Installation and updates

Desktop app

Open the download page and choose your operating system and processor. The main download button suggests a build for your computer. The macOS, Windows, and Linux sections below it list all available desktop builds; check the processor label before downloading. Terminal install commands follow the desktop downloads.

On macOS, open the disk image and move OpenScience to Applications. On Windows, run the installer. On Linux, make the downloaded AppImage executable and open it. Check the latest release for the files and release-specific installation notes.

Windows desktop releases starting with v2.0.149 include a signed installer, app, bundled CLI, and native libraries. Their signatures identify Inkvell Inc. (Synthetic Sciences) as the publisher. You can inspect the downloaded installer's Properties → Digital Signatures to verify its signature. Older unsigned releases do not gain a signature retroactively. Windows may still show a SmartScreen reputation warning for a new download; do not disable Windows security protections to install it.

On first launch, OpenScience walks through four steps: create or sign in to your Synthetic Sciences account (required), turn on Ace or skip it, connect your own models (ChatGPT / Codex, provider keys, Firecrawl, Modal), and open the workspace. The terminal install (openscience) asks the same questions inline the first time it runs. Follow Quickstart for the steps and your first task.

Command-line app

With Node.js and npm installed:

npm install -g @synsci/openscience@latest
openscience --version
openscience

The command opens the browser workspace. To open an existing folder, pass its path:

openscience ~/research/my-project

You can also use npx synsci, which installs and launches OpenScience. For a standalone install on macOS or Linux:

curl -fsSL https://openscience.sh/install | bash

Open a new terminal if openscience is not found after installation. The standalone install uses ~/.openscience/bin; follow the installer's PATH instructions.

For Linux compatibility requirements and platform-specific CLI archives, check the release notes. Choose the build that matches your architecture and distribution.

Desktop app and the command line

The app and openscience in a terminal are two doors into the same workspace, and they work side by side.

The app carries its own copy of the command-line app inside the application bundle and updates it with the app. When the openscience on your PATH is that copy — ls -l $(which openscience) points into OpenScience.app or a resources/sidecar folder — openscience upgrade says so and sends you to Customize → General → Check for updates, instead of installing over the app's files. Install the CLI through npm or the standalone installer above if you would rather update it from a terminal.

To use that copy from a terminal, open Customize → General → Command line tool and choose Install. The app links ~/.openscience/bin/openscience to its own copy and adds that folder to your shell's startup file (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or fish's config.fish) the same way the standalone installer does; open a new terminal afterwards. If your shell has no startup file yet, as on a new macOS account, the app creates one: ~/.zshrc for zsh, ~/.bash_profile for bash on macOS (~/.bashrc elsewhere), or ~/.config/fish/config.fish for fish. The row says whether the tool is installed and on your PATH, and shows the line to add when no startup file could take it, such as one that is read-only. Each time the app launches it re-points its own link if the app was moved or reinstalled; it never creates a link you did not ask for and never replaces an openscience it did not create. openscience uninstall run from that link removes the link and the PATH line again; a startup file the app created stays, without the line. The Linux AppImage runs from a temporary mount and cannot be linked, so use the standalone installer on Linux; on Windows, install the CLI separately.

While the app is running, openscience and openscience web open a browser tab on the server the app already started, with the same sessions and files, rather than starting a second one. Quit the app and the same command starts a server of its own.

Verify the installation

openscience --version
openscience doctor
openscience models

doctor reports what is configured and what still needs attention. An installed app still needs a model connection before it can answer a research request.

Update

Use the update controls in Customize → General. Follow the app's restart prompt when an update is ready. If an in-app update is unavailable on your platform, install the current desktop download.

On macOS, subsequent updates can reuse unchanged parts of the last verified download. Click Download as usual; verification and restart work the same way. The first update, or an update without a usable cache, downloads the full app automatically. OpenScience keeps one update archive locally and replaces it as new updates are verified.

For the CLI:

openscience upgrade

Or update an npm installation through npm:

npm install -g @synsci/openscience@latest

A CLI that came with the desktop app is updated by the app; see Desktop app and the command line.

Check openscience --version after updating and reopen the workspace. Read the changelog for behavior changes.

Uninstall

Preview removal first:

openscience uninstall --dry-run
openscience uninstall

The CLI keeps your work and settings by default. --purge also deletes OpenScience configuration and user data; export important sessions and back up project files before choosing it.

Run from the desktop app's copy, openscience uninstall removes the command-line link and the PATH line but leaves the app itself, and says so. To finish, move OpenScience.app to the Trash on macOS, remove OpenScience from Add or remove programs on Windows, or delete the AppImage on Linux.

See Files and storage for export and backup guidance, and Troubleshooting if installation or startup fails.