Install

winget (recommended)

MCEC is on winget (3.0.15 and later):

winget install Kindel.mcec

That downloads and runs the signed installer. Update with winget upgrade Kindel.mcec; remove with winget uninstall Kindel.mcec. You can also download the installer and run it directly.

After installing, launch MCEC from the Start Menu (setup also adds a Desktop shortcut).

What gets installed, and where

• MCEC installs to C:\Program Files\Kindel\MCEC. It is a self-contained x64 build, so no separate .NET runtime is required.
• Setup adds a Start Menu entry and a Desktop shortcut, both pointing at mcec.exe.
• Because Program Files is read-only, the installed instance keeps its config, command table, and log under %APPDATA%\Kindel\MCEC (mcec.settings, mcec.commands, mcec.log).
• Uninstall from Add/Remove Programs (or winget uninstall Kindel.mcec).

Side-by-side copies

MCEC is a self-contained folder, so you can run more than one at a time. Copy the install directory somewhere writable and run mcec.exe from the copy. A copy that is not under Program Files reads its config co-located in its own folder (MCEC resolves its config path to the exe’s directory), so each copy gets independent .settings, .commands, and .log files and they never contend over one file. This directory-per-instance isolation is exactly what provisioning (below) automates.

Provisioning: disposable instances for agents

The installed copy under Program Files deliberately refuses to serve agents: running mcec.exe --mcp or starting the MCP/HTTP endpoint from Program Files is refused, because enabling the agent gates in your installed config would leave them enabled if a session crashed. Instead, an authorized agent asks MCEC for a fresh, disposable copy to drive (there is no --provision flag; provisioning is an in-product feature):

1. Turn on Allow agents to provision disposable instances on the Settings dialog’s Agent tab (AllowSessionProvisioning). This is the one opt-in an operator performs.
2. A connected agent then calls the provision-session MCP tool, and MCEC hands it a throwaway directory under %LOCALAPPDATA%\MCEC\sessions\<id> containing mcec.exe plus an agent-ready co-located config (agent commands enabled only inside that copy). The agent runs from there and calls end-session when done; teardown is just deleting the directory, so a crash leaves your install untouched. MCEC also reaps stale session directories on launch.

The Agent tab (see Configuration) also lists provisioned instances and lets you delete any an agent left behind. The full provisioning and emergency-stop model is in Agent Safety.