[BUG] PowerShell installer fails PATH setup silently when Git Bash not in standard location, leaves partial installation

Preflight Checklist

• [x] I have searched existing issues and this hasn't been reported yet
• [x] This is a single bug report (please file separate reports for different bugs)
• [x] I am using the latest version of Claude Code

What's Wrong?

The official PowerShell installation script (irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex) successfully downloads Claude Code but fails to complete the installation when Git Bash is not in a standard location. The installer:

1. Successfully downloads claude-2.1.3-win32-x64.exe to C:\Users\<username>\.claude\downloads\
2. Creates the .claude directory structure (cache, debug, plugins, projects, etc.)
3. Displays an error about Git Bash not being found
4. Fails silently at the PATH setup step - no .claude\bin\ directory is created
5. Leaves the user with a partial installation where claude command is not available

After the installer completes, running claude --version in a fresh PowerShell session fails because the executable is not on PATH.

My Configuration that triggers the issue:

• Git Bash installed via scoop package manager at non-standard location: C:\Users\username\scoop\apps\git-with-openssh\current\git-bash.exe
• Setting CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH environment variable did not resolve the issue during installation

What Should Happen?

The PowerShell installer should either:

• Complete installation without requiring Git Bash (recommended, since this is a native Windows installer running in PowerShell), OR
• Clearly document Git Bash as a prerequisite in the installation docs, OR
• Provide clear fallback behavior - if Git Bash isn't found, complete the PATH setup using PowerShell-native commands and warn the user about limited functionality

Additionally:

• The installer should not fail silently - if it cannot complete setup, it should provide clear error messages and recovery instructions
• The CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH environment variable should actually work during installation if it's meant to solve this problem

Error Messages/Logs

Unfortunately I didn't capture the exact error message before closing the terminal, but it was similar to:

Claude Code requires Git Bash. If Git Bash is installed but not found, set the `CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH` environment variable pointing to bash.exe
After setting the environment variable and re-running the installer, the error persisted.

Post-installation diagnostics:


# PATH not configured
PS C:\Users\username> claude
claude : The term 'claude' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.

# Binary exists but not in accessible location
PS C:\Users\username> Test-Path "C:\Users\username\.claude\downloads\claude-2.1.3-win32-x64.exe"
True

# No bin directory was created
PS C:\Users\username> Test-Path "C:\Users\username\.claude\bin"
False

# Environment variable was set
PS C:\Users\username> $env:CLAUDE_CODE_GIT_BASH_PATH
C:\Users\username\scoop\apps\git-with-openssh\current\git-bash.exe

Steps to Reproduce

Follow documented instructions for Windows installation. Then attempt to find claude on the PATH

Claude Model

None

Is this a regression?

I don't know

Last Working Version

_No response_

Claude Code Version

2.1.3

Platform

Anthropic API

Operating System

Windows

Terminal/Shell

Windows Terminal

Additional Information

_No response_