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Prerequisites: A Lava account and a recent Mac or Windows PC. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one on the sign-in screen after launch.

Download Lava Desktop

Go to lava.so/lavadesktop#download and download the installer for your operating system. The page offers separate downloads for Mac and Windows.

Install on Your OS

Lava Desktop ships as a signed and notarized universal build, so it runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs and opens without any security warnings.
1

Open the disk image

Double-click the downloaded .dmg file. A window opens showing the Lava Desktop app icon alongside a shortcut to your Applications folder.
2

Drag Lava to Applications

Drag the Lava Desktop icon onto the Applications folder shortcut. macOS copies the app to /Applications.
3

Launch the app

Open Launchpad or Spotlight and search for Lava, then click the app to launch it.

Verify the App Launched

When Lava Desktop opens successfully, the first screen you see is the sign-in form. It shows options to sign in with an email address or a social login, which confirms the app installed and launched correctly. Sign in to continue. If you don’t have a Lava account yet, follow the prompts on that screen to create one.

Updates

Lava Desktop downloads updates automatically in the background. You don’t need to check manually or re-run the installer. When an update is ready to apply, a “Restart to update” affordance appears at the bottom of the sidebar. Click it to restart the app and apply the update.

Next Steps

Quickstart

Connect your first app and give the agent its first task.

Troubleshooting

Fix SmartScreen warnings, launch failures, and sign-in issues.