README.md

Building Goose for Windows

This guide will help you build and run the Goose AI chat UI on Windows.

Prerequisites

You'll need the following tools installed on your Windows machine:

1. Rust - Install via one of these methods:

   winget install Rustlang.Rustup
   

   or

   choco install rustup.install
   

   or

   scoop install rustup
   

2. Node.js - Required for building the desktop app:

   winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS
   

   or

   choco install nodejs-lts
   

3. Git - For cloning the repository:

   winget install Git.Git
   

   or

   choco install git
   

Building Goose

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/block/goose.git
   cd goose
   

2. Download the build script: Save the build_goose_msvc.bat script from this gist to the root of the goose repository.

3. Run the build script:

   build_goose_msvc.bat
   

   When prompted, type y to build both the CLI and desktop app.

4. After successful build: The compiled binaries will be in:

   • CLI: output\goose.exe
   • Desktop app: output\desktop\Goose.exe

Making Goose Executable from Any Directory

After building, you need to copy the required DLL files to make Goose work from any directory:

1. Copy required DLLs to the CLI directory:

   copy "output\desktop\resources\bin\libstdc++-6.dll" "output\"
   copy "output\desktop\resources\bin\libgcc_s_seh-1.dll" "output\"
   copy "output\desktop\resources\bin\libwinpthread-1.dll" "output\"
   

2. Create a command alias (optional):

   doskey goose="C:\path\to\goose\output\goose.exe"
   

   To make this permanent, you can create a .bat or .cmd file in a directory in your PATH with:

   @echo off
   "C:\path\to\goose\output\goose.exe" %*
   

Now you should be able to run Goose from any directory!

Setting Up Ollama (Optional)

If you want to use Goose with local models via Ollama:

1. Install Ollama:

   winget install Ollama.Ollama
   

2. Download a compatible model:

   git clone https://github.com/michaelneale/deepseek-goose-models.git
   cd deepseek-goose-models
   ollama create michaelneale/deepseek-r1-goose -f Modelfile
   

3. Configure Goose: Run the CLI:

   output\goose.exe
   

   During configuration:

   • Enter http://localhost:11434 for "Provider Ollama requires OLLAMA_HOST"
   • Enter michaelneale/deepseek-r1-goose:latest for "Enter a model from that provider"

4. Run Goose: You can now use either the CLI (output\goose.exe) or desktop app (output\desktop\Goose.exe).

Troubleshooting

• Missing rustup: If you get errors about rustup not recognized, ensure you've installed Rust via rustup.rs and opened a new command prompt.
• Build errors: Make sure you have the Microsoft Visual C++ Build Tools installed (typically comes with Visual Studio).
• Desktop app issues: Ensure Node.js is properly installed and in your PATH.

build_goose_msvc.bat

@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion

echo === Goose Windows Build with MSVC ===
echo.

REM Check if Rust is installed
where cargo >nul 2>&1
if %ERRORLEVEL% neq 0 (
    echo Error: Rust (cargo) is not installed or not in PATH. 
    echo Please install Rust first using rustup, chocolatey, or winget.
    exit /b 1
)

REM Check for rustup and use it if available
where rustup >nul 2>&1
if %ERRORLEVEL% equ 0 (
    echo Checking Rust toolchain with rustup...
    rustup show
    
    REM Try to set MSVC toolchain if rustup is available
    rustup default stable-msvc
    if %ERRORLEVEL% neq 0 (
        echo Installing MSVC toolchain...
        rustup install stable-msvc
        rustup default stable-msvc
    )
) else (
    echo Rustup not found, continuing with installed cargo...
    echo Assuming MSVC toolchain is available...
)

REM Build the CLI
echo Building Goose CLI...
cargo build --release -p goose-cli

REM Check if the build was successful
if not exist target\release\goose.exe (
    echo Error: CLI build failed.
    exit /b 1
)

REM Create output directory
mkdir output 2>nul
copy target\release\goose.exe output\

echo.
echo CLI build complete. Output is in output\goose.exe
echo.
set /p build_desktop="Do you want to build the desktop app as well? (y/n): "

if /i "%build_desktop%"=="y" (
    REM Check if Node.js is installed
    where node >nul 2>&1
    if %ERRORLEVEL% neq 0 (
        echo Error: Node.js is not installed. Please install Node.js first.
        exit /b 1
    )

    REM Build the server component
    echo Building Goose Server...
    cargo build --release -p goose-server

    REM Check if the build was successful
    if not exist target\release\goosed.exe (
        echo Error: Server build failed.
        exit /b 1
    )

    REM Create bin directory in desktop UI folder
    mkdir ui\desktop\src\bin 2>nul

    REM Copy server binary to desktop folder
    echo Copying server binary to desktop folder...
    copy target\release\goosed.exe ui\desktop\src\bin\

    REM Install NPM dependencies and build the app
    echo Installing desktop app dependencies...
    cd ui\desktop
    call npm install

    REM Build the desktop app
    echo Building desktop app...
    call npm run bundle:windows

    REM Check if the build was successful
    if not exist out\Goose-win32-x64\Goose.exe (
        echo Error: Desktop app build failed.
        exit /b 1
    )

    REM Copy binaries to the resources folder
    echo Copying binaries to resources folder...
    mkdir out\Goose-win32-x64\resources\bin 2>nul
    copy src\bin\goosed.exe out\Goose-win32-x64\resources\bin\

    REM Copy the desktop app to the output directory
    echo Creating output directory...
    cd ..\..
    mkdir output\desktop 2>nul
    xcopy /E /I /Y ui\desktop\out\Goose-win32-x64 output\desktop

    echo Desktop app build complete. Output is in output\desktop\
)

echo.
echo Build process completed successfully.
echo You can find the built files in %CD%\output\

endlocal