Desktop App

Install and use the experimental Chvor desktop application for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

5 min read

Desktop App

Chvor ships an experimental desktop application built with Tauri. It bundles the Chvor server, the Brain Canvas client, and a local SQLite database into a single native executable — no terminal, no Docker, no separate processes.

Experimental: The desktop app is under active development. Some features available in the server build (like multi-channel integrations) are not yet supported. Use the server build for production deployments.

Download

Download the latest release from the GitHub Releases page.

Platform	File	Architecture
Windows	`Chvor_x.x.x_x64-setup.msi`	x86_64
macOS	`Chvor_x.x.x_aarch64.dmg`	Apple Silicon
macOS	`Chvor_x.x.x_x64.dmg`	Intel
Linux	`Chvor_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage`	x86_64
Linux	`Chvor_x.x.x_amd64.deb`	x86_64 (Debian/Ubuntu)

Installation

Windows

Download the .msi installer.
Double-click the file and follow the setup wizard.
If Windows Defender SmartScreen warns you, click More info > Run anyway. The app is not yet code-signed (coming soon).
Chvor appears in your Start menu and desktop.

macOS

Download the .dmg for your architecture.
Open the DMG and drag Chvor to the Applications folder.
On first launch, macOS may block the app. Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.

Linux

AppImage:

chmod +x Chvor_*.AppImage
./Chvor_*.AppImage

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo dpkg -i chvor_*_amd64.deb

Setup Wizard

On first launch, the desktop app walks you through initial configuration:

API Key — Enter at least one LLM provider key (Anthropic, OpenAI, or Google). This is stored locally in your OS config directory.
Data Directory — Choose where Chvor stores conversations and skills. Defaults to:
- Windows: %APPDATA%\chvor\
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/chvor/
- Linux: ~/.chvor/
Optional: Access Token — Set a token to protect the embedded web UI. This is primarily useful if you enable network access later.

The wizard saves your configuration and starts the embedded Chvor server. The Brain Canvas loads automatically.

Features

System tray icon

Chvor runs in the system tray (notification area on Windows, menu bar on macOS). Right-click the tray icon for quick actions:

Open Brain Canvas — bring the main window to the front.
Start / Stop Server — toggle the embedded server.
Open Data Directory — opens the folder where conversations and skills are stored.
Check for Updates — manually trigger an update check.
Quit — stop the server and close the app.

Log viewer

Access the built-in log viewer from the tray menu or from View > Logs in the menu bar. This shows real-time server logs, which is useful for debugging skill triggers and MCP tool calls.

Auto-updater

When a new version is available, the app shows a notification. You can:

Update now — downloads and installs the update, then restarts.
Remind me later — dismisses the notification until the next launch.
Skip this version — ignores this specific version.

Update checks happen on launch and every 6 hours while running. No data is sent to external servers — the app checks the GitHub Releases API directly.

MCP tools

You can configure MCP tools in the desktop app by editing the config file in your data directory. The same config.json format applies:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "filesystem": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-filesystem", "/Users/you/Documents"]
    }
  }
}

Note: MCP tools that use npx require Node.js to be installed on your system. The desktop app bundles the Chvor runtime but does not bundle Node.js separately for MCP tool execution.

Limitations

The desktop app has some differences from the full server build:

Feature	Server Build	Desktop App
Brain Canvas	Yes	Yes
Custom skills	Yes	Yes
MCP tools	Yes	Yes (requires Node.js)
Telegram channel	Yes	Not yet
Discord channel	Yes	Not yet
Slack channel	Yes	Not yet
Multi-user access	Yes	Single user
API endpoints	Yes	Limited
WebSocket events	Yes	Internal only
Reverse proxy support	Yes	N/A

The desktop app is designed for individual use on a single machine. For team deployments or multi-channel setups, use the server build or Docker.

Building from Source

If you want to build the desktop app yourself:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/luka-zivkovic/chvor.git
cd chvor

# Install dependencies
pnpm install

# Install Tauri CLI prerequisites
# See https://tauri.app/v1/guides/getting-started/prerequisites

# Build the desktop app
pnpm tauri build

The built installer appears in src-tauri/target/release/bundle/.

Development mode

pnpm tauri dev

This launches the desktop app with hot-reload — changes to the client or server code are reflected immediately.

Data and Privacy

The desktop app stores everything locally:

Conversations and memory are in a SQLite database in your data directory.
API keys are stored in the OS keychain (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager) or in the local config file.
No telemetry is collected. The only network requests are LLM API calls and the GitHub update check.
Uninstalling the app does not delete your data directory. Remove it manually if you want a clean uninstall.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
App will not open (macOS)	Go to System Settings > Privacy & Security > Open Anyway
App will not open (Windows)	Click More info > Run anyway on the SmartScreen dialog
Blank white screen on launch	Wait 10 seconds — the embedded server may still be starting. Check logs.
MCP tools fail with `npx not found`	Install Node.js on your system. The desktop app needs it for npx-based tools.
High memory usage	Check how many MCP servers are configured. Each one runs as a child process.

Next Steps

Creating Custom Skills — skills work the same way in the desktop app.
Connecting MCP Tools — add tool capabilities to your desktop installation.
Installation — switch to the server build for more features.