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ACREACRE docs

Install the desktop app

ACRE for desktop is a small native app around ACRE. It does two things the browser can’t:

  • Runs your agents on your own subscription. It starts Claude Code or Codex on your computer, signed in with your own plan. See Agents.
  • Syncs your local chats. With your consent, it brings your Claude Code and Codex chats into ACRE so they are searchable and shareable. See Local sync.

Download

Section titled “Download”

Open useacre.dev/desktop and use the Get the desktop app link. It offers the right file for your computer. Inside ACRE, the same downloads are under Install, in Notifications.

System Files
Linux x86-64 .AppImage (offered first), .deb, .rpm
macOS 11 or newer one universal .dmg for Apple Silicon and Intel
Windows x64 -setup.exe (per-user, no admin needed) and .msi

There is no Linux Arm build yet. On Windows on Arm, the x64 build runs under emulation. See Compatibility for details.

First launch

Section titled “First launch”

The builds are not notarized (macOS) or Authenticode-signed (Windows) yet, so the first launch needs one extra step:

  • macOS: right-click the app and choose Open, or go to System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
  • Windows: when SmartScreen appears, choose More info → Run anyway.
  • AppImage: make it executable with chmod +x ACRE*.AppImage, or tick “Allow executing file as program” in its Properties.

Requirements

Section titled “Requirements”

To run agents and sync chats, the app needs three things on your computer:

  1. Node.js 18 or newer (22 LTS recommended), available as node on your PATH. The app starts its runner with your system Node.
  2. The Claude Code CLI (claude) and/or the Codex CLI (codex) on your PATH.
  3. Each CLI signed in with your own subscription, not an API key:
    • Claude Code: signed in to a Claude plan. API-key logins are not accepted.
    • Codex: signed in with ChatGPT.

The app can start the login for you (claude auth login or codex login). To protect your plan, it removes ANTHROPIC_*, OPENAI_* and the cloud-provider CLAUDE_CODE_USE_* variables from the environment of everything it starts. Your runs always go through your subscription login.

Signing in

Section titled “Signing in”

The app opens your system browser to sign in, then the browser hands you back to the app. See Signing in. Guest accounts can’t use the runner. Sign in to a saved account first.

Updates

Section titled “Updates”

The app checks for updates when it starts and every 6 hours, and verifies each update’s signature before installing it.

  • AppImage, macOS and Windows installs update themselves.
  • .deb and .rpm installs show Restart to update, because installing a system package needs your password.