Getting Started

Prerequisites

A supported Mac or Windows PC
Claude Code or Codex
An HQ account

Install

Go to hqforwork.com/install and download HQ for your computer.
Open HQ and sign in.
Choose where your HQ workspace should live (the default is ~/hq).
Select Install and let HQ finish setup.
On the HQ is ready screen, select Open in Claude Code or Open in Codex.

Opening either AI tool is the final onboarding step. HQ opens the selected tool in your workspace, completes onboarding, and switches to the compact sync app in your menu bar or system tray. If you want to open the workspace yourself, select Finish instead.

Finish setup in your AI tool

Claude Code opens with /setup ready to run. In Codex, open the prompt and run:

/setup

The setup wizard walks you through 5 phases:

Phase 1: Dependencies

Checks that qmd, Claude Code, and gh are installed.

Phase 2: Identity

Your name and handle
What you do
Your domains/areas of expertise
Company or context name

Phase 3: Starter Projects

Choose one or more starter projects:

Project	What It Does
Personal Assistant	Email digests, task scanning, daily briefings
Social Media Worker	X/LinkedIn content creation and scheduling
Code Worker	Autonomous coding via the Ralph methodology

Phase 4: Customization

Follow-up questions based on your selections (platforms, tech stack, preferences).

Phase 5: File Generation

Creates your personalized directory structure:

companies/{your-company}/
├── settings/       # API credentials (gitignored)
├── data/           # Exports, reports
└── knowledge/
    ├── profile.md
    └── voice-style.md

First Task

After setup, try these:

# Find what to work on
/nexttask

# Create a project
/prd "Build a landing page for my product"

# Run a worker
/run task-executor execute

# Search your HQ
/search "how do workers work"

Directory Structure

hq/
├── .claude/
│   ├── CLAUDE.md        # Global instructions
│   └── commands/        # 17 slash commands
├── companies/           # Your company resources
├── knowledge/           # Knowledge bases
├── workers/             # AI worker configs
├── projects/            # Project PRDs
├── workspace/
│   ├── threads/         # Session history
│   ├── checkpoints/     # Session saves
│   ├── learnings/       # Captured insights
│   └── reports/         # Generated reports
└── modules/
    └── modules.yaml     # Module manifest