Phewsh Ion · Desktop

Ion, on your desktop.

The same Ion workspace you can open in a browser — running in a native host that can do the two things a web page cannot: start your local Phewsh node, and reach the agents on this machine.

Download Ion Open Ion in the browser

Also available for macOS Windows Linux

This is an alpha, and it is not code-signed.

macOS and Windows will warn you the first time you open it, because Phewsh has not paid for a signing certificate yet. The warning means “this vendor is unverified,” not “this file was checked and found harmful.” Opening it takes one extra step — instructions are below. Decide with that in mind.

Install Ion — first open, per platform

Only the first launch needs this. Afterwards it opens like any other app, and updates install themselves.

macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel)

  1. Open the downloaded .dmg and drag Phewsh Ion into Applications.
  2. Launch it. macOS will refuse and say it cannot verify the developer.
  3. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the bottom, and click Open Anyway next to Phewsh Ion.
  4. Launch again and confirm. That's the last time you'll see it.

Recent macOS versions removed the old right-click → Open shortcut, so the Privacy & Security panel is the current route. If you'd rather use the terminal: xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Phewsh Ion.app"

Windows 10 and 11 (x64)

  1. Run the downloaded -setup.exe.
  2. SmartScreen will say “Windows protected your PC.” Click More info.
  3. Click Run anyway, then follow the installer.

SmartScreen flags installers it hasn't seen from a known publisher. It will stop warning as the build accumulates reputation, or once Phewsh signs its releases.

Linux (x86_64)

  1. AppImage: chmod +x Phewsh-Ion-Linux-x86_64.AppImage, then run it. Nothing to install.
  2. Debian / Ubuntu: sudo apt install ./Phewsh-Ion-Linux-x86_64.deb

Built on Ubuntu 22.04 against webkit2gtk 4.1. Sessions are stored through your desktop's secret service (GNOME Keyring, KWallet); without one, sign-in will say so rather than fail silently.

What the desktop app adds — and what it doesn't

Ion is one product with several surfaces. The desktop build is not a different app with different truth; it is the same interface in a host with more authority. Here's the honest line between them.

What it does today

  • Starts, stops, and restarts your local phewsh serve node, and reports its real state
  • Shows the agents actually connected on this machine — no invented “ready” states
  • Signs you in through your system browser, or with the code emailed to you
  • Opens your projects from a native folder picker, and reopens the last one
  • Keeps your session in the OS keychain, not in a file a web page could reach
  • Reaches your local node without the browser permission prompts a web page hits

What it does not do yet

  • Linking a local repo to a cloud project still needs the terminal. The app tells you whether a folder is linked and shows the exact phewsh link command, but it cannot run it for you yet — opening a folder does not yet create the link
  • No tray icon or background operation — closing the window closes the app
  • No local models, and no offline AI
  • A teammate still cannot command an agent on your machine. Dispatch stays loopback-only, by design
  • Nothing runs unattended. Installing it never grants blanket device authority

Updates arrive automatically, and verified

The first install is unsigned; every update after it is not. This distinction is the whole point.

On launch, the app asks Phewsh whether a newer version exists. If one does, it tells you which version and waits — it never replaces itself while you're working, and it never restarts without your say. When you accept, the download is checked against a signing key compiled into the copy of the app you already trust. An update that isn't signed with Phewsh's release key is refused, so a hijacked download host cannot push you a different program.

  • Checked once per launch, in the background — offline is silent, never an error dialog
  • You see the version you'd move to before anything is downloaded
  • Signature verified before install; a bad signature means no install
  • The updater is not reachable from any web page, including Ion itself

One prerequisite: the Phewsh CLI

The desktop app is a host, not a second engine. The CLI is what actually reads your project and serves it — the app starts and supervises it, and will tell you plainly if it isn't installed.

# install the CLI (one time)
npm install -g phewsh

# the desktop app runs this for you, per project
phewsh serve

Install the CLI above, then download and open Ion.

Sign in, and pick a project folder on this computer.

Start the node from the app. Your connected agents appear as they really are.

Route bounded, human-initiated work to your own tools — you stay in control, and every run returns a receipt.

Builds and release notes live at cleverIdeaz/phewsh-desktop. The earlier desktop concept mock now lives at /labs/desktop — illustrative only, nothing there executes.  ·  Open Ion  ·  phewsh.com