# ESTAGE Genesis desktop app

> The desktop app gives the AI access to your own machine — read images from a folder or your Photos library, export files where you want them, capture your screen — and it is what runs a desktop-app project in a real window while you build it.

Source: https://support.estage.com/workspace-desktop-app
Part of the ESTAGE Support help center (https://support.estage.com). Full knowledge base: https://support.estage.com/llms-full.txt

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**ESTAGE Genesis** is also a desktop app, and it changes what you can ask for. Once it's running,
the AI can reach **your own computer** — with your permission, and only where you let it. It is
also the machine your [desktop-app projects](https://support.estage.com/platform-desktop-apps) actually run on.

Everything the builder does in the browser still works the same way; the desktop app adds a bridge
to your machine on top.

## Getting it

Download it at **[genesis.estage.com/download](https://genesis.estage.com/download)** — the page
works out which build you need and puts that one under the main button.

| Platform | What you get |
| --- | --- |
| **Mac** | A `.dmg` for Apple Silicon or Intel. Signed and notarised by Apple, so macOS opens it with no warning |
| **Windows** | A `.zip` for 64-bit or ARM PCs. Not code-signed yet, so Windows shows an "unknown publisher" notice the first time |
| **Linux** | An AppImage that runs on any distro, a `.deb` for Ubuntu/Debian/Mint, or a `.tar.gz` for ARM machines |

It is available to everyone with an ESTAGE account.

## Connecting it to your account

Open the app and sign in. It shows a short code and sends you to
**[genesis.estage.com/devices](https://genesis.estage.com/devices)** in your browser: check that
the code matches, press **Connect**, and the machine is paired.

That **Devices** page is also where you see every computer connected to your account — which
platform it is, which version it runs, whether it is online right now — and where you **revoke**
one. Revoking disconnects it immediately.

On a Mac the app keeps itself up to date: it downloads a new version in the background and
installs it the next time you quit. On Windows and Linux, grab the newer build from the download
page.

## What it unlocks

| Ask for | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| *"use the photos from my Desktop folder"* | The AI reads the images straight off your disk, hosts them, and puts them on the page — no uploading, no drag-and-drop, no hunting through a file dialog |
| *"take the pictures from my Photos library"* | Your actual **Photos** library, not just loose files |
| *"export this as a file"* | Reports, generated images, and exports land on your machine, where you asked for them — it refuses to overwrite an existing file unless you say so |
| *"look at this, it's broken here"* | The AI **captures your screen** instead of you screenshotting and uploading |
| — | A **notification** when a long build or publish finishes, so you can look away and come back |

## Running a desktop-app project

A [desktop app](https://support.estage.com/platform-desktop-apps) you build in ESTAGE has no browser preview — it needs a
real window. This app is that window.

Press **Open on my computer** in the builder and your project is copied over, its dependencies
installed, and it opens in a window of its own. Keep editing from the chat; changes arrive in a
couple of seconds.

You don't need Node or any developer tooling installed — the app brings its own. Each project runs
in its own sandbox, separate from your Genesis session and from your other projects, and it asks
before the first use of the camera, the microphone, or screen sharing.

## Safe by design

**Reading is one thing, writing is another.**

- Your **project files still go through Genesis** and every validation check it runs — nothing on
  your machine can route around them.
- **Credential folders are refused outright** — `~/.ssh` and its neighbours are off limits.
- Access is **permission-based**: the AI reaches only what you allow it to.
- A project you run locally **cannot act as you on ESTAGE** — it gets its own isolated browser
  session, not the one you are signed in with.
- The Mac app is **signed and notarised by Apple**, so macOS opens it without a security warning.