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Installation

Bowrain runs as a server your team connects to. Use the hosted service at bowrain.cloud, or run your own (see For developers → Self-hosting).

Most routes into a workspace need nothing installed: content in a content platform, a design tool, or a repository connects server-side — see Connectors. This page covers the pieces you do install: the desktop app, and the kapi CLI for the developer route.

Beta channel

During a release-candidate phase the beta channel carries the freshest build. The beta and stable packages install the same binary on different update tracks — pick one; they are mutually exclusive.

The web app​

The web editor is served by your Bowrain server — there is nothing to install. Open app.bowrain.cloud (or your own server's URL) in a browser and sign in.

Bowrain Desktop​

A native cross-platform editor that connects to the same server, with offline support.

Homebrew (macOS)​

brew install --cask neokapi/tap/bowrain@beta   # beta channel
brew install --cask neokapi/tap/bowrain        # stable

Direct downloads​

The links below always point at the release named in them; they are regenerated on every release from the assets actually attached to it.

Direct downloads for Bowrain Desktop 1.2.0-rc13:

macOS (Apple Silicon)

Windows (Authenticode-signed, portable zip)

Linux

Verify a download against checksums.txt.

The kapi CLI (the developer route)​

To sync a local codebase, install the bowrain plugin for the kapi CLI — there is no separate bowrain binary. Once installed, run every bowrain command as kapi <command> (e.g. kapi init, kapi push, kapi up). This is the local-files/git connector — one of several ways content reaches Bowrain.

Homebrew (macOS/Linux)​

Installs the kapi CLI together with the bowrain plugin:

brew install neokapi/tap/bowrain-cli-beta   # beta channel
brew install neokapi/tap/bowrain-cli        # stable

WinGet (Windows)​

Install the kapi CLI, then add the bowrain plugin:

winget install Neokapi.KapiCli
kapi plugin install bowrain

With kapi already installed​

kapi plugin install bowrain

Plugin builds are attached to the same GitHub release and indexed in the plugin registry; kapi verifies their signatures on install. To pin a specific plugin version — in CI, or to hold a project on a known build — install by version or pin it in the recipe's plugins: map (see plugins):

kapi plugin install bowrain@<version>

Verify​

kapi version
kapi plugins list

Self-hosting​

Prefer to run Bowrain yourself instead of using the hosted service? Installing the server, the Docker images (ghcr.io/neokapi/bowrain-server, -worker, -web), building from source, and configuration all live under For developers → Self-hosting. Keep the server, worker, and web images on the same version tag.

Next steps​