Installation

Install the Escher desktop app and set up your development environment.

Prerequisites

• macOS 12+, Windows 10+, or Linux (Ubuntu 20.04+)
• For building from source: Node.js 18+, Rust stable, Xcode CLT (macOS)
• AWS CLI and/or Azure CLI installed — Escher discovers profiles from these

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Install the desktop app

Pre-built release (recommended)

Download the latest release from the internal distribution channel:

Platform	Package
macOS (Apple Silicon)	Escher_x.x.x_aarch64.dmg
macOS (Intel)	Escher_x.x.x_x86_64.dmg
Windows	Escher_x.x.x_x64-setup.exe
Linux	Escher_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage

macOS install:

# Open the .dmg, drag Escher to /Applications
# On first launch, right-click → Open (to bypass Gatekeeper on unsigned builds)

Linux install:

chmod +x Escher_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage
./Escher_x.x.x_amd64.AppImage

Build from source

# 1. Install prerequisites (macOS)
xcode-select --install
curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs | sh
brew install node

# 2. Clone
git clone https://github.com/escher-dbai/v2-desktop-app-tauri
cd v2-desktop-app-tauri

# 3. Configure package registry access
export NPM_TOKEN=your_github_pat_here   # needs read:packages scope

# 4. Install deps and build
npm install
npm run tauri:build

WARNING

Never commit NPM_TOKEN to the repository. Add it to your shell profile (~/.zshrc) or use a .env file that is git-ignored.

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Set up the Python skill environment

Escher embeds Python scripts for estate scanning, cost analysis, and compliance checks. These run inside the app's managed virtual environment.

# The app bootstraps this on first launch automatically.
# To set it up manually (for development):
cd v2-desktop-app-tauri
yarn update-scripts      # pulls latest skill scripts from server

The virtual environment is created at ~/.escher/venv/ and is managed entirely by the app.

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Install cloud CLIs

Escher discovers credentials from your local CLI configuration. Install and authenticate both CLIs before launching Escher.

AWS CLI

# macOS
brew install awscli

# Verify
aws --version
# aws-cli/2.x.x Python/3.x.x ...

# Configure a profile
aws configure --profile prod-admin
# AWS Access Key ID: ...
# AWS Secret Access Key: ...
# Default region: us-east-1
# Default output format: json

# Verify
aws sts get-caller-identity --profile prod-admin

Azure CLI

# macOS
brew install azure-cli

# Verify
az --version

# Authenticate
az login
# Opens browser for interactive login

# Verify
az account show

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First launch checklist

After installing:

• [ ] App launches without errors
• [ ] aws sts get-caller-identity succeeds for at least one profile
• [ ] In Escher → Estate → Discover Profiles finds your profiles
• [ ] At least one profile shows status Connected
• [ ] Refresh Estate completes at least one successful scan

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Next steps

• AWS Connection — Attach the correct IAM policy
• Azure Connection — Set up Azure service principal
• Quickstart — Run your first scan