Install Kitewell

Kitewell is one app you install on your own Mac or Windows PC. Installing it takes a few minutes and leaves you with an empty project, ready for your first workflow.

What you need

• A Mac running macOS 13 or later, or a PC running Windows 10 version 1809 or later, or Windows 11, 64-bit.
• An installer for your system. The download page lists what is available. If your system is not listed, its package is still being prepared.

You do not need a card: signing in to Dagu Cloud from Kitewell starts a 14-day trial. You do not need Python, Docker, or any AI tool either. Install those later, only if a workflow of yours uses them.

Install on a Mac

1. Open the download page and choose the download for your Mac. Apple menu → About This Mac tells you whether it has an Apple chip or an Intel one.
2. Open the .pkg file you downloaded and follow the installer. It puts Kitewell in Applications and asks for an administrator password.
3. Open Kitewell from Applications.
4. Choose Sign in to use Kitewell’s AI. Your browser opens Dagu Cloud with a code to match. Once you confirm it, Kitewell makes your first project and opens it with its AI ready: no API key, and the 14-day trial’s 100 credits to start. To use your own AI key, or no AI, choose Start on this device instead.

Kitewell turns on Open at Login the first time it runs, so your schedules keep running after you restart the Mac. Turn it off in the menu bar menu whenever you like.

Then build your first workflow.

Install on Windows

1. Open the download page and download Kitewell-<version>-win-x64-Setup.exe.
2. Open the file you downloaded. Windows may show a SmartScreen notice, because Kitewell is a new publisher. Check that the file’s SHA256 matches the one shown beside the download, then choose More info and Run anyway.
3. Kitewell installs itself for your user account, with nothing to answer and no administrator password, and opens when it is done.
4. Choose Sign in to use Kitewell’s AI. Your browser opens Dagu Cloud with a code to match. Once you confirm it, Kitewell makes your first project and opens it with its AI ready: no API key, and the 14-day trial’s 100 credits to start. To use your own AI key, or no AI, choose Start on this device instead.

Kitewell turns on Start at login the first time it runs, so your schedules keep running after you restart the PC. Turn it off in the tray menu whenever you like. To keep schedules running before anyone signs in, open Device settings and turn on Run when nobody is signed in; Windows asks once for administrator approval, with no password, to set up the small Kitewell sign-in service.

Closing the window does not stop Kitewell. It keeps running in the tray, the small group of icons beside the clock. Left-click the Kitewell icon there to open the window again.

Then build your first workflow.

If something goes wrong

• Windows says the installer is from an unknown publisher. Compare the file’s SHA256 with the one on the download page, then choose More info and Run anyway. If Windows says the signature is invalid, stop and report it rather than running it.
• Kitewell is installed but does not open. Windows Smart App Control refuses to load an unsigned build of Kitewell, and a build downloaded from the release page is signed. See Troubleshooting.
• The window is blank, or Kitewell asks to install WebView2. Choose Install WebView2. It takes about a minute. See Troubleshooting.
• macOS says it cannot verify the installer. Stop, and report the exact message with the download URL and the version.

Install a newer version over an old one

Save your edits and let running workflows finish first. Your projects, runs, and the start-at-login choice are all kept, and runs already in progress keep going.

• On a Mac, run the new .pkg. It closes the running app, replaces it, and restarts the background service. Unsaved drafts in the editor are lost. If the app will not close, choose Quit Kitewell from the menu bar and run the installer again.
• On Windows, run the new Setup.exe. It closes the running Kitewell, replaces it, and opens the new version; unsaved drafts in the editor are lost, so save first. With the sign-in service on, Kitewell brings the service up to the new version by itself when it next opens.

Kitewell can also fetch the new version itself. See Updates.

Details

• Windows installs the app per user, under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Kitewell.App, with no administrator prompt. Your data lives separately, under %LOCALAPPDATA%\Kitewell. The sign-in service is the one thing that needs the prompt: it copies the programs to C:\Program Files\Kitewell and moves the data to C:\ProgramData\Kitewell, once. See Schedules.
• A silent install (Setup.exe --silent) shows nothing and never asks for the administrator prompt; the sign-in service is set up only from Device settings.
• Kitewell’s window is built on the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime. When it is missing, Kitewell offers to install it as it opens.
• Start at login is turned on by a fresh install and left as you last set it in the tray across updates.
• On a Mac, the .pkg needs an administrator password because it installs into Applications. Copying Kitewell.app into your own ~/Applications folder instead works without one.
• Kitewell is built for Macs with an Apple chip and for Macs with an Intel processor, and for 64-bit Windows PCs with an Intel or AMD processor.