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Install Microsoft Discovery

This guide walks through installing, verifying, upgrading, and removing the Microsoft Discovery app. For the conceptual tour, see the Quick Start.

The Microsoft Discovery app is a self-contained Windows application. The installer bundles everything it needs to run; you don't have to install an SDK, an IDE, or a runtime.

Prerequisites

Requirement Notes
Operating system Windows (Windows 11 recommended). macOS and Linux are not currently supported.
GitHub account Required to download releases from this repository.
GitHub Copilot subscription Required. Microsoft Discovery drives Copilot to power its conversational and agent capabilities.
Disk space ~3 GB free for the install plus headroom for your bookshelves.
Network access at install time The installer fetches signed components from Microsoft endpoints. Microsoft Discovery runs locally after install; only specific Agent Plugins call out to the internet.

Optional integrations

Integration When you'd want it
Visual Studio Code Microsoft Discovery ships a VS Code integration (sidebar tree, Copilot Chat tools, agent plugin host). It's optional — the app runs as a standalone Windows app without it. Install the latest stable VS Code if you want this surface.
dx CLI on PATH The installer adds the dx CLI to your user PATH automatically. Open a new terminal session if it's not picked up.

Step 1 — Download

  1. Open the latest release on this repository.

  2. Under Assets, download DiscoveryExpressSetup-x.y.z.exe (the version number changes per release).

  3. Verify the SHA-256 digest shown next to the asset matches the file you downloaded:

    Get-FileHash .\DiscoveryExpressSetup-x.y.z.exe -Algorithm SHA256

Step 2 — Install

  1. Right-click the downloaded .exe → Run as administrator (recommended so the dx CLI and VS Code components register cleanly for all users).
  2. Follow the installer prompts. Defaults are recommended.
  3. Microsoft Discovery launches when the installer finishes — or find it in the Start menu under Microsoft Discovery.

Step 3 — Verify

  1. Open Microsoft Discovery from the Start menu (or wait for it to launch after install).

  2. Sign in with your GitHub account when prompted. Microsoft Discovery uses this to drive your GitHub Copilot subscription.

  3. Open a terminal and verify the CLI is available:

    dx --version
dx doctor --workspace .

    dx doctor walks every dependency, model route, and provider and tells you exactly what is and isn't ready. A few yellow warnings are normal on a fresh install — for example, dx will report no LLM route configured until you've signed in to Copilot or pointed it at Azure OpenAI.

  4. (Optional) If you installed VS Code: open it and confirm the Microsoft Discovery icon appears in the Activity Bar (the vertical strip on the left). Sign in to GitHub Copilot in VS Code if you haven't already.

Step 4 — First run

Continue with the Quick Start to build your first Bookshelf and ask Copilot a domain question.

Upgrading

New builds are delivered as releases on this repository. To upgrade:

  1. Download the latest DiscoveryExpressSetup-x.y.z.exe.
  2. Close Microsoft Discovery (and VS Code, if you use the integration).
  3. Run the new installer. It updates components in place; your .discovery/ workspace state is preserved.
  4. Re-open Microsoft Discovery and verify with dx --version.

💡 Tip. Watch Releases (top-right of the repo → Watch → Custom → Releases) to be notified when a new build is published.

Uninstalling

  1. Settings → Apps → Installed apps → search for Microsoft Discovery → Uninstall.
  2. (Optional) Remove your workspace state by deleting the .discovery/ folder inside any project where you used Microsoft Discovery.
  3. (Optional) If you used the VS Code integration, search the Extensions panel for any Microsoft Discovery entries and disable or remove them.

Troubleshooting

Symptom What to try
Installer fails with a permission error Re-run the installer as administrator.
Microsoft Discovery won't sign you in Confirm your GitHub Copilot subscription is active.
dx not found on PATH Open a new terminal session (the installer adds dx to the user PATH). If still missing, sign out / sign in.
dx doctor reports an LLM route warning Expected on first run. Sign in to Copilot in Microsoft Discovery, or run dx workspace config llm set-azure-openai …. Local embedding still works without this.
(VS Code only) No Microsoft Discovery icon in the Activity Bar Restart VS Code. If still missing, re-run the installer.
Anything else Run dx doctor --workspace . and include its output when you file a bug in Discussions.