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Install Whittl

Whittl ships as a native app for Windows and Linux. macOS is not supported. The installer bundles its own Python runtime, so you do not need to have Python pre-installed.

System requirements

Minimum to run Whittl:

  • Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or Linux with a modern desktop environment (Ubuntu 22.04+, Linux Mint 21+, Arch, Fedora 38+ all tested)
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 500 MB disk space
  • Any Qt6-compatible display (no special GPU required)

Additional requirements depending on how you generate code:

  • Cloud backends (Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter) — just an API key. No extra disk or RAM.
  • Local backend (Ollama) — minimum 16 GB RAM recommended. The model weights live on disk (4-40 GB depending on the model).
  • Mobile builds (Android APK) — no Android Studio, no JDK needed. Whittl auto-downloads its build tools on first APK export (~200 MB one-time).

Windows

Downloading

Head to lyndeneftoda.com/projects/whittl, click BUY WHITTL — $20 CAD, and complete checkout through LemonSqueezy. You'll receive an email with the direct download link for Whittl-<version>-windows-setup.exe.

Installing

Double-click the installer. It's an Inno Setup installer and it installs per-user by default, meaning:

  • No admin (UAC) prompt required.
  • Installs to %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Whittl\.
  • Adds a Start Menu shortcut and an optional Desktop shortcut.
  • Registers .whittl-template as an associated file type so double-clicking a shared template opens Whittl.

If you explicitly want a system-wide install (shared across user accounts on the same machine), the installer has an "Install for all users" option in its first dialog — that path does require admin and installs to C:\Program Files\Whittl\.

SmartScreen warning on first run

Windows protected your PC

The installer isn't yet code-signed. The first time you run it, Windows SmartScreen will show a blue dialog saying "Windows protected your PC." This is normal for an unsigned installer from a small developer.

To proceed:

  1. Click More info at the top of the dialog.
  2. Click Run anyway at the bottom.

You'll only see this once — Windows remembers the installer after it's been run once.

This warning will go away once the build is code-signed (see the roadmap for when). The current guidance from the developer: the installer's SHA256 hash is published alongside the download, and the in-app updater (v2.4+) verifies every auto-applied update end-to-end. So auto-updates are secure even while first-install warnings persist.

Linux

Downloading

Same page, same checkout. Your email contains Whittl.AppImage.

Installing

There's nothing to install, really. Make it executable and run it:

chmod +x Whittl.AppImage
./Whittl.AppImage

AppImages are self-contained — all dependencies are bundled inside the single file. You can move it anywhere (~/Applications/, /opt/Whittl/, your Desktop, a USB stick) and it'll still work.

Integrate with your desktop environment

If you want Whittl to appear in your application launcher menu, use AppImageLauncher or Gear Lever. Either tool auto-creates .desktop files, adds menu entries, and handles updates. Whittl's in-app updater (v2.4+) will work alongside both; they don't fight each other.

FUSE requirement

AppImage needs libfuse2 on your system. Most desktop distros ship with it, but minimal/server installs may not. On Ubuntu 22.04+:

sudo apt install libfuse2

On Fedora:

sudo dnf install fuse-libs

First launch

When you launch Whittl for the first time, a setup wizard walks you through:

  1. Pick a primary AI backend — Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter, or Ollama. You can change this anytime, and you can have multiple backends configured at once.
  2. Paste your API key (cloud backends) or start Ollama (local). The wizard validates it before continuing.
  3. Welcome tour (optional) — a short guided overlay of the main interface.

After the wizard, Whittl opens to an empty project view. The Projects panel on the left shows "No projects yet" and a + New button invites you to start one.

If you skip the wizard (Skip setup at the bottom), you can always come back to it from File → Setup Wizard or configure backends individually from the Edit → Preferences dialog.

Verifying the install

A quick sanity check that everything works:

  1. Click + New in the Projects panel.
  2. Name the project "test", pick the Desktop (PySide6) target, click Create.
  3. Type make me a hello world app with a button that changes its text to "clicked" in the chat.
  4. Click Generate.
  5. When the code finishes, click Test Run.

If the app window appears and the button works, you're set. If not, head to Troubleshooting → Common Issues.

Where things live on disk

For reference when you need to back up your work or inspect state manually:

Windows

  • App binary: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Whittl\Whittl.exe
  • User data (projects, settings, skills): %USERPROFILE%\.whittl\
  • Bundled Python runtime: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Whittl\bundled_python\
  • Logs and crash reports: %USERPROFILE%\.whittl\crash.log

Linux

  • App binary: wherever you placed Whittl.AppImage
  • User data: ~/.whittl/
  • Bundled Python runtime: ~/.local/share/Whittl/bundled_python/
  • Logs: ~/.whittl/crash.log

User data is not touched by uninstall. If you want to fully reset, delete ~/.whittl/ manually after uninstalling.

What's next