docs(local): document the script-free Windows install path
What does this MR do and why?
The Windows install documentation offers only the PowerShell one-liner. On managed endpoints that restrict remote script execution, that path cannot run, and nothing tells the reader that the release archive is a single self-contained executable, signed by GitLab Inc., that installs by extract-and-place with no script execution and no administrator rights. This documents that path, with checksum verification. It is the slice of the no-script install need in #774 that is shippable today.
Related Issues
Relates to #774 (its problem statement is that script installs are hard to approve for cybersecurity teams; this documents the existing script-free path while package-manager distribution remains open).
Testing
markdownlint and Vale clean, and every link on the changed page resolves. (The repository's
link check also reports six pre-existing broken references under .agents/, present on
unmodified main and untouched here.) Claims verified against the published release
artifacts: the Windows archive contains exactly one orbit.exe, and its Authenticode
signature subject is GitLab Inc. (verified on v0.95.1).
Performance Analysis
Documentation-only change.
- This merge request does not introduce any performance regression. If a performance regression is expected, explain why.
Agent context — long-form analysis, file-by-file walkthroughs, profiler output, alternatives considered
Motivating scenario: a customer environment where endpoint policy restricts remote script
execution (execution policy, Constrained Language Mode, or script-block restrictions), so
irm ... | iex is not an option. Inspection of the release artifacts shows the documented
installer is optional on Windows: orbit-local-windows-x86_64.zip holds a single
self-contained orbit.exe, code signed (Extended Validation certificate issued to GitLab
Inc.), and install.ps1 itself only downloads, checksum-verifies, extracts, and copies the
binary into a user-scope directory. The manual steps in this change are the same sequence
performed by hand.
Publisher-based allowlisting is called out because per-release hash rules are impractical at this project's release cadence; a signed publisher rule survives releases.
Placement: the new content stays inside the existing Windows tab in
docs/source/local/getting-started.md rather than a new section or the access pages, to keep
the install methods in one place. docs/source/local/access/cli.md currently has no
Windows-specific content and was left untouched.
Related history: !1326 (merged) added install.ps1, !1325 (merged) added Windows code signing, !1355 (merged) added the
platform install tabs. #595 proposes a different direction (the bash installer via Git Bash);
this change neither depends on nor conflicts with it.
This MR travels with !2202 (merged), the fix for the silent no-success of orbit index on non-git
paths (Relates to #1010): documenting an easier install path sends more first-run users into
orbit index, so !2202 (merged) should land with or before this page change.
This MR was prepared with assistance from Claude Code; artifact claims were verified against the published release, and the page passes the repository's docs lint.