Desktop app

macOS#

BladeVault requires macOS 13 Ventura or newer.

Download BladeVault.dmg, open it, then drag BladeVault.app to Applications.

Releases are unsigned. If macOS blocks the first launch, right-click the app, choose Open, and confirm. If needed, run:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/BladeVault.app"
open "/Applications/BladeVault.app"

To update, select Download update in Settings → About, open the downloaded DMG, quit BladeVault, and replace the app in Applications.

Windows#

Download BladeVault-Setup.exe, run the installer, and open BladeVault from the Start menu or desktop shortcut.

Windows SmartScreen may show a warning for an unsigned build. Choose More info → Run anyway only if you trust the release source.

Check for updates in Settings → About. Download an available update, then select Restart to update to install it.

Where the desktop app keeps your data#

The default data folder is ~/BladeVault/data on macOS and %USERPROFILE%\BladeVault\data on Windows. The desktop app can also move its data folder from Settings when the location is not managed by BLADEVAULT_DATA_DIR. See Your data.

The desktop runtime serves MCP on http://127.0.0.1:5501/mcp; if port 5501 is busy, BladeVault uses a free local port and Copy config includes the active URL. See MCP.

Desktop development#

If you want to run or package the desktop shell from a checkout, the source guide lists every script:

npm run desktop:dev        # Electron shell in development
npm run desktop:smoke      # build and smoke-test the desktop runtime
npm run dist:desktop       # package installers without publishing

See Run from source for the full command list, including the native better-sqlite3 rebuild that desktop builds need.