Desktop app

Zaelar on your computer.

A small app for your Mac or PC that gives your agent what only your own computer has: a browser window where you sign in to your sites, and the folders you choose to share.

Download for Mac

Version 0.3.0 · 10 November 2026 · macOS 13 or later · 52 MB

Free. No administrator password. Signed and verifiable. Older versions and release notes on GitHub.

What it adds

The part of the job that needs your own computer.

A real browser window for your sign-ins

When a site needs you to log in or prove you are human, your agent opens that page in a Chrome window on your screen. You sign in once; the session stays on your computer, in the app’s own browser profile.

Your files, read-only, with your permission

Choose the folders it may read — none by default. Your agent can find and read documents there when you ask. It never writes, moves or deletes anything, and you can stop sharing a folder with one click.

An app in your menu bar

A small icon in the macOS menu bar or the Windows tray: open your agent in its own window, see whether it is connected, choose folders, quit.

Updates itselfbeta

It checks once a day, downloads a new version, verifies its signature and hash, and only then replaces itself. A version that fails the check is never installed.

Your cloud agent reaches your computerbeta

Pair the app with your Zaelar Cloud account and your agent can open a sign-in window or read an allowed folder on this computer, even when you talk to it from your phone.

Browse from your own connectionbeta

Some sites block requests from data centres. Turn on the tunnel and your agent browses those sites through your home connection. Off until you switch it on, with both consequences explained first.

Beta: built and tested, still being checked on real computers and accounts. The Guide explains each part step by step.

Requirements

computer	system	download
Mac with Apple silicon	macOS 13 or later	52 MB
Mac with Intel	macOS 13 or later	55 MB
Windows	Windows 10 (22H2) or 11	55 MB

Google Chrome is recommended. Without it, the app offers a one-time Chromium download the first time you open it, and shows the size before it starts. A Zaelar account is needed to pair it with Zaelar Cloud; a self-hosted Zaelar on the same computer finds it on its own.

Permissions, plainly

What it can do, and what it can’t.

Nothing is asked when you install it. Each permission comes up the first time it is needed, and the app keeps working if you say no.

permission	when and why	if you say no
Documents, Desktop, Downloads	Only when you add one of those folders. macOS then asks you once, in its own words; we tell it: “Zaelar reads the documents in the folders you allow, to find or read them when you ask.”	That folder isn’t shared. Everything else keeps working.
Any other folder	Only the folders you pick, one by one. Read-only: nothing is written, moved or deleted. Very broad folders, like your whole home folder, are refused.	—
Notifications (Mac)	To tell you when a site needs you to sign in or pass a check.	The sign-in window opens without a notice first.
Start at login	Installing adds it as a login item, so it is there after a restart. macOS shows its usual notice; on Windows a scheduled task does the same.	Turn it off in the system settings; open the app when you need it.
Your browser	It uses your installed Google Chrome, with a profile of its own. If Chrome isn’t there it offers to download Chromium, and shows the size and the progress first.	Without a browser, no sign-in windows; your folders still work.

What it never does

It never reads or imports cookies, passwords or history from Chrome, Safari, Edge or any other browser. You sign in once in its own window.
It asks for nothing when it is installed. Each permission comes up the first time it is needed.
No microphone, camera, screen recording, accessibility or automation access. Your voice goes through the browser, as it does on the website.
It listens only on your own computer (127.0.0.1). No program on your network can talk to it, and no other program can drive its browser window.
No administrator password: it installs for your user only.

Verify your download

Check it’s exactly what we built.

Every release is built by a public GitHub workflow. Next to each installer it publishes a SHA256SUMS file and a Sigstore signature of that file, made by the workflow itself. The Mac builds are signed with our Apple Developer ID, Team ID L8N2VZD89J, and notarized by Apple.

macOS · Terminal — in the folder you downloaded to

# 1. the checksum file and its signature, from the same release
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/asimovia/zaelar/releases/download/daemon-v0.3.0/SHA256SUMS-macos
curl -fsSLO https://github.com/asimovia/zaelar/releases/download/daemon-v0.3.0/SHA256SUMS-macos.sigstore.json
# 2. the signature was made by the release workflow (needs cosign)
cosign verify-blob --bundle SHA256SUMS-macos.sigstore.json \
  --certificate-identity-regexp '^https://github.com/asimovia/zaelar/\.github/workflows/daemon-artifacts\.yml@refs/tags/' \
  --certificate-oidc-issuer https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com SHA256SUMS-macos
# 3. your file matches the signed checksum
shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS-macos --ignore-missing
# 4. Apple: signed with Developer ID (Team L8N2VZD89J) and notarized
spctl -a -vv -t install Zaelar-macos.pkg

On an Intel Mac use SHA256SUMS-macos-x86_64 and Zaelar-macos-x86_64.pkg. The last line should answer accepted · source=Notarized Developer ID, with L8N2VZD89J in the origin.

Windows · PowerShell

# compare with the line for zaelar-daemon-windows.exe in SHA256SUMS-windows
(Get-FileHash .\zaelar-daemon-windows.exe -Algorithm SHA256).Hash.ToLower()
irm https://github.com/asimovia/zaelar/releases/download/daemon-v0.3.0/SHA256SUMS-windows

The signature check works the same on Windows with SHA256SUMS-windows and its .sigstore.json. The Windows build has no publisher signature yet, so there is no certificate to compare. All files of this release: daemon-v0.3.0.

For developersOne-line install, and uninstall

The same installers from a terminal. The script picks the right build for your machine, checks the signature when cosign is installed and the checksum always, and installs for your user only.

macOS · Terminal

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asimovia/zaelar/main/daemon/packaging/get.sh | bash

Windows · PowerShell

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asimovia/zaelar/main/daemon/packaging/get.ps1 | iex

To remove it. Your token and the folders you chose are kept, in case you install it again; the second line forgets them too.

macOS · Terminal

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asimovia/zaelar/main/daemon/packaging/macos/uninstall.sh | bash
# and forget the folders you chose:
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asimovia/zaelar/main/daemon/packaging/macos/uninstall.sh | bash -s -- --purge

Windows · PowerShell

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asimovia/zaelar/main/daemon/packaging/windows/uninstall.ps1 | iex
# and forget the folders you chose:
& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/asimovia/zaelar/main/daemon/packaging/windows/uninstall.ps1))) -Purge

The source is in the public repository, under the same fair-code license as the rest of Zaelar.

FAQ

Do I need an administrator password?

No. On Mac and Windows it installs for your user only, so it never asks for one. If anything ever does, stop and tell us at support@zaelar.com.

Will my Mac warn me about it?

No. The Mac app and its installer are signed with our Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper opens them without a warning.

And on Windows?

The Windows build is not signed with a publisher certificate yet, so SmartScreen may show “Windows protected your PC” the first time. Click More info, then Run anyway. You can check the file against the published checksum and signature first (below). A signed Windows build is on its way.

Do I need it to use Zaelar?

No. Zaelar works in your browser and on your phone without installing anything. The desktop app adds what only your own computer can do: a window where you sign in to sites, and access to the folders you choose.

Which browsers does it use?

Google Chrome, if it is installed. If not, it downloads Chromium, the same engine. Edge, Firefox and Safari aren’t supported yet.

What about Linux?

There is no Linux installer yet. Developers can run it from source, from the public repository.

Searching inside many documents is slow?

It can be. The app reads files when you ask, it doesn’t build an index of your disk, so a search across a large folder takes a while. Pointing it to the right folder helps.

How do I remove it?

Quit it from the menu bar, then run the one-line uninstaller under “For developers” below. Your choice of folders is kept unless you ask it to forget them.

On your phone instead? Get the phone app. Questions: support@zaelar.com.