS Code

slipstream is a Claude Code plugin. The whole product lives inside Claude Code in VS Code. This page is the canonical install path.

## Requirements

- VS Code with the Claude Code extension installed and signed in.
- Node 20 or newer on your PATH. The plugin's hooks and helper run on Node, and the slash commands call the helper through `npx`.

Check Node from the VS Code integrated terminal:

```
node --version
```

## Install

Inside Claude Code (the chat input), run:

```
/plugin marketplace add sarmakska/slipstream
/plugin install slipstream
```

The first command registers the SarmaLinux marketplace defined in `.claude-plugin/marketplace.json`. The second installs the plugin described in `.claude-plugin/plugin.json`, which wires the skills, the slash commands, the hooks, the bundled MCP server, the statusline, the output style and the subagents.

## First session

1. Open your project folder in VS Code and start a Claude Code session. The `SessionStart` hook runs `hooks/session-start.mjs`, which reloads any compaction digest, runs signal-ranked memory recall, and reminds Claude to read the map before whole files. The bundled MCP server is loaded automatically.
2. Confirm everything is wired:
   ```
   /slipstream:doctor
   ```
   It prints a `PASS`/`FAIL` line per check (MCP server, every hook including PreCompact, memory store, CLI, statusline, output style, subagents, plugin validity) and a final "All checks passed" line.
3. Build the project map:
   ```
   /slipstream:map
   ```
   This writes `.claude/slipstream/map.md` and `.claude/slipstream/map.json`. From here Claude reads the index and pulls single slices via `sp_symbol` / `sp_lines` instead of whole files.
4. Work as normal. Save durable decisions with `/slipstream:remember`, recall them with `/slipstream:recall`, see the picture with `/slipstream:mindmap`, and check the budget with `/slipstream:status`. Switch to the terse style with `/output-style slipstream`.

## Verifying the install

The quickest check is `/slipstream:doctor` (above). For the full plugin validation, run `/slipstream:validate` in the chat, or from the terminal in the repo:

```
node dist/cli/index.js plugin-validate
```

It checks the manifest (including the MCP and statusline declarations), the marketplace file, all seven hooks, the slash commands, the subagents, the output style and every skill, and prints `OK: plugin valid` when all is well.

## Failure modes

- "command not found: node" in a hook. Node is not on the PATH Claude Code uses. Install Node 20 or newer and restart VS Code so the terminal inherits it.
- The slash commands do nothing. Confirm the plugin installed with `/plugin` and that you are typing the namespaced form, `/slipstream:map` not `/map`.
- No memory loads at session start. There is no memory yet. Save one with `/slipstream:remember` and it will load next session.

---
SarmaLinux . sarmalinux.com . [Repository](https://github.com/sarmakska/slipstream)