Installation

Tarsk runs as a desktop application for macOS, or it can be run as a CLI command on any platform.

Desktop App

Download the desktop app from tarsk.io. Prebuilt binaries are available for:

• macOS — DMG (Apple Silicon or Intel)

CLI

No installation required. Run the following command in any terminal:

npx tarsk

Tarsk starts on port 641 and opens http://localhost:641 in your browser automatically. The server stays running in that terminal session — press Ctrl+C to stop it.

CLI Flags

Flag	Description
--server	Start the API server only — do not open a browser tab
--debug	Enable verbose logging (written to ~/Library/Application Support/Tarsk/debug-logs.txt on macOS)

Examples:

npx tarsk --server          # headless server for remote/mobile access
npx tarsk --debug           # troubleshoot with full logs

To always use the latest version:

npx tarsk@latest

System Requirements

Requirement	Notes
git	Must be installed and on your PATH. Tarsk uses git to clone repositories and manage branches. Download from git-scm.com.
Node.js 18+ or Bun	Required for npx tarsk. The desktop app (Electrobun) bundles its own runtime.
gh CLI (optional)	Required only for creating GitHub repositories and pull requests from within Tarsk. Install from cli.github.com.

Tarsk verifies that git is installed during the onboarding wizard on first launch and will show a warning with a download link if it is missing.

Where Data Is Stored

All Tarsk data lives in your user data directory:

Platform	Path
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/Tarsk/
Windows	%APPDATA%\Tarsk\
Linux	~/.config/Tarsk/

Inside this directory:

• tarsk.db — SQLite database (projects, threads, conversation history, settings)
• data/{threadId}/ — one directory per thread, containing the full git clone for that thread

This means each thread is a real, independent filesystem copy of your repository. You can open any thread directory directly in your IDE or file manager.

Mobile and Remote Access

To use Tarsk from a phone or tablet on the same network, set Server bind mode to Network in General Settings. Tarsk displays the LAN URLs you can open from another device. See General Settings for details.

For the native mobile app with QR code scanning, see the Mobile App guide.

Next Steps

Continue to the Quickstart to connect your first repository and start working with the AI agent.