diff --git a/cli/install.sh b/cli/install.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 0d0cf9c..f0b2c24
--- a/cli/install.sh
+++ b/cli/install.sh
@@ -1,36 +1,64 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 # install.sh — Install SecureLens AI CLI into the project venv
+# Run from the repo root: ./cli/install.sh
 set -e
 
 SCRIPT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
 BACKEND_ROOT="$(dirname "$SCRIPT_DIR")"
 
-echo "🔍 SecureLens AI CLI — Installer"
-echo "================================="
+echo ""
+echo "  ╔══════════════════════════════════════╗"
+echo "  ║    SecureLens AI CLI — Installer     ║"
+echo "  ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝"
+echo ""
 
-# Detect venv
+# ── Detect pip ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 VENV_PIP=""
 if [ -f "$BACKEND_ROOT/venv/bin/pip" ]; then
     VENV_PIP="$BACKEND_ROOT/venv/bin/pip"
-    echo "  Using backend venv: $BACKEND_ROOT/venv"
+    VENV_PYTHON="$BACKEND_ROOT/venv/bin/python"
+    echo "  ✓ Using backend venv: $BACKEND_ROOT/venv"
 elif command -v pip3 &>/dev/null; then
     VENV_PIP="pip3"
-    echo "  Using system pip3"
+    VENV_PYTHON="python3"
+    echo "  ✓ Using system pip3"
 else
     VENV_PIP="pip"
-    echo "  Using system pip"
+    VENV_PYTHON="python"
+    echo "  ✓ Using system pip"
 fi
 
 echo ""
-echo "  Installing dependencies..."
-$VENV_PIP install click rich litellm httpx pyyaml pathspec questionary --quiet
 
-echo "  Installing securelens-ai CLI..."
+# ── Install build tools + CLI dependencies ────────────────────────────────────
+echo "  [1/2] Installing CLI dependencies..."
+$VENV_PIP install setuptools wheel \
+    "click>=8.1" \
+    "rich>=13.0" \
+    "pyyaml>=6.0" \
+    "pathspec>=0.12" \
+    "questionary>=2.0" \
+    "litellm>=1.0" \
+    "httpx>=0.27" \
+    --quiet
+
+echo "  ✓ Dependencies installed"
+
+# ── Install the securelens package ────────────────────────────────────────────
+echo "  [2/2] Installing securelens CLI..."
+$VENV_PIP install setuptools --quiet   # ensure build backend is available
 $VENV_PIP install -e "$SCRIPT_DIR" --no-build-isolation --quiet
+echo "  ✓ securelens command registered"
 
 echo ""
-echo "✓ Done! Run: securelens --help"
+echo "  ════════════════════════════════════════"
+echo "  ✓ Installation complete!"
+echo ""
+echo "  Next steps:"
+if [ -f "$BACKEND_ROOT/venv/bin/activate" ]; then
+    echo "    source $BACKEND_ROOT/venv/bin/activate"
+fi
+echo "    securelens configure        # set your API key"
+echo "    securelens scan .           # scan this repo"
+echo "    securelens --help           # see all commands"
 echo ""
-echo "  Or if using venv directly:"
-echo "  source $BACKEND_ROOT/venv/bin/activate"
-echo "  securelens configure"