From 772896aba6157f4d0c18f5fec546adc6a126a3fe Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Kristjan Backman <backman.charlie@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:36:58 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] Clarify supported Python setup

---
 README.md               | 24 ++++++++++++++++++++++--
 docs/getting_started.md | 18 ++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 4 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 619af1f..add4ce0 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -42,7 +42,23 @@ Quant-Research-Lab/
 ```bash
 cd Quant-Research-Lab
 python -m venv .venv
-.venv\Scripts\activate
+```
+
+Activate the environment with the command for your operating system:
+
+```bash
+# macOS / Linux
+source .venv/bin/activate
+
+# Windows PowerShell
+.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
+```
+
+The package requires Python 3.11 or newer, and the CI workflow verifies Python 3.11 and 3.12.
+
+Install the runtime dependencies:
+
+```bash
 pip install -r requirements.txt
 ```
 
@@ -67,7 +83,11 @@ mypy src --ignore-missing-imports
 Copy `.env.example` to `.env` if you have optional API keys:
 
 ```bash
-copy .env.example .env
+# macOS / Linux
+cp .env.example .env
+
+# Windows PowerShell
+Copy-Item .env.example .env
 ```
 
 FRED can be accessed through a public CSV endpoint without a key, but `FRED_API_KEY` is supported. Yahoo Finance access is handled through `yfinance`. If a provider fails or no key is present, the scripts use deterministic sample data and log the fallback.
diff --git a/docs/getting_started.md b/docs/getting_started.md
index f9e6d97..aac696e 100644
--- a/docs/getting_started.md
+++ b/docs/getting_started.md
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 git clone https://github.com/Fink692/Quant-Research-Lab.git
 cd Quant-Research-Lab
 python -m venv .venv
-.venv\Scripts\activate
 python -m pip install -r requirements-dev.txt
 python -m pip install -e .
 ```
@@ -17,6 +16,14 @@ On macOS or Linux:
 source .venv/bin/activate
 ```
 
+On Windows PowerShell:
+
+```powershell
+.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
+```
+
+The package requires Python 3.11 or newer. Continuous integration verifies Python 3.11 and 3.12.
+
 ## Run The Research Workflows
 
 The script interface:
@@ -53,7 +60,14 @@ mypy src --ignore-missing-imports
 Copy `.env.example` to `.env` if you have optional credentials.
 
 ```bash
-copy .env.example .env
+# macOS / Linux
+cp .env.example .env
+```
+
+On Windows PowerShell:
+
+```powershell
+Copy-Item .env.example .env
 ```
 
 The project runs without keys by using public endpoints or deterministic fallback data where needed.