diff --git a/README.adoc b/README.adoc
index 4253a2257..c6d2c3fcf 100644
--- a/README.adoc
+++ b/README.adoc
@@ -41,7 +41,14 @@ We surely try to fix bugs as soon as possible but we do not work extra shifts or
 
 All you need before installing IDEasy is https://git-scm.com/download/[git].
 
-=== Install
+=== Quick Install (One-Liner)
+
+The fastest way to install IDEasy - auto-detects your OS and architecture, downloads the latest release, and runs setup.
+
+```bash
+bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devonfw/IDEasy/main/install.sh)"
+```
+=== Manual Install
 
 Download the latest version of `IDEasy` from https://github.com/devonfw/IDEasy/releases[here] and install it.
 
diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..fbc3d7a84
--- /dev/null
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,109 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# One-liner installer for IDEasy.
+# Usage: bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/devonfw/IDEasy/main/install.sh)"
+#
+# What it does:
+#   1. Detects your OS (mac/linux) and architecture (x64/arm64)
+#   2. Fetches the latest release version from GitHub
+#   3. Downloads and extracts the correct archive to a temp directory
+#   4. Runs the setup script
+#   5. Cleans up the temp directory
+#
+# On Windows use Git Bash (comes with Git for Windows).
+# Prerequisites: git, curl, tar
+
+set -eu
+
+GITHUB_REPO="devonfw/IDEasy"
+
+# colored output helpers
+red() { printf '\033[1;31m%s\033[0m\n' "$1"; }
+green() { printf '\033[1;32m%s\033[0m\n' "$1"; }
+blue() { printf '\033[1;34m%s\033[0m\n' "$1"; }
+
+abort() { red "Error: $1" >&2; exit 1; }
+
+detect_os() {
+  case "$(uname -s)" in
+    Linux*)  echo "linux" ;;
+    Darwin*) echo "mac" ;;
+    *)       abort "Unsupported operating system: $(uname -s). Use the PowerShell installer on Windows." ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+detect_arch() {
+  case "$(uname -m)" in
+    x86_64|amd64)   echo "x64" ;;
+    arm64|aarch64)  echo "arm64" ;;
+    *)              abort "Unsupported architecture: $(uname -m)" ;;
+  esac
+}
+
+# gets the latest release tag from GitHub API and strips the "release/" prefix
+fetch_latest_version() {
+  local url="https://api.github.com/repos/${GITHUB_REPO}/releases/latest"
+  local tag
+  tag=$(curl -fsSL "${url}" | grep '"tag_name"' | cut -d '"' -f 4)
+  if [ -z "${tag}" ]; then
+    abort "Failed to determine latest release version."
+  fi
+  echo "${tag#release/}"
+}
+
+check_prerequisites() {
+  if ! command -v git >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    abort "git is required but not installed. See https://git-scm.com/downloads"
+  fi
+  if ! command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    abort "curl is required but not installed."
+  fi
+  if ! command -v tar >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+    abort "tar is required but not installed."
+  fi
+}
+
+main() {
+  blue "Installing IDEasy..."
+
+  check_prerequisites
+
+  local os arch version download_url archive
+  os=$(detect_os)
+  arch=$(detect_arch)
+  version=$(fetch_latest_version)
+  archive="ide-cli-${version}-${os}-${arch}.tar.gz"
+  download_url="https://github.com/${GITHUB_REPO}/releases/download/release/${version}/${archive}"
+
+  blue "Detected: ${os} ${arch}"
+  blue "Latest version: ${version}"
+
+  # download to a temp dir that gets cleaned up on exit
+  TMPDIR_CLEANUP=$(mktemp -d)
+  trap 'rm -rf "${TMPDIR_CLEANUP}"' EXIT
+  local tmpdir="${TMPDIR_CLEANUP}"
+
+  blue "Downloading ${archive}..."
+  curl -fSL --progress-bar -o "${tmpdir}/${archive}" "${download_url}"
+
+  blue "Extracting..."
+  tar xzf "${tmpdir}/${archive}" -C "${tmpdir}"
+
+  # on macOS remove quarantine flag so the binary can run without gatekeeper issues
+  if [ "${os}" = "mac" ]; then
+    xattr -r -d com.apple.quarantine "${tmpdir}" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+
+  blue "Running setup..."
+  cd "${tmpdir}"
+  bash setup </dev/tty
+
+  echo ""
+  green "IDEasy ${version} installed successfully!"
+  echo ""
+  echo "  Restart your terminal, then run:"
+  echo "    ide create <project>    # set up a new project"
+  echo "    ide --help              # see all commands"
+  echo ""
+}
+
+main