Install

Pick the path for your operating system, then come back to Get Started. The download page has the same commands plus direct links to the current release artifacts.

Linux#

Alera installs from a signed package repository, so its system libraries resolve through your package manager: GTK 3, json-glib, libsecret, SQLite, OpenSSL, the Vulkan loader, Ayatana AppIndicator, and ALSA. The same command installs and updates:

curl -fsSL https://alera.build/install.sh | sh

The script detects apt or dnf, verifies the repository signing key against a fingerprint pinned inside the script, configures the repository, and installs the package. Pass --dry-run to see what it would do, or --repo-only to configure the repository without installing.

Requires x86_64 and Ubuntu 24.04 or newer, Debian 13 or newer, or Fedora. On RHEL, Rocky Linux, and AlmaLinux, enable EPEL first, which is where libayatana-appindicator-gtk3 comes from. openSUSE is not supported yet: the published RPM uses Fedora package names.

On a distribution with no package of ours, download the Linux tarball from GitHub Releases and extract it somewhere you own, such as ~/.local/share/alera. Install the libraries listed above through your own package manager first.

Manual repository setup, the signing-key fingerprint, and current artifact names live on the download page.

macOS#

brew tap leynier/tap
brew install --cask alera

Requires Apple Silicon and macOS 14 (Sonoma) or newer. The cask clears the quarantine attribute after installing, because the macOS build is not notarized yet.

You can also download the macOS tarball from GitHub Releases and move Alera.app to /Applications.

Windows#

scoop bucket add leynier https://github.com/leynier/scoop-bucket
scoop install leynier/alera

choco install alera

Requires 64-bit Windows. Or download the Windows archive from GitHub Releases and extract it anywhere.

Updating#

Alera checks for a new release every 15 minutes while its window is visible, and announces each version once. How the update is applied depends on who owns the installation:

• Direct downloads on macOS and Windows update themselves. Every update is verified against a signed manifest and a per-artifact SHA-256 before it is installed.
• A Linux tarball replaces its own directory, but only after Alera proves it can write there.
• Homebrew and Scoop installations update through that package manager: Settings → Updates runs its upgrade after Alera closes, then reopens the app.
• Linux packages and Chocolatey need elevated permissions, so Settings → Updates shows the exact command. Run Update runs it in a terminal dialog where you can answer a prompt such as the sudo password, and Copy Command copies it instead.

Local development builds never update themselves.

Mobile#

The Android companion is a separate app. Download the APK from the mobile releases, then pair it with your runtime. It is a single arm64 APK for 64-bit phones such as a Pixel 7a. An iOS build exists in CI but is not published.

From Source#

Alera is a Flutter desktop app with a Rust runtime. You need Flutter 3.47.8 (Dart 3.13.7) or newer, a Rust toolchain installed through rustup (the repository pins the version), Zig 0.16.0, Git, and the native compiler for your platform.

git clone https://github.com/leynier/alera.git
cd alera
make init-submodules
make app-debug

make app-debug runs the desktop app against a development build of the Rust runtime. Linux source builds also need the system development packages listed in Contributing. On Windows, run pwsh -File tool/development/setup_windows.ps1 -InstallMissingTools first.

A local build runs as Alera Dev by default, so it can coexist with an installed release without sharing user data.