Desktop

V1 ships an unsigned desktop. There is no Apple signing or notarization in this path. Day-to-day notes stay local markdown files. Pointing at an HTTP API is optional replica hydrate.

Build

pnpm --filter @elanotes/desktop^... build
pnpm --filter @elanotes/desktop rebuild:native
pnpm --filter @elanotes/desktop dist:unsigned

dist:unsigned is pnpm build then CSC_IDENTITY_AUTO_DISCOVERY=false electron-builder --publish never. Do not set CSC_LINK / APPLE_* here. Output lives in apps/desktop/release/:

Platform	Artifact
Linux	`Ela-<version>.AppImage` plus `linux-unpacked/Ela`
macOS	`Ela-<version>-<arch>.dmg` and `.zip` (unsigned)

chmod +x apps/desktop/release/Ela-0.1.0.AppImage
./apps/desktop/release/Ela-0.1.0.AppImage

Hosts without FUSE: --appimage-extract-and-run.

macOS Gatekeeper

Right-click Ela.app → Open → Open (once), or:

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /path/to/Ela.app

Developer ID + notarization is post-v1.

Where state lives

Durable user state is outside the app bundle.

Kind	Path
userData / prefs / device id	Linux: `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/Ela` or `~/.config/Ela`. macOS: `~/Library/Application Support/Ela`.
Default vault	`{userData}/vault/`
Replica / FTS / outbox	`{vault}/.elanotes/index.sqlite`
Cursor MCP config	`~/.cursor/mcp.json`

Desktop does not read VAULT_PATH (that is the Fastify API).

Pointing at an API

ELANOTES_DESKTOP_REPLICA=1
ELANOTES_API_URL=http://127.0.0.1:4000

A hosted replica uses ELANOTES_API_URL=https://api.elanotes.com and ELANOTES_API_TOKEN. ELANOTES_API_URL is the API origin. /v1 is on each path. Optional: ELANOTES_API_TOKEN, ELANOTES_VAULT_ID, ELANOTES_DEVICE_ID. Leave replica unset for the day-to-day local vault. Dev loop: pnpm dev:desktop. First-run search is lexical unless optional ONNX vars are set.

Get started

Using Ela

API

API reference

Build

macOS Gatekeeper

Where state lives

Pointing at an API

​Build

​macOS Gatekeeper

​Where state lives

​Pointing at an API

Build

macOS Gatekeeper

Where state lives

Pointing at an API