Install Beav

Download the desktop app

Open the Beav download page and pick the package for your computer:

• Mac: choose aarch64 for Apple silicon (M-series), or x64 for Intel. Starting with 2.9.3, each architecture has its own installer and updater. Check About This Mac to identify your chip.
• Most Windows computers: choose x64.
• Choose arm64 only when you are clearly on a Windows ARM device.
• Linux: the AppImage works on most distributions; Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives can also use DEB.

Install on macOS

1. Open the downloaded DMG.
2. Drag Beav into Applications.
3. Launch Beav from Applications.
4. If your system asks you to confirm the source, allow it to open.

The first launch can take a while while the local runtime is prepared. Keep the window open until you reach your workspace.

Install on Windows

1. Run the downloaded installer.
2. Complete the setup wizard.
3. Launch Beav from the Start menu.
4. If a security prompt appears, check the app name and the download source, then continue.

Install on Linux

The AppImage works on most Linux distributions:

1. Download the AppImage.
2. Allow it to run as a program in the file properties, or run chmod +x Beav_*.AppImage.
3. Double-click the AppImage, or run the file from a terminal.

Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives can also install the DEB:

sudo apt install ./Beav_*_amd64.deb

Create your first workspace

A workspace decides where your sources, knowledge, drafts, and media results live. Create them along long-term boundaries, for example:

• One social account.
• One client or brand.
• One content niche.
• One project you keep updating.

Do not create a new workspace for every piece of content. Keeping the earlier sources and finished drafts for the same topic together is what makes later retrieval and reuse effective.

Choose where a space is saved

Like Eagle libraries, each space can live in a folder you pick, such as an external drive or a synced folder. On the "Account spaces" page, click "New account", then under "Location" click "Choose…". Beav creates a folder named after the space inside that location, adding a number if a folder with the same name already exists.

• Beav remembers the location you choose and uses it for your next spaces. You can still click "Change…" each time.
• Without a chosen location, the space stays in the folder Beav manages. Existing spaces are not moved.
• Space cards show where each space lives. If its external drive is not connected, the card shows "Folder unavailable"; reconnect the drive to switch to it.
• A space folder you chose contains .beav-space.json; keep it. After moving the folder, when the drive letter changes, or on another computer, click "Open existing space…" in the space list and select the folder to add it back. Chat history does not travel with the folder.
• Removing such a space from the list keeps its folder on disk.

Available in Beav desktop 2.9.0; the browser-access edition does not offer location choice.

Keep Beav running after closing the window

The browser extension, the local library page and external agents such as Codex or WorkBuddy all need Beav to be running. To keep it running without a window, leave both the "后台值守" (background service) card switch and its "关闭窗口后继续后台运行" (keep running after the window is closed) option on under Settings → Remote (both are on by default; these two labels are currently shown in Chinese). Closing the main window then only hides it.

• A Beav icon appears in the macOS menu bar, the Windows notification area or the Linux system tray. Click it, or choose "Open Beav" from its menu, to bring the window back.
• To quit completely, choose "Quit Beav" from the icon menu (Cmd+Q also works on macOS).
• If either switch is off, or the system has no tray support (for example Linux without the AppIndicator library), closing the window quits Beav.

Applies to new desktop releases that include background mode; real tray behavior on all three platforms has not been verified yet.

Next step

Once the desktop app starts successfully, continue with Install the browser extension. The extension needs a running Beav, so keep the desktop app open while you install it and verify the connection.