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How to Set Up Antigravity IDE on Windows with WSL2 (Step-by-Step)

Running AI tools directly on Windows can be slow due to file system limitations. Discover why WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) is the preferred environment for Antigravity IDE and how to set it up in 5 minutes.

Why WSL2?

Antigravity's high-performance indexing engine relies on Linux implementation of file system watchers. While there is a native Windows build, using WSL2 provides:

  • 🚀 10x Faster Indexing: Linux file systems (ext4) are significantly faster than NTFS for node_modules.
  • 🛡️ Sandboxed Agent: The AI agent runs in a contained Linux environment, preventing accidental Windows system modifications.
  • 🐍 Native Python Integation: Seamlessly run Jupyter kernels without complex Windows path issues.

Step 1: Prerequisites

System Requirements

  • • Windows 10 version 2004+ or Windows 11
  • • Virtualization enabled in BIOS

Open PowerShell as Administrator and run:

wsl --install

Restart your computer if prompted.

Step 2: Installing the Antigravity Agent

  1. Download the Linux (.deb) installer from our Download Center. Do NOT download the Windows .exe if you plan to run strictly inside WSL context, although the Windows UI client can connect to WSL remote.
  2. Launch Ubuntu from your Start Menu.
  3. Run the setup script (Simulated command):
    curl -fsSL https://antigravity-ide.org/install.sh | sh

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Antigravity work on Windows Home?

Yes, WSL2 is supported on Windows 10/11 Home editions.

Can I access my C: drive files?

Yes, your Windows drives are mounted at /mnt/c/, but for best performance, please move your project code into the Linux file system (~/projects).

Is the AI context awareness different?

The context window size is the same (2M tokens), but indexing speed is about 40% faster on WSL2 due to faster I/O operations.