Install and run
You can download a release build or run Sentinel from source.
Download a release
Release builds are published on GitHub Releases:
| Platform | Package | Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| macOS | DMG | macOS 13 (Ventura) or later |
| Windows | NSIS installer | 64-bit Windows 10 or later |
| Linux | AppImage, DEB, RPM (x64 and arm64) | glibc 2.34 and libstdc++ from GCC 11 or newer, for example Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, Fedora 35, or RHEL 9 |
Electron 44 dropped macOS 12, 32-bit Windows, and 32-bit ARM Linux, so Sentinel no longer ships for them. Copies already installed on macOS 12 keep working, but the in-app updater no longer offers them new versions.
Coding agents
The built-in sentinel engine only needs a provider.
The other engines run local coding agents, and each one needs its CLI. You can install most of them from Settings → Engines, which shows the exact command and runs it only after you confirm:
- Copilot's runtime is bundled with Sentinel.
- Antigravity's server is downloaded and installed by Sentinel.
- ACP Registry agents install from the registry browser.
- Claude, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode, Grok Build, and Pi install with npm or their official install scripts.
See the engines overview for sign-in, updates, and supported versions.
Run from source
Prerequisites
- Bun 1.4 or later
- Node.js 24 LTS (see
.nvmrc) - On Linux, build tools for
node-pty, which has no prebuilt Linux binary:build-essential,python3,make, andg++ - On macOS and Windows, build tools only if the native repair step asks for them: Xcode Command Line Tools on macOS, or Visual Studio Build Tools with Desktop development with C++ on Windows
Run locally
bun install
cp .env.example .env
bun run dev:desktopThe app runs at http://localhost:3232.
ENCRYPTION_KEY can be left empty in .env. Sentinel generates one on first desktop launch.
Electron no longer downloads its binary during bun install. bun run dev:desktop and the desktop build commands fetch it on first use; run bun run electron:install to download it ahead of time.
Build commands
macOS
bun run build:desktop:macWindows
bun run build:desktop:windowsLinux
bun run build:desktop:linux