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Windows Setup Guide

Rampart fully supports Windows for protecting Claude Code and other AI agents.

Quick Install

irm https://rampart.sh/install.ps1 | iex

This downloads the latest release, installs to ~\.rampart\bin, adds it to your PATH, and offers to set up Claude Code hooks automatically.

Manual install: Download the .zip from GitHub Releases, extract rampart.exe, and add to your PATH.

Setup Claude Code

rampart setup claude-code

This adds hooks to ~\.claude\settings.json. Claude Code will now route all Bash commands through Rampart.

That's It — You're Protected!

After running rampart setup claude-code, dangerous commands are blocked immediately. No need to run rampart serve for basic protection — the hook evaluates policies locally.

Optional: Policy Server

Run rampart serve if you want: - Live dashboard — rampart watch shows real-time decisions - Approval flow — action: ask policies need serve to handle human review - Centralized audit — stream events to the dashboard

rampart serve

Note: On Windows, rampart serve runs in the foreground. Keep the terminal window open, or use Task Scheduler/NSSM to run it at startup.

Verify Installation

# Check version
rampart version

# Health check
rampart doctor

# Test a command against your policy
rampart test "rm -rf /"

Windows-Specific Notes

What Works

Feature Status
rampart serve ✅ Works (foreground only)
rampart setup claude-code ✅ Works
rampart hook ✅ Works
rampart test ✅ Works
rampart watch ✅ Works
rampart mcp ✅ Works
Path-based policies ✅ Works (auto-converts \ to /)

Limitations

Feature Status Notes
rampart serve --background ❌ Unix only Uses fork/exec
rampart serve stop ❌ Unix only Uses SIGTERM
rampart upgrade ✅ Works Downloads .zip asset, replaces rampart.exe
rampart wrap ❌ Unix only Uses $SHELL
rampart preload ❌ Linux only Uses LD_PRELOAD

Path Matching

Rampart automatically normalizes Windows paths for policy matching:

# This policy works on both Windows and Unix:
- name: block-ssh-keys
  match:
    tool: [read]
  rules:
    - action: deny
      when:
        path_matches:
          - "**/.ssh/id_*"
      message: "SSH key access blocked"

C:\Users\dev\.ssh\id_rsa will match **/.ssh/id_* correctly.

Uninstall

rampart uninstall

This removes hooks from Claude Code and Cline, removes Rampart from your PATH, and prints instructions to delete the remaining files.

Manual cleanup (if rampart command isn't working): 

# Delete Rampart files
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force ~\.rampart

Then remove %USERPROFILE%\.rampart\bin from PATH: Settings → System → About → Advanced system settings → Environment Variables.

Troubleshooting

Windows Defender / Antivirus Warnings

Rampart is an unsigned binary that modifies other programs' configurations (Claude Code hooks). This may trigger security warnings:

SmartScreen "Windows protected your PC": 1. Click "More info" 2. Click "Run anyway"

Windows Defender quarantine: 1. Open Windows Security → Virus & threat protection 2. Click "Protection history" 3. Find Rampart, select "Restore" and "Allow on device"

Corporate antivirus blocking: Contact your IT team to whitelist rampart.exe, or install to a location your AV trusts.

Why does this happen? Rampart hooks into other programs and intercepts command execution — behaviors that look suspicious to antivirus heuristics. The binary is not code-signed (certificates cost ~$400/year). We're working on getting Rampart whitelisted with major AV vendors.

"rampart is not recognized"

The installer refreshes PATH automatically, but if it doesn't work: 

$env:PATH = "$env:USERPROFILE\.rampart\bin;$env:PATH"

Or restart your terminal.

Installation fails with "Access Denied"

If a previous install left files with broken permissions:

# Run as Administrator
takeown /f "$env:USERPROFILE\.rampart" /r /d y
icacls "$env:USERPROFILE\.rampart" /grant "$($env:USERNAME):F" /t
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$env:USERPROFILE\.rampart"

# Then re-run installer
irm https://rampart.sh/install.ps1 | iex

Claude Code not seeing hooks

  1. Verify hooks are installed: rampart doctor
  2. Check settings file exists: Test-Path ~\.claude\settings.json
  3. Re-run setup: rampart setup claude-code --force

Policy not blocking commands

  1. Make sure rampart serve is running
  2. Check the serve URL matches (default: http://localhost:9090)
  3. Test directly: rampart test "your-command"

Known Behavior

action: ask in --dangerously-skip-permissions mode

action: ask shows the native approval prompt even when Claude Code is launched with --dangerously-skip-permissions. Claude Code honors hook-returned permission decisions regardless of the bypass flag.

Next Steps