[DOCS] Alpine Linux setup docs missing bash dependency — install.sh fails with not found

Documentation Type

Incorrect/outdated documentation

Documentation Location

https://code.claude.com/docs/en/setup#alpine-linux-and-musl-based-distributions

Section/Topic

Alpine Linux and musl-based distributions

Current Documentation

The Alpine Linux and musl-based distributions section states:

"The native installer on Alpine and other musl/uClibc-based distributions requires libgcc, libstdc++, and ripgrep. Install these using your distribution's package manager, then set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0."

apk add libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep

Separately, the System requirements section states:

"Shell: Bash, Zsh, PowerShell, or CMD."

And the install command given for Linux is:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

What's Wrong or Missing?

bash is never listed as a package to install on Alpine, even though it's a stated system requirement and the install command pipes directly into it. A fresh Alpine install only has BusyBox ash as /bin/sh — no bash. Running the installer on such a system produces a misleading error:

devbox:~# ./install.sh
-sh: ./install.sh: not found

This looks like the script file is missing, but it's actually ash failing to resolve the #!/bin/bash shebang because bash isn't installed.

Additionally, ripgrep is not in Alpine's default main repository — the community repository must be enabled first. This isn't mentioned anywhere either.

Suggested Improvement

Update the Alpine section to include bash and a note about the community repo:

apk add bash libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep

Note: ripgrep is in Alpine's community repository, which must be enabled in /etc/apk/repositories if not already active.

Suggested replacement text:

"The native installer on Alpine and other musl/uClibc-based distributions requires bash, libgcc, libstdc++, and ripgrep. A fresh Alpine install does not include bash by default (only BusyBox ash), and ripgrep requires the community repository to be enabled. Install these using your distribution's package manager, then set USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0."

Alternatively/additionally: consider making install.sh POSIX sh-compatible so it runs under BusyBox ash without requiring bash at all, removing the dependency entirely.

Impact

Medium - Makes feature difficult to understand

Additional Context

• Environment: Alpine Linux 3.24.1 (alpine-virt), fresh install, /bin/sh = BusyBox ash, no bash present
• Working workaround:

``sh
apk add bash libgcc libstdc++ ripgrep
export USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP=0
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash
``

• Related: #18966 reports the same missing libgcc/libstdc++/ripgrep/USE_BUILTIN_RIPGREP dependencies in the GitLab CI docs for Alpine images — likely the same root cause (docs assuming a fuller base image than Alpine ships by default).