Install

Packaged beta (recommended for testers)

Open Releases and download the zip for your OS and CPU.
Unzip it somewhere convenient (Applications, Desktop, or a beta folder). On macOS you can drag Robot Studio.app into Applications yourself.
Launch the app — do not start a Python process by hand. Keep the unzipped folder together (Windows / Linux need backend/ next to the binary).
Quitting the app stops the embedded backend sidecar.

Platform	Artifact	How to open
macOS	`Robot Studio.app` (inside the zip)	Double-click the app. First launch after unzip is often blocked by Gatekeeper — see macOS: app blocked after unzip below.
Windows	`RobotStudio/RobotStudio.exe` (inside the zip)	Double-click the executable. If Windows reports missing `MSVCP140.dll` / `VCRUNTIME140.dll`, install the Visual C++ Redistributable (x64) once, then retry.
Linux x64	`Robot-Studio-*-linux-x64.zip` → `RobotStudio/`	Double-click `robot-studio.desktop` (first time: right-click → Allow Launching), or run `./robot_studio`. Optional once: `./install-desktop-launcher.sh` to add it to the app menu. Uninstall: `./uninstall.sh` (add `--purge` to also delete `~/.robot-studio`).
Linux arm64	`Robot-Studio-*-linux-arm64.zip` → `RobotStudio/`	Same as Linux x64. Use this zip on Apple Silicon / ARM VMs (`uname -m` → `aarch64`). An x64 zip shows `Exec format error` on ARM.

How Release zips are produced

Pushing a v* tag (for example v0.1.0) runs Actions → Package Desktop and attaches each platform zip to that GitHub Release. Prefer those Release assets for testers — they stay available and do not require Actions access.

Maintainers can also run Actions → Package Desktop → Run workflow and download workflow artifacts for a one-off build (artifacts expire; use Releases for lasting distribution).

Local packaging (must run on that OS — no cross-compile):

make package-macos      # → dist/macos/Robot Studio.app
make package-windows   # → dist/windows/RobotStudio/  (run on Windows)
make package-linux     # → dist/linux/RobotStudio/    (run on Linux; zip tagged x64 or arm64)
make package           # package for the OS you are on

macOS: app blocked after unzip

Beta builds are not notarized. After you unzip and double-click Robot Studio, macOS may show “Robot Studio” Not Opened and refuse to launch.

Open System Settings → Privacy & Security.
Scroll to the Security section. You should see “Robot Studio” was blocked to protect your Mac.
Click Open Anyway, then confirm Open on the follow-up prompt.

You only need this once per download. If the blocked message is missing, try opening the app again from Finder first, then return to Privacy & Security.

Same steps are under Troubleshooting.

Linux host packages

On Ubuntu/Debian, creating a project environment also needs the host venv package once: sudo apt install python3-venv (or python3.XX-venv if the error names a version). Source Control needs host Git: sudo apt install git. See Troubleshooting.

App data lives under ~/.robot-studio.

Run from source (developers)

Supported desktop targets when developing from the repository: macOS, Windows, and Linux (Flutter desktop). This path is for contributors — not the packaged beta download.

Prerequisites

Flutter 3.x with desktop enabled (macos, linux, or windows)
Python 3.11+
Git (for Source Control features)
Optional: uv for faster backend installs

One-time setup

From the repository root:

make setup             # backend virtualenv + flutter pub get

Everyday loop (two terminals)

Start the backend:

make backend           # API on http://127.0.0.1:8765

Start the UI:

make run               # flutter run on this OS

Check health anytime:

make health

The UI connects to http://127.0.0.1:8765. When that backend is already healthy, the app will not spawn a sidecar.

Override device or port if needed: make run DEVICE=linux · make backend PORT=8766.

What’s in this build

See RELEASE_NOTES.md in the repository.

Next step

→ Create or open your first project