Getting Started

Requirements

• Windows 10/11 (x64)
• No .NET runtime needed — the published build is self-contained

Install

1. Press Download installer on the Axion IDE page and, if you like, check the SHA-256 shown there (see Check your download).
2. Run the installer and follow the steps. It puts Axion IDE in Program Files, adds a Start menu entry, and can add a desktop icon. There is nothing else to install.

First launch

On first launch you get the Welcome Screen:

1. Click Open Folder and pick (or create) a workspace folder.
2. Axion opens the main window, starts a PowerShell terminal, indexes the project for semantic search, and loads your last open tabs.

The layout

+------+----------------------------------------+----------------+
| Icon |  Tab strip: [Axion AI Assistant][files]| Project        |
| rail +----------------------------------------+ Explorer       |
|      |  Center view (mode dependent)          | +--------------|
|      |                                        | | Terminal     |
|      |  Composer + icon toolbar at bottom     | | Context      |
+------+----------------------------------------+ | Usage / Logs |
                                                 +--------------+

• Left icon rail — switches center views (Assistant, DAG, MCP, Fallback, ...).
• Right sidebar — Project Explorer on top; Terminal / Context / Usage / Logs / Models / AC / Plan & Tasks tabs below.
• Bottom status bar — theme state, auto-continue caps, router profile, git branch.

Configure an AI provider (do this first)

Chat needs at least one fallback tier with an API key:

1. Open Fallback in the icon rail (shield icon).
2. The default chain ships with OpenRouter as tier 1 — click Edit, paste your API key, and pick a model.
3. Send a chat message. Streaming now authenticates with your key automatically.

See Fallback Tiers for multi-tier failover.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
Ctrl+N	New file
Ctrl+O	Open folder
Ctrl+S / Ctrl+Shift+S	Save / Save all
Ctrl+Enter (in composer)	Send or queue the prompt
Ctrl+Shift+P	Command palette
Ctrl+M (suggested)	Cycle workspace mode
Ctrl+B	Toggle the right sidebar
F1	Command palette (same as Ctrl+Shift+P)

Auto-save

Unsaved tabs show an asterisk (*). Axion auto-saves:

• every 30 seconds, and
• after 10 unsaved edits in the active file.

Each auto-save is logged in Logs.

If something goes wrong

Help ? Report a Bug… opens a dialog that builds a report with the details filled in - and it opens by itself when Axion hits an unexpected error. See Report a Bug.