Windows

Windows 11, version 24H2 or later. Open Terminal and run:

irm 'https://releases.dens.chat/install.ps1' | iex

Why it asks for admin rights

The installer and updater need admin rights to give Dens an account of its own, so the programs you run can’t read its memory or its keys. They’re only needed during setup: Dens itself never runs with them. Privacy has more.

Updating

Re-run the install command to update.

Uninstalling

This deletes Dens’s data on this computer, a den it hosts included, so make a backup first if you might want it back. Right-click the Start button, choose Terminal (Admin), and run:

dens uninstall

To stop Dens without removing it, run dens service stop there instead. It stays stopped until the computer restarts.

Which browser works best

Ungoogled Chromium: Dens has had the fewest problems in it, its screen shares can carry a tab’s sound, which Firefox and the browsers built on it can’t, and it makes the smaller copies of videos you send several times faster.

Waterfox can show a blank page for a link another program opens, as Dens opens itself. If it does, click the address bar and press Enter: the link still works.

To check the installer first, or give it options

Its signature proves it’s the installer Dens’s release process built, and not a copy someone swapped in on the way; the installer then checks everything it downloads the same way. You need cosign. Right-click the Start button, choose Terminal (Admin), and run:

cd $HOME\Downloads
Invoke-WebRequest 'https://releases.dens.chat/install.ps1' -OutFile install.ps1
Invoke-WebRequest 'https://releases.dens.chat/install.ps1.cosign.bundle' -OutFile install.ps1.cosign.bundle
cosign verify-blob install.ps1 `
  --bundle install.ps1.cosign.bundle `
  --certificate-identity 'https://github.com/Data-Corruption/dens.chat/.github/workflows/release.yml@refs/heads/main' `
  --certificate-oidc-issuer 'https://token.actions.githubusercontent.com'

It prints Verified OK. Anything else means don’t run it. Then run it in the same terminal, with any options after it, such as -DryRun to see what it would change, or -DenPort and a port to move the den:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File install.ps1

If Windows blocks it

That’s Smart App Control, which blocks programs whose signature Windows doesn’t recognize, Dens among them, and makes no exception for one app. To install Dens, turn it off: in Windows Security, open App & browser control, then Smart App Control settings, and choose Off. On some computers, turning it back on later means reinstalling Windows.

Linux