Download the macOS app

A native Mac app is available, built with Tauri — same editor, wrapped as a real .app you launch from Finder or Spotlight instead of running pnpm run dev and opening a browser tab.

Current scope: Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) only. No Intel build yet.

Download for macOS (Apple Silicon)

Prefer a .dmg installer instead of a .app.zip? Grab it from the latest release page directly — its filename includes the version number, so it doesn't have a permanent link the way the zip above does.

Before you install

The app needs two things already on your Mac — the same prerequisites a local dev setup uses, just without the rest of the dev toolchain:

# Bun -- the app spawns it to run its own backend
curl -fsSL https://bun.sh/install | bash

# FFmpeg with libass (subtitle burn-in) support, via Homebrew
brew install ffmpeg-full

Without these, the app will open but fail to actually start its backend — see Architecture if you want the details of why.

Opening it the first time

This build is ad-hoc signed, not signed with a paid Apple Developer account — a deliberate scope choice for now, not an oversight (see the project's claude.md section 35 if you're curious why). That means Gatekeeper will refuse a plain double-click the first time. To open it:

1. Unzip the download (or mount the .dmg and drag the app to Applications).
2. Right-click the app → Open, then confirm in the dialog that appears. A regular double-click will still be blocked — this step has to be the right-click.
3. On newer macOS, if that doesn't work: System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway next to the app's name.

You only need to do this once per download.

First launch

The app asks for your own OpenAI API key on first launch (used only for transcription and the AI buttons — filler words, speakers, chapters, show notes, highlights — stored only on your machine, never sent anywhere but OpenAI) — get one at platform.openai.com/api-keys if you don't already have one.

Updating

Replace the app in Applications with the new version. Your projects are kept: they live in ~/Library/Application Support/com.local.aivideoeditor/, not inside the app, and the new version upgrades that data automatically the first time it opens.

Troubleshooting

• The window shows "404 Not Found". Something else is using port 3001, usually a pnpm run dev session from a source checkout. The app runs its own server on that port, so quit the dev server and reopen the app. The app and the dev server can't run at the same time.
• Anything else. The app's server log is at ~/Library/Logs/com.local.aivideoeditor/AI Video Editor.log.

Building it yourself

Prefer to build from source instead of downloading a release? See Getting Started for the full dev setup, then:

cd client
pnpm exec tauri build