Installing Elicana

Jump to: Windows · Linux · macOS (coming soon)

Windows

Download the 64-bit installer from elicana.ai/get, your welcome page, or your Account page.

What you'll see, and why

Our Windows installer isn't code-signed with a Microsoft-trusted certificate either, same reasoning as macOS: we haven't bought that credential yet. Windows SmartScreen will likely show a blue "Windows protected your PC" screen the first time you run the installer, because it doesn't recognize the publisher.

Exact steps

1. Run the downloaded .exe. If SmartScreen appears, click More info.
2. A Run anyway button appears, click it.
3. The installer runs with no admin rights required; it installs to your user profile.
4. Launch Elicana from the Start Menu when it finishes.

You only need to click through SmartScreen once per download; Windows won't ask again for that exact file.

Verify your download

We publish SHA-256 checksums for every build at downloads.elicana.ai/SHA256SUMS. To confirm your installer matches what we shipped, open PowerShell and run:

(Invoke-WebRequest https://downloads.elicana.ai/SHA256SUMS).Content -split "`n" | Select-String exe
Get-FileHash .\Elicana-Setup*.exe -Algorithm SHA256

The hash under Hash should match the one on the line Select-String found. If it doesn't, don't run the installer, re-download and check again, and if it still doesn't match email support@elicana.ai.

Linux

Download the amd64 or arm64 .tar.gz for your architecture from elicana.ai/get, your welcome page, or your Account page.

What you'll see, and why

Linux has no OS-level code-signing gate the way macOS and Windows do, so there's no security dialog to click through. The binary just needs the executable bit set, which the archive doesn't set for you.

Exact steps

tar -xzf Elicana-<version>-linux-<arch>.tar.gz
bash install.sh

install.sh copies the binary to ~/.local/bin/elicana (no root needed), sets chmod +x on it, offers to create a desktop launcher entry (GNOME/KDE), and then opens the first-run setup wizard in your browser. If ~/.local/bin isn't already on your PATH, the installer tells you and prints the line to add to your shell profile.

The build is a static Go binary with no runtime glibc version requirement beyond what a mainstream 64-bit distro from the last several years already ships.

Verify your download

We publish SHA-256 checksums for every build at downloads.elicana.ai/SHA256SUMS. To confirm your archive matches what we shipped, run:

curl -s https://downloads.elicana.ai/SHA256SUMS | grep linux
sha256sum Elicana-*-linux-*.tar.gz

The hash sha256sum prints should match the one on the line the grep found. If it doesn't, don't run install.sh, re-download and check again, and if it still doesn't match email support@elicana.ai.

macOS (coming soon)

We ad-hoc sign our macOS builds and have not yet paid for an Apple Developer ID or notarization. A paid, notarized certificate is on the roadmap. Until then, macOS shows an "unidentified developer" warning on first launch, not because anything is wrong with the download, but because we haven't bought the credential that tells your OS who built it.

Straight answer on what the warning does and doesn't mean: it means Apple hasn't independently scanned this specific build (that's what notarization does). It does not mean the app is unsafe, and it isn't a sign you did anything wrong. The one thing that would be a real problem is a message that says the app "is damaged and can't be opened", that's a different, unrelated error from an old, truly unsigned build. If you see that exact wording, see the note further down this section.

When macOS builds land, you will download the .dmg or .zip for Apple Silicon from elicana.ai/get, your welcome page, or your Account page.

What you'll see, and why

The first time you open Elicana.app, macOS Gatekeeper will say it cannot verify the developer, or that it's from an "unidentified developer." This is because we sign the build ad hoc, enough for Apple Silicon to run it at all, rather than with a paid Apple Developer ID and Apple's notarization scan. That is a deliberate, temporary tradeoff while we're small: notarization costs money and adds a review step, and we've chosen to launch honestly with ad-hoc signing and this page instead of pretending the warning isn't there.

Exact steps

macOS 15 (Sequoia) and later:

1. Double-click Elicana.app. When the warning appears, click Done.
2. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, and scroll down to the message about Elicana.
3. Click Open Anyway, then confirm in the dialog that appears.

macOS 14 (Sonoma) and earlier: right-click Elicana.app, choose Open, then click Open again in the dialog. This shortcut isn't available on macOS 15+, which is why that OS needs the System Settings path above.

You only need to do this once per install. After that, macOS remembers your choice and launches normally.

If macOS says the app "is damaged and can't be opened"

That is a different message from the "unidentified developer" warning above, and it means something different: a corrupted or genuinely unsigned download, not an ad-hoc-signed one. Delete Elicana.app, re-download fresh from your Account page, and try again. If it still happens, email support@elicana.ai, include your macOS version.

Still stuck?

If the System Settings path doesn't show an Elicana entry, or Open Anyway doesn't stick, the reliable fallback is Terminal. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities), then run, adjusting the path if you installed somewhere other than /Applications:

xattr -rd com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Elicana.app" && codesign --force --deep -s - "/Applications/Elicana.app"

That clears the quarantine flag macOS attaches to downloaded files and re-applies the same ad-hoc signature the build already ships with. It's the same one-liner we've sent individually to people who got stuck on the System Settings path, so it's on this page now so you don't have to wait on an email to get it.

Verify your download

We publish SHA-256 checksums for every build at downloads.elicana.ai/SHA256SUMS. To confirm your .dmg or .zip matches what we shipped, open Terminal and run:

curl -s https://downloads.elicana.ai/SHA256SUMS | grep -i dmg
shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Elicana*.dmg

The hash shasum prints should match the one on the line the grep found. If it doesn't, don't open the app, re-download and check again, and if it still doesn't match email support@elicana.ai.