Installation & updates

Verified against Kanvaz v9.8.2.

Kanvaz needs no account, no sign-in, and makes no network call on first launch. Pick the file for your system from the latest release.

Which file do I download?

Your system	Download	Notes
Windows	`Kanvaz-Setup-<version>.exe`	The installer. Recommended: Start Menu shortcut, “Open with” registration for supported files, and update checks.
	`Kanvaz-<version>.exe`	Portable build. Run it from anywhere, nothing is installed.
macOS, Apple Silicon (M1 and newer)	`Kanvaz-<version>-arm64.dmg`	Open it and drag Kanvaz into Applications.
macOS, Intel	`Kanvaz-<version>.dmg`	Same steps. There is no `-x64` in this name.
Linux	`Kanvaz-<version>.AppImage`	`chmod +x` it and run it. No install step.

Not sure which Mac you have? Apple menu → About This Mac. A chip named “Apple …” means Apple Silicon; “Intel” means Intel.

Everything else attached to a release is metadata, not something you open: .blockmap files, latest*.yml (read by the updater), SHA256SUMS-*.txt (checksums), and kanvaz-*.zip (the official plugins, which you can also install from inside Kanvaz).

The first launch: “unsigned app” warnings

Kanvaz is not code-signed (certificates cost money and this app is free). Both warnings below are normal for unsigned software and not a sign that anything is wrong.

Windows: SmartScreen shows “Windows protected your PC.” Click More info → Run anyway.

macOS: Gatekeeper says the app “cannot be opened.” Right-click (or Control-click) the app and choose Open, then confirm once. After that it opens normally.

Linux: no warning. Make the AppImage executable first:

chmod +x Kanvaz-*.AppImage
./Kanvaz-*.AppImage

The first time you open Kanvaz a short welcome card appears, then the Home Screen. See the Quick Start.

Verify your download (optional)

Each release has a SHA256SUMS-*.txt file per platform. Put it in the same folder as the installer and run:

sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS-windows-latest.txt

(use SHA256SUMS-macos-latest.txt or SHA256SUMS-ubuntu-latest.txt for the other platforms; on macOS shasum -a 256 -c works too). On Windows without a sha256sum tool, PowerShell can print the hash to compare by eye:

Get-FileHash .\Kanvaz-Setup-<version>.exe -Algorithm SHA256

Updating

Check for updates is a button in the About screen (I, or Command Palette → “About Kanvaz”). It is a request you start yourself; Kanvaz never checks in the background on its own.
On the Windows installer and Linux AppImage builds Kanvaz can download and apply the update.
On macOS (unsigned) the button points you to the release page; download the new .dmg and drag it over the old app.
The Windows portable build has no installed copy to replace, so it also just points you to the release page; download the new .exe.

Your boards are ordinary files on your disk and are not touched by updates. An older Kanvaz can open files saved by a newer version of the same major version; if a file comes from a newer major version Kanvaz warns you that some data may not display correctly.

Uninstalling

Windows installer: Settings → Apps → Kanvaz → Uninstall (the same as any installed app).
Windows portable, Linux AppImage: delete the file.
macOS: drag Kanvaz out of Applications into the Trash.

Your .kanvaz boards are separate files and stay where you saved them.

Build it yourself

Kanvaz is open source (MIT). Building from source needs Node.js 20+; the commands are in the README.

Quick Start: from install to your first board
Troubleshooting
About Kanvaz: the offline and privacy model