Installing Priorwork
You need VS Code, the Priorwork extension and an AI agent that runs in VS Code and reads AGENTS.md (Claude Code, Antigravity and others). The extension prepares Python when you create a workspace.
| What you use | Where to read |
|---|---|
| Linux or a Mac | On your own computer |
| Windows | Windows (in WSL) |
| A server over SSH | A server over SSH |
1. On your own computer
- Install VS Code.
- In the Extensions view, find Priorwork and install it (Marketplace).
- The Priorwork icon appears in the activity bar. Open an empty folder and press Create a Workspace (next steps).
The extension looks for Python 3.10 or newer. If there is none, it asks whether to install uv, and uv fetches Python.
2. Windows
Install WSL (Ubuntu), open a folder inside WSL with VS Code’s WSL extension, then follow the steps above. Using Priorwork on Windows directly has not been checked.
3. A server over SSH
Connect with VS Code’s Remote - SSH extension, then follow the steps above on the server. The extension, Python and the workspace all live on the server.
4. Keys and lists
All optional, in Settings (the gear in the sidebar). See the guide.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| A free Semantic Scholar API key | recommended: without one, searches often fail on the rate limit |
| Zotero | collect the included papers, and read full texts from your PDFs |
| The SSCI list from Clarivate’s Master Journal List | settles which journals are in the SSCI |
| For medical surveys: a free NCBI key, the SCIE list | a faster PubMed, and ✅ SCIE |
5. Updating
The extension updates from the Marketplace. A workspace keeps its version of the engine until you update it (how).