Install Scient

Scient is available as a desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. A normal local installation does not require Node.js or a separate server.

Download the desktop app

Choose the installer for your computer below. Each link downloads the latest public build from the official Scient release.

First launch

macOS

Choose the Apple Silicon build for an M-series Mac and the Intel build for an Intel Mac. Open the DMG and move Scient to Applications. If macOS asks you to confirm the first launch, verify that you downloaded Scient from the official page and follow the system prompt. Do not disable Gatekeeper or other operating-system security controls.

Windows

Run the x64 installer. If Windows displays a SmartScreen warning, verify that you downloaded the installer from the official Scient page before deciding whether to continue.

When Scient runs a project through Windows Subsystem for Linux, choose the distro in Settings → Sharing & access to run agents and projects there, and install the provider CLIs inside that distro. Scient keeps a Linux-local copy of the matching server runtime there and installs it automatically. The first launch after an app update can take longer while that copy is prepared. Later launches reuse it, keep one previous working runtime for rollback, and repair the cache automatically if the selected copy can no longer start.

Linux

Download the x64 AppImage, make it executable if your file manager did not do so, and open it. Keep the AppImage in a permanent location if you want Scient’s built-in desktop updater to continue finding it.

Use Scient from a terminal

In Settings → About, install the scient command to put the desktop app’s bundled CLI on your terminal’s PATH. Open a new terminal after installation. If Settings reports that the installation folder is outside PATH, add that folder to your shell’s PATH.

Run scient --help to see the available commands. With the desktop app already running on the same machine:

scient app
scient app ../my-project

The first command opens a new thread for the current directory, adding the project if needed; the second opens another directory. A standalone server or an SSH session is not enough. If the command cannot reach the app, start or update the desktop app and try again. scient start and scient serve start a backend server; use scient app to open a project in the running desktop app.

Settings offers Install scient when the command is not installed and Remove when a Scient-owned terminal shortcut exists. A fresh installation has nothing to remove. Older Scient-installed t3 shortcuts are handled automatically and keep working after an update; no separate migration action is needed. Remove cleans up owned shortcuts and leaves unrelated commands and user-managed PATH entries alone. Internal bundled launchers remain available to the app; an update does not recreate a removed t3 shortcut.

If another scient command would run first, Settings refuses to overwrite or hide it and reports its path. Resolve that conflict yourself or run the bundled launcher directly at the path shown. You can still remove an owned legacy shortcut when this conflict prevents installation.

Recovery commands printed by Scient may use an absolute launcher or runtime instead of the short name. Paste them as shown: they select the installation and profile that reported the problem, including Linux browser setup under sudo. Windows operational snippets use PowerShell.

When Settings → Maintenance suggests reclaiming database space, run the command it shows; see Reclaim database space.

Start using Scient

If the app shows Scient could not load, check your connection and select Reload to try again.

When Scient opens, the optional Getting started flow can help you connect an AI provider and add your first project. You can skip it and configure providers later from Settings → Providers. Provider setup is not required before Scient itself starts: install or connect a provider when you are ready to begin a conversation.

Scient can use a healthy provider tool already installed on the environment or, when supported, install and verify a private Scient-managed copy. See AI providers for setup and lifecycle details, or Projects for adding a workspace.

Providers

Open Settings → Providers in the web or desktop app, select the environment, and enable the provider you want. Installation, login, and configuration belong to that environment’s machine, even when you connect from a phone or another computer.

Provider CLIs must be on the server’s PATH. If Scient cannot find one, set its Binary path in provider settings, especially when using a version manager. Cursor’s executable is cursor-agent, although its login command is agent login. Codex connected through ChatGPT and Antigravity can use their managed runtimes without a PATH entry.

Scient warns when a provider version has known compatibility problems with your release. Check Settings → Providers on that environment for the recommended version or range. When its package manager supports installing a specific version, you can install the recommendation there. Otherwise use the provider’s installer on the environment’s machine. An unlisted version is unverified.

When a provider CLI is behind its latest release, its provider card shows the available version. Update now runs the installer that owns the CLI (Homebrew, or a global npm, pnpm, Yarn, Bun, Volta, or Vite+ install), or the CLI’s own update command when Scient cannot tell. Update a CLI installed with mise through mise. Cursor and Antigravity update with Scient. Homebrew and Chocolatey installs compare against the version their package manager offers, which can trail the npm release; update Claude installed with Chocolatey through Chocolatey.

Add another provider instance for a separate account or configuration. Each instance can have its own environment variables, such as API keys or a custom base URL. Mark secret values as sensitive; after saving, Scient does not display their original values.

For provider-specific setup and accounts, see Codex, Claude, Cursor, Grok, Droid, OpenCode, Antigravity, Kiro, Muse Code, Pi, Oh My Pi, and fx.

Next steps

• Working with threads: start tasks and organize parallel work.
• Permission modes: choose when agents ask before acting.
• Remote access: connect from another device.
• Running a server without the desktop app: host an environment on another machine.
• Updating Scient: update the app and connected servers.
• Managed policy: configure Scient for everyone on a machine.