Install PowerShell module

OK, CAT seems cool. What do I do to start using it?

Prerequisites #

PowerShell 7.4 #

You need PowerShell version 7.4 or newer. Run ($PSVersionTable).PSVersion.ToString() if you are not sure what version of PowerShell you have. If your version is lower, you need to install PowerShell 7.4 or later. The easiest way to install PowerShell is using WinGet:

winget install --id Microsoft.Powershell --source winget

Alternatively, go to PowerShell release page and download and install PowerShell-7.x.x-win-x64.msi (the installation is quick and simple - next, next, next…).

Install Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable #

Go to this Microsoft webpage: Latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Version

Download and install “X64” version:

If you get a dialog with “Repair”, “Uninstall” and “Close” buttons, just close it - you already have this prerequisite. Otherwise install it (next, next, next…).

Install CAT PowerShell Module #

A single command:

Install-Module CAT -AcceptLicense -Force -AllowClobber -Scope CurrentUser

You can verify your installation by running

Import-Module CAT

One-time setup #

CAT command-line tools are available in the Team plan (interactive usage only, no schedulers or CI/CD) and in the Enterprise plan (no technical limits). Go to CAT Portal and activate a free trial for Team or Enterprise plan — no credit card needed.

If you activated the Team plan trial:

1. Sign up at CAT Portal.
2. Go to Developer → Personal access tokens and generate a token.
3. Set it using setx CAT_PORTAL_TOKEN "paste-your-token-here" and restart your terminal.

If you activated the Enterprise plan trial:

1. Get the license key that arrived in your email.
2. Set it using Import-Module CAT and then Set-CatInstance -LicenseKey "your-key".

The token is used for signing in only — except feature-usage telemetry, no data is sent to CAT Portal. A license key removes the need to sign in, and CAT can then work even without Internet access.

What Next? #

OK, you now have CAT PowerShell module. In the next step, create a sample project and explore it.