hal_install_bridge: Install the hal-bridge Positron extension

In hal: Agentic Coding Assistants

Install the hal-bridge Positron extension

Description

Installs the hal-bridge VSIX shipped with this hal release into Positron. No download, no GitHub auth, no SHA verification: the bytes installed are the bytes that shipped in ⁠inst/extdata/⁠. Reload Positron after installing to activate the bridge.

Usage

hal_install_bridge(local_path = NULL, force = FALSE)

Arguments

local_path	Optional path to a .vsix to install instead of the bundled one. Useful for testing a dev build of the bridge.
force	If TRUE, pass --force to the Positron CLI so an existing install is replaced.

Details

The vscode backend (hal_configure(backend = "vscode")) requires this extension. Other backends (copilot, claude) do not.

Value

Invisibly returns the installed VSIX path.

See Also

hal_bridge_status() to check whether it's actually running.

Examples

## Not run: 
hal_install_bridge()
hal_install_bridge(local_path = "~/Downloads/hal-bridge-dev.vsix")

## End(Not run)

hal documentation built on Oct. 6, 2026, 5:07 p.m.