Installation

Dinotty ships pre-built binaries for macOS, Linux, and Windows desktops, a Linux server .deb package, and a mobile PWA. All artifacts are published on GitHub Releases.

Two roles

• Desktop client: Tauri native app, works out of the box for local or LAN use
• Server: Long-running dinotty-server process for remote deployment, accessed by multiple devices

Desktop

macOS

Download the .dmg installer, mount it, and drag Dinotty into Applications.

# Command-line install example
curl -LO https://github.com/xichan96/dinotty/releases/latest/download/Dinotty_<version>_aarch64.dmg
hdiutil attach Dinotty_<version>_aarch64.dmg
cp -R "/Volumes/Dinotty/Dinotty.app" /Applications/
hdiutil detach "/Volumes/Dinotty"

Signed & notarized

The macOS build is signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized, so the first launch does not require xattr -cr.

Linux

The desktop ships in two formats:

Format	Distro	Install
.deb	Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian 12+ / Linux Mint 21+	sudo dpkg -i dinotty_<version>_amd64.deb
.AppImage	Most distros	chmod +x Dinotty_*.AppImage && ./Dinotty_*.AppImage

.AppImage is a single executable, no install needed. If your file manager prompts for trust, enable "Allow executing" in the file properties.

Desktop .deb requires glibc ≥ 2.34

The desktop .deb is built on an Ubuntu 22.04 runner (the GNOME/WebKit runtime libraries only exist from 22.04 onward), so the binary requires libc6 (>= 2.34) and installs only on Ubuntu 22.04+ / Debian 12+ / Mint 21+.

On older systems such as Ubuntu 20.04 / Debian 11, dpkg -i reports dependency errors that apt-get -f install cannot fix — the glibc symbol versions simply do not match, and no package can supply them. Use the server .deb described below, the AppImage, or the Docker image instead.

Windows

Download the NSIS installer (Dinotty_<version>_x64-setup.exe) and run it, or use the portable build (Dinotty_<version>_x64-portable.exe) with no installation.

# Portable launch example
.\Dinotty_<version>_x64-portable.exe

Server deb (Linux)

dinotty-server is a standalone Rust binary with no desktop dependency, suitable for VPS or home servers.

The server .deb is built separately in an Ubuntu 20.04 container and requires libc6 (>= 2.31), so it installs on Ubuntu 20.04+ / Debian 11+ / Linux Mint 20+ — a wider range than the desktop .deb.

# Download and install the latest version in one go
VERSION=$(curl -s https://api.github.com/repos/xichan96/dinotty/releases/latest \
  | sed -n 's/.*"tag_name": *"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' | sed 's/^v//') \
  && curl -LO "https://github.com/xichan96/dinotty/releases/download/v${VERSION}/dinotty-server_${VERSION}-1_amd64.deb" \
  && sudo dpkg -i "dinotty-server_${VERSION}-1_amd64.deb"

# Start / enable on boot
sudo systemctl enable --now dinotty

# Check status
systemctl status dinotty
journalctl -u dinotty -f

For full deployment (systemd config, Docker, reverse proxy, Windows service), see Deployment Guide.

Mobile PWA

There is no native mobile app; mobile uses a PWA:

1. Open the server URL in the mobile browser (e.g., http://192.168.1.10:8999)
2. Browser menu -> "Add to Home Screen" / "Install App"
3. Tap the home-screen icon for full-screen launch

iOS Safari, Android Chrome, and HarmonyOS Browser all support this.

First Run

Desktop

The first launch prompts you to connect to a server:

• Connect to an existing server: enter server URL and access token (if the server has token auth enabled)
• Start a local server: the desktop client spins up a local dinotty-server process for single-machine use

Server

The server listens on 0.0.0.0:8999 by default. Open http://<server-ip>:8999 after launch.

# Custom port
dinotty-server -p 3000

# Custom default shell
DINOTTY_SHELL=/bin/zsh dinotty-server

Token auth

Publicly exposed servers must configure token auth. See Token Permission System and the Auth Security Design.

Upgrade

Download the new version and install over the old one. Config and workspace data persist at:

Platform	Config directory
macOS / Linux	~/.config/dinotty/
Windows	%APPDATA%\dinotty\
Linux server (deb)	/var/lib/dinotty/

Dinotty checks the official GitHub Release once by default after login on each desktop launch or browser/PWA page reload. It does not poll while the app remains open. You can disable Automatically check for updates at the bottom of Settings > About; enabling it again runs one check immediately. You can also run a check at any time with Check for updates. The update card appears as soon as a newer stable version exists. Dinotty also shows one startup toast while the window is visible and in the foreground, or when the window next returns to the foreground if the result arrived in the background. Clicking the toast opens Settings > About.

On the desktop app, Download update fetches the installer built for your platform and architecture, asks where to save it, and shows the transfer progress. When it finishes, use Show in folder or Open installer to install it. Linux users can additionally download the .deb package. On the web/PWA there is nothing to install locally, so the card offers Go to Downloads instead, which opens the release page in a new browser tab. Dinotty never installs an update or launches an installer on its own — starting the installer is always an explicit action. Offline starts, GitHub rate limits, and check failures remain silent and do not block startup.

Server deb upgrade:

sudo dpkg -i dinotty-server_<new-version>-1_amd64.deb
sudo systemctl restart dinotty

Build from Source

If you prefer not to use pre-built binaries, build from source:

git clone --depth 1 --single-branch -b dev git@github.com:xichan96/dinotty.git
cd dinotty

# Build frontend
cd frontend && pnpm install && pnpm run build && cd ..

# Run server
cargo run

# Or build desktop
pnpm dlx @tauri-apps/cli build

Full build steps are in Deployment Guide.

Next Steps

• Deployment Guide - systemd / Docker / reverse proxy / Windows service
• Introduction - Project positioning and core features
• Multi-device Sync & Mission Control - Connect from desktop, mobile, web