Remove the need for symlinks when building ExecuTorch on Windows
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@SS-JIA is already working on this.
Since Aug 24, 2026.
module: windows
triaged
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Description
🚀 The feature, motivation and pitch
While Windows does support symlinks, in many corporate environments the ability to create symlinks as a developer is restricted by policy, making it impossible to clone or build ExecuTorch without administrative rights.
Currently, symlinks have to be enabled to clone the repository, and install_executorch.bat checks for symlink support, failing the build if they are not enabled.
It would greatly improve the experience of developers on the Windows platform if the symlink requirement in ExecuTorch could be removed and another mechanism used instead.
Alternatives
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Additional context
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RFC (Optional)
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Contributor guide
First steps
- Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
- Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
- Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
- Open a pull request that references the issue number.
Assessment
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