Installation & setup

Mel ships as a direct download for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Grab the build for your OS from the download page — the buttons detect your platform automatically.

macOS builds are signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so Mel opens on a normal double-click with no Gatekeeper warning. Windows builds are code-signed too, though SmartScreen may still prompt once while the certificate builds reputation. Linux ships unsigned by design.

macOS

The download is Mel-macos.dmg — a universal app that runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel (macOS 11 or later). It's signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple. A zipped copy, Mel-macos.zip, is on the download page too.

1. Open the disk image and drag Mel to your Applications folder. Open it from there: that is where macOS finds it, and where Mel's updates can install.
2. Double-click Mel. It launches — no "Open Anyway" step, no quarantine warning.

Because Mel's agent reads and edits files, macOS will ask permission the first time Mel touches each protected folder (Desktop, Documents, Downloads). You can either approve those prompts as they appear, or grant Full Disk Access once (System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access → add Mel). Full Disk Access is the smoothest option but the broadest — it's optional. Mel's in-app permissions card can deep-link you to the right pane; find it via the command palette (⌃P → "macOS permissions setup").

Because the build carries a stable Developer ID signature, macOS keeps your Full Disk Access grant across updates — you set it once.

Windows

Two downloads are available:

• Installer — Mel-windows-x86_64-setup.exe (recommended): a per-user install with no admin prompt. Run it, keep the "Create a desktop shortcut" box checked if you want one, and finish — Mel lands in %LocalAppData%\Programs\Mel, gets a Start-Menu entry, and appears in Settings → Apps with a working Uninstall.
• Portable — Mel-windows-x86_64.zip: extract anywhere and run mel.exe. Nothing is registered with Windows; to remove it, just delete the folder.

Windows on ARM (Snapdragon)

On an ARM64 PC, such as a Snapdragon X laptop, use the native ARM64 build: Windows (ARM64 — Snapdragon) on the download page, Mel-windows-aarch64-setup.exe, or the portable Mel-windows-aarch64.zip. The x64 build also runs there, but only through Windows' x64 emulation, which is slower and puts Mel's graphics on a less reliable path.

• Already using the x64 build on an ARM PC? Run the ARM64 installer. It upgrades your install in place, in the same folder, with the same shortcuts and the same entry in Settings → Apps, and your sign-in, settings and conversations are kept.
• Or let the updater do it. Mel's in-app update installs the ARM64 build on an ARM64 PC, even when the Mel you're running is the x64 one. An x64 Mel older than this change first updates to a current x64 build, and that build switches to ARM64 at its next update.
• The ARM64 installer only runs on an ARM64 PC. On an ordinary (x64) PC it refuses to install.

Mel for Windows is code-signed (Concepts Dzign LLC). SmartScreen builds its reputation per certificate, so a newly issued certificate can still show "Windows protected your PC" the first time you run the installer or mel.exe. Click More info, then Run anyway. This fades as the certificate accrues reputation.

Uninstalling on Windows

• Installer builds: Settings → Apps → Mel → Uninstall (or the Start-Menu uninstaller). Your data — sign-in, conversations, settings — is kept under %APPDATA%\mel, so reinstalling picks up where you left off. Provider keys you added are normally kept in Windows Credential Manager, not in that folder.
• Portable builds: delete the extracted folder.
• Full removal: sign out of Mel first (that removes the provider keys you saved), then after uninstalling also delete %APPDATA%\mel to wipe the rest of the local data.

Linux

The download is Mel-linux-x86_64.tar.gz — a tarball with the mel binary, a desktop entry, the Mel icons and an install.sh that adds Mel to your app menu (Linux builds ship unsigned by design; there's no warning to click through). It needs OpenGL.

tar -xzf Mel-linux-x86_64.tar.gz
./mel

Put the binary anywhere on your PATH if you want to launch it by name.

After installing

The terminal itself needs no account, no API keys and no configuration — blocks, splits, the palette, the editor, code review, CLI agents and SSH all work the moment it launches. Mel's own AI agent is the one part that needs a free Mel account — sign-in continues in your browser — and on the Free plan it runs on a provider key you add in Settings → AI. Head to the quickstart for your first five minutes, and see updating Mel for how new versions ship.