diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index e45ab79..922a4dc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -8,12 +8,9 @@ Scripts and tools to set up and manage the terminal environment across systems.
 
 ## Install
 
-Run this tool from the checked-out repo. Do **not** install it with `uv tool install`,
-because `cli-tools install helpers` symlinks shell files from `scripts/`.
-
 ```bash
-cd /path/to/cli-tools
-uv run cli-tools --help
+git clone <repo> && cd cli-tools
+source init.sh        # installs uv if needed, syncs deps, activates venv
 ```
 
 ```bash
diff --git a/init.sh b/init.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..2273cf3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/init.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Must be sourced: source init.sh
+
+if [[ "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" == "${0}" ]]; then
+    echo "Error: run as 'source init.sh' or '. init.sh'" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+uv sync
+source .venv/bin/activate