diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-installer.yml b/.github/workflows/test-installer.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f85b054
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-installer.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+name: Test Installer
+
+on:
+  pull_request:
+    paths:
+      - install.sh
+
+jobs:
+  test-installer:
+    name: Test install.sh
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Clone the code
+        uses: actions/checkout@de0fac2e4500dabe0009e67214ff5f5447ce83dd # v6
+
+      - name: Install latest release
+        run: |
+          sh install.sh
+          claude-profile --help
+
+      - name: Install specific version
+        run: |
+          VERSION=v0.1.0 sh install.sh
+          claude-profile --help
+
+      - name: Install to custom directory
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p "${{ runner.temp }}/bin"
+          INSTALL_DIR="${{ runner.temp }}/bin" sh install.sh
+          "${{ runner.temp }}/bin/claude-profile" --help
+
+      - name: Verify failure on nonexistent version
+        run: |
+          if VERSION=v99.99.99 sh install.sh 2>&1; then
+            echo "Expected failure for nonexistent version"
+            exit 1
+          fi
+          echo "Correctly failed on nonexistent version ✓"
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index f32ba66..3986103 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -23,19 +23,37 @@ Each profile is a directory under `~/.claude-profiles/<name>/` containing:
 
 ## Installation
 
-### From Source
+### Quick Install (Recommended)
 
-Requires Go 1.25+:
+```bash
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/diranged/claude-profile/main/install.sh | sh
+```
+
+This detects your OS and architecture, downloads the latest release, verifies the SHA-256 checksum, and installs to `/usr/local/bin`.
+
+To install a specific version or to a custom directory:
 
 ```bash
-git clone https://github.com/diranged/claude-profile-go.git
-cd claude-profile-go
-make install    # Builds and copies to $GOPATH/bin
+# Pin a version
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/diranged/claude-profile/main/install.sh | VERSION=v0.1.0 sh
+
+# Custom install directory
+curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/diranged/claude-profile/main/install.sh | INSTALL_DIR=~/.local/bin sh
 ```
 
 ### From GitHub Releases
 
-Download a prebuilt binary from the [Releases](https://github.com/diranged/claude-profile-go/releases) page. Binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows on both amd64 and arm64.
+Download a prebuilt binary from the [Releases](https://github.com/diranged/claude-profile/releases) page. Binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows on both amd64 and arm64.
+
+### From Source
+
+Requires Go 1.25+:
+
+```bash
+git clone https://github.com/diranged/claude-profile.git
+cd claude-profile
+make install    # Builds and copies to $GOPATH/bin
+```
 
 ### From Go
 
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..bc9748f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# install.sh — install claude-profile from GitHub releases
+#
+# Usage:
+#   curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/diranged/claude-profile/main/install.sh | sh
+#   curl -fsSL ... | VERSION=v0.2.0 sh
+#
+# Environment variables:
+#   VERSION      — release tag to install (default: latest)
+#   INSTALL_DIR  — where to place the binary (default: /usr/local/bin)
+
+set -eu
+
+REPO="diranged/claude-profile"
+BINARY="claude-profile"
+INSTALL_DIR="${INSTALL_DIR:-/usr/local/bin}"
+
+# --- helpers ----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+info()  { printf '  \033[38;5;108m▸\033[0m %s\n' "$1"; }
+warn()  { printf '  \033[33m▸\033[0m %s\n' "$1"; }
+error() { printf '  \033[31m✗\033[0m %s\n' "$1" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+need_cmd() {
+    if ! command -v "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        error "required command not found: $1"
+    fi
+}
+
+# --- detect platform --------------------------------------------------------
+
+detect_os() {
+    case "$(uname -s)" in
+        Darwin) echo "darwin" ;;
+        Linux)  echo "linux" ;;
+        *)      error "unsupported OS: $(uname -s)" ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+detect_arch() {
+    case "$(uname -m)" in
+        x86_64|amd64)  echo "amd64" ;;
+        aarch64|arm64) echo "arm64" ;;
+        *)             error "unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)" ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+# --- resolve version --------------------------------------------------------
+
+resolve_version() {
+    if [ -n "${VERSION:-}" ]; then
+        echo "$VERSION"
+        return
+    fi
+    need_cmd curl
+    # Follow the /releases/latest redirect and extract the tag from the final URL.
+    # No API auth or rate limits required.
+    local url
+    url=$(curl -fsSL -o /dev/null -w '%{url_effective}' \
+        "https://github.com/${REPO}/releases/latest")
+    local tag="${url##*/}"
+    if [ -z "$tag" ] || [ "$tag" = "latest" ]; then
+        error "could not determine latest release"
+    fi
+    echo "$tag"
+}
+
+# --- main -------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+main() {
+    need_cmd curl
+    need_cmd tar
+    need_cmd uname
+
+    printf '\n  \033[1mClaude Profile Installer\033[0m\n\n'
+
+    local os arch version
+    os=$(detect_os)
+    arch=$(detect_arch)
+    version=$(resolve_version)
+    local version_num="${version#v}"
+
+    info "Platform:  ${os}/${arch}"
+    info "Version:   ${version}"
+    info "Target:    ${INSTALL_DIR}/${BINARY}"
+    printf '\n'
+
+    local archive="${BINARY}_${version_num}_${os}_${arch}.tar.gz"
+    local url="https://github.com/${REPO}/releases/download/${version}/${archive}"
+    local checksum_url="https://github.com/${REPO}/releases/download/${version}/checksums.txt"
+
+    # download to temp dir
+    TMPDIR_CLEANUP=$(mktemp -d)
+    trap 'rm -rf "$TMPDIR_CLEANUP"' EXIT
+    local tmpdir="$TMPDIR_CLEANUP"
+
+    info "Downloading ${archive}..."
+    if ! curl -fsSL -o "${tmpdir}/${archive}" "$url"; then
+        error "download failed — check that ${version} exists at https://github.com/${REPO}/releases"
+    fi
+
+    # verify checksum if sha256sum or shasum is available
+    if command -v sha256sum > /dev/null 2>&1 || command -v shasum > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        info "Verifying checksum..."
+        curl -fsSL -o "${tmpdir}/checksums.txt" "$checksum_url"
+        local expected
+        expected=$(grep "${archive}" "${tmpdir}/checksums.txt" | awk '{print $1}')
+        if [ -z "$expected" ]; then
+            warn "checksum entry not found for ${archive}, skipping verification"
+        else
+            local actual
+            if command -v sha256sum > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+                actual=$(sha256sum "${tmpdir}/${archive}" | awk '{print $1}')
+            else
+                actual=$(shasum -a 256 "${tmpdir}/${archive}" | awk '{print $1}')
+            fi
+            if [ "$expected" != "$actual" ]; then
+                error "checksum mismatch!\n  expected: ${expected}\n  got:      ${actual}"
+            fi
+            info "Checksum verified ✓"
+        fi
+    else
+        warn "sha256sum/shasum not found, skipping checksum verification"
+    fi
+
+    # extract
+    info "Extracting..."
+    tar -xzf "${tmpdir}/${archive}" -C "${tmpdir}"
+
+    # install
+    if [ -w "$INSTALL_DIR" ]; then
+        mv "${tmpdir}/${BINARY}" "${INSTALL_DIR}/${BINARY}"
+    else
+        info "Elevated permissions required to write to ${INSTALL_DIR}"
+        sudo mv "${tmpdir}/${BINARY}" "${INSTALL_DIR}/${BINARY}"
+    fi
+    chmod +x "${INSTALL_DIR}/${BINARY}"
+
+    printf '\n  \033[38;5;108m✓\033[0m \033[1m%s %s\033[0m installed to %s\n\n' \
+        "$BINARY" "$version" "$INSTALL_DIR"
+
+    # verify it runs
+    if command -v "$BINARY" > /dev/null 2>&1; then
+        info "Run 'claude-profile --help' to get started"
+    else
+        warn "${INSTALL_DIR} may not be in your PATH"
+        warn "Add it with: export PATH=\"${INSTALL_DIR}:\$PATH\""
+    fi
+    printf '\n'
+}
+
+main