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Installation & Setup

Onboarding Guide

From zero to AI-assisted development with Mouse

What You Need

To use Mouse, you need three things already in place:

  1. A code editor: VS Code, Cursor, Kiro, or another supported editor
  2. An AI coding assistant: GitHub Copilot, Claude Code, Amazon Q Developer, Roo Code, Kilo Code, or another supported assistant
  3. A compatible model: Claude 4+, GPT-4o+, Gemini 2.5+, or another supported model

Mouse sits on top of this stack, giving your AI assistant precision editing capabilities it doesn't have on its own.

If You Don't Have an Editor Yet

Download and install one of the supported editors:

  • VS Code: The most popular choice. Free.
  • Cursor: AI-first editor built on VS Code.
  • Kiro: AWS's AI-powered development environment.

If You Don't Have an AI Assistant Yet

Install one of the supported AI coding assistants:

See the Compatibility section for the full list of supported editors, assistants, and models.

Where Mouse Fits In

Mouse is a local MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that runs on your machine. Once installed, it provides your AI assistant with 10 precision file-editing tools (navigation, editing, and staging) that replace the blunt string-replacement approach built into most assistants.

Your assistant uses Mouse tools automatically. You don't need to learn new commands, change how you prompt, or configure anything beyond the initial setup.

Getting Started

Once you have your editor and AI assistant running:

  1. Install Mouse: Follow the Installing Mouse guide
  2. Initialize your workspace: Run Mouse: Initialize Workspace from the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P / Cmd+Shift+P)
  3. Reload your editor: Run Developer: Reload Window from the Command Palette
  4. Start using Mouse: Your assistant will automatically use Mouse's precision tools

A 14-day free trial starts automatically when you initialize your workspace. No credit card or account required.

Ready to install? Continue to Installing Mouse.