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Installation

Joshua D Smith

Installation

Download and install Kindling on your platform.

Download

Get the latest release from the GitHub Releases page.

Available Downloads

Platform File Description
macOS (Apple Silicon) Kindling_*_aarch64.dmg For M1, M2, M3 Macs
macOS (Intel) Kindling_*_x64.dmg For Intel-based Macs
Windows Kindling_*_x64-setup.msi Windows installer
Linux Kindling_*_amd64.AppImage Portable, works on most distros
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu) kindling_*_amd64.deb Native package for apt-based systems

Verify Your Download

To ensure you downloaded the authentic Kindling release:

  1. Download only from official sources: GitHub Releases
  2. Verify checksums (optional but recommended):
  3. Download checksums.sha256 from the same release

  4. Verify the file with your platform:

    :::bash

    macOS / Linux

    shasum -a 256 -c checksums.sha256 --ignore-missing

    Windows (PowerShell)

    certutil -hashfile Kindling_*_x64-setup.msi SHA256

If your checksum doesn't match, delete the file and re-download from the official release page.

Trust Signals

  • Kindling is open source and auditable: github.com/smith-and-web/kindling
  • Release builds are produced by GitHub Actions in this repository
  • Release assets include checksums for download verification

macOS Installation

Kindling is not code-signed with an Apple Developer certificate. When you first open the app, macOS will show a security warning.

Why This Warning Appears

Gatekeeper warns about apps that aren't signed with an Apple Developer certificate. As an open-source project, Kindling ships with ad-hoc signing instead. You can verify authenticity using the checksums above and by reviewing the source code on GitHub.

macOS Sequoia (15.0) and Later

  1. Double-click the .dmg file to mount it
  2. Drag Kindling to your Applications folder
  3. Try to open Kindling — you'll see a message saying it "cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified"
  4. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security
  5. Scroll down to the Security section
  6. You'll see a message about Kindling being blocked — click Open Anyway
  7. Enter your password if prompted
  8. Click Open in the confirmation dialog

After this one-time setup, Kindling will open normally.

macOS Sonoma (14.0) and Earlier

  1. Double-click the .dmg file to mount it
  2. Drag Kindling to your Applications folder
  3. Right-click (or Control-click) on Kindling in your Applications folder
  4. Select Open from the context menu
  5. Click Open in the dialog that appears

After this one-time setup, Kindling will open normally.

Alternative: Terminal Method

If the above methods don't work, you can remove the quarantine attribute:

xattr -cr /Applications/Kindling.app

Then open Kindling normally.

Windows Installation

Kindling is not signed with a Windows code signing certificate. Windows SmartScreen may show a warning when you first run the installer.

Bypassing SmartScreen

  1. Download the .msi installer
  2. Double-click to run the installer
  3. If you see "Windows protected your PC":
  4. Click More info
  5. Click Run anyway
  6. Follow the installation wizard
  7. Launch Kindling from the Start menu

After installation, Kindling will run without warnings.

Why This Warning Appears

SmartScreen warns about apps that don't have an established reputation with Microsoft. As more users download and run Kindling, this warning will eventually disappear. Code signing certificates are expensive ($200-500/year), so we've opted to ship unsigned for now.

Linux Installation

AppImage is a portable format that works on most Linux distributions without installation.

# Download the AppImage
# Make it executable
chmod +x Kindling_*.AppImage

# Run it
./Kindling_*.AppImage

Optional: Desktop Integration

To add Kindling to your application menu:

# Install AppImageLauncher (recommended)
# Or manually create a .desktop file

# Move AppImage to a permanent location
mkdir -p ~/Applications
mv Kindling_*.AppImage ~/Applications/

# Create desktop entry
cat > ~/.local/share/applications/kindling.desktop << EOF
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Kindling
Exec=$HOME/Applications/Kindling_*.AppImage
Icon=kindling
Type=Application
Categories=Office;Writing;
EOF

Debian/Ubuntu (.deb)

For Debian-based distributions (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, etc.):

# Install the package
sudo dpkg -i kindling_*.deb

# If there are dependency issues
sudo apt-get install -f

Launch Kindling from your application menu or run kindling in the terminal.

Uninstalling

sudo apt remove kindling

Troubleshooting

macOS: "App is damaged and can't be opened"

This usually means the quarantine attribute is corrupted. Remove it with:

xattr -cr /Applications/Kindling.app

macOS: App crashes immediately

Ensure you downloaded the correct version:

  • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3): aarch64.dmg
  • Intel: x64.dmg

Check your Mac's chip: Apple menu → About This Mac → Chip/Processor.

Windows: Installer fails silently

Try running the installer as Administrator:

  1. Right-click the .msi file
  2. Select Run as administrator

Linux: AppImage won't start

Ensure FUSE is installed:

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install libfuse2

# Fedora
sudo dnf install fuse

Linux: No application icon

AppImages don't always integrate with desktop environments automatically. Use AppImageLauncher or create a .desktop file manually (see above).

Building from Source

If you prefer to build Kindling yourself, see the README for instructions.

Related

Wiki: Home

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