Environment set up

Install the UiPath CLI and log into your UiPath Cloud account, configure your coding agent with UiPath skills, and install the UiPath VS Code extensions.

Overview

The tutorials in this Getting Started developer guide use a combination of the following:

• UiPath Automation Cloud
• UiPath command-line interface (CLI)
• UiPath CLI tools (plugins)
• UiPath Maestro extension for Visual Studio Code or the Open VSX Registry
• UiPath skills for Coding Agents

This page centralizes the required installation steps for the list above, with validation steps to confirm successful installation.

Step 1 - Install the UiPath CLI and Tools

The UiPath CLI (uip) is a cross-platform tool for UiPath authentication, project scaffolding, and deployment. It uses a plugin system: the base CLI handles auth, and you install tools for the project types you build. See the allowlist for tools installed automatically when you use them the first time. Each tutorial will include instructions for those that need to be manually installed.

1. Install the base CLI globally:

   npm install -g @uipath/cli
   

2. Verify the installation:

   uip --version
   

   You should see 1.200.0 or later.

3. Verify installed tools:

   uip tools list
   

   Confirm you see a list of tools with their versions installed.

   {
      "Result": "Success",
      "Code": "ToolList",
      "Data": [
         {
            "Name": "solution-tool",
            "Version": "1.200.0",
            "Description": "Create, pack, publish, and deploy UiPath Automation Solutions.",
            "CommandPrefix": "solution"
         },
         {
            "Name": "agent-tool",
            "Version": "1.200.0",
            "Description": "cli plugin for creating and managing UiPath low-code agents",
            "CommandPrefix": "agent"
         },
         {
            "Name": "codedagent-tool",
            "Version": "1.200.0",
            "Description": "Build, run, deploy, and manage AI Agents.",
            "CommandPrefix": "codedagent"
         },
         {
            "Name": "rpa-tool",
            "Version": "1.200.1",
            "Description": "Tool for creating and managing UiPath RPA projects",
            "CommandPrefix": "rpa"
         },
         {
            "Name": "maestro-tool",
            "Version": "1.200.0",
            "Description": "Create, debug, and run Maestro projects and jobs.",
            "CommandPrefix": "maestro"
         }
      ]
   }
   

Step 2 - Install UiPath skills for your coding agent (optional)

If you are using a coding agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini, or Codex) alongside the CLI, installing the UiPath skills gives it knowledge of agent project structure, CLI commands, and best practices. Before running the command to install the skills for your preferred coding agent, first make sure you have it installed. The example below installs the skills for Claude Code:

uip skills install --agent claude

Replace claude with your agent if you are using a different one. You can run uip skills install --help and look at the --agent <agent> option for the list of supported coding agents.

Skills install globally to your home directory (~/.uipath/.skills/) and are available in every project from this point forward.

Step 3 - Install the UiPath Maestro extension for VS Code (optional)

Tutorials that build a Maestro Flow, a BPMN diagram, or a case plan use this extension to open those files on a visual canvas instead of as raw text. It also signs in to your tenant and packages and deploys from the local workspace.

1. Install UiPath Maestro from the VS Code Marketplace or the Open VSX Registry.

   The extension requires VS Code 1.110.0 or higher. Check your version in Code > About Visual Studio Code, or run code --version.

2. Reload VS Code when prompted.

3. Select the UiPath icon in the Activity Bar to open the UiPath view.

4. In the Connect section, select Sign In.

5. Complete the sign-in in the browser window that opens.

   If the CLI is not installed yet, accept the prompt and the extension installs it for you with npm. Sign-in uses an OAuth browser flow with a callback on localhost port 8104; if it fails, a stale process may be holding that port.

6. Run UiPath: Select Environment from the Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+P) and confirm your environment. The default is Cloud.

7. Run UiPath: Select Tenant and choose the tenant you want to build in.

The extension will now populate the Resources section with folders and Orchestrator resources for that tenant.

The extension manages its own copy of the CLI. The version it installs need not match the one you installed in Step 1. Run uip --version after signing in, and if it moved backwards, npm install -g @uipath/cli returns you to the current release.

Tip:

Working in a remote workspace? In Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), Secure Shell (SSH), Codespaces, and dev container workspaces, the extension runs on the remote host, so the UiPath CLI must be installed there rather than on your local machine.

Step 4 - Authenticate to UiPath

After installing the CLI, use the steps below to authenticate it, and select the tenant to use.

1. Authenticate the CLI to your UiPath account:

   uip login
   

   This opens a browser window where you sign in and select your tenant. Once complete, the terminal confirms you are logged in.

2. Verify your login status by confirming you see "Status": "Logged in" by running:

   uip login status
   

You are now ready to follow the tutorials.