Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Git (any recent version)
• A Waypoint server — sessions are stored on the server, not in the repo. See Server Overview if your team doesn't have one yet.
• Claude Code or VS Code GitHub Copilot (other MCP-compatible agents also work — see Agent Compatibility)

Install the CLI

npm install -g @laserowl/waypoint

Verify the install:

waypoint --version

Connect to your server

Before initialising any repo, connect the CLI to your team's Waypoint server:

waypoint connect https://waypoint.yourcompany.com

You'll be prompted for your API key. Keys are issued by your admin from the server's admin panel. Config is saved to ~/.waypoint/config.json with 0600 permissions.

Config can also be set via environment variables, which take precedence over the file:

export WAYPOINT_SERVER_URL=https://waypoint.yourcompany.com
export WAYPOINT_API_KEY=wp_...

Set up a repo

Run waypoint init from the root of any git repository:

cd my-project
waypoint init

init does five things:

1. Updates CLAUDE.md — instructs the agent to call get_waypoint_context before editing files and list_waypoints at session start
2. Updates .gitignore — excludes .waypoint/sessions/ (sessions live on the server, not in git)
3. Registers the Stop hook in .claude/settings.json — runs waypoint generate automatically after every session
4. Installs the /pr-summary slash command in .claude/commands/
5. Prompts for server connection details if not already configured

If a server isn't configured yet, init will prompt for your server URL and API key.

Verify

Start a session in your agent, do some work, and end it. You should see:

[waypoint] Posted to server https://waypoint.yourcompany.com
[waypoint] Done

If you see No server configured — session not saved, run waypoint connect to add your server details.