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Installing the Mac desktop app

Desktop appOpen the .dmg and the unsigned-app workaround.

Installing the Mac desktop app

The Mac client ships as a standard .dmg you drag into your Applications folder. There's one extra step on the very first launch because the current build isn't signed (signingIdentity is null in tauri.conf.json).

Install steps

  1. Download GBOSS TAB_<version>_aarch64.dmg from the Help → Get desktop app page (or click the user avatar in the top right and pick Get desktop app).
  2. Open the .dmg (double-click it in Finder).
  3. Drag the GBOSS TAB icon onto the Applications shortcut in the window that opens.
  4. Wait for the copy to finish, then eject the .dmg (right-click the disk in Finder → Eject).
  5. Open Applications and double-click GBOSS TAB to launch.

The "unidentified developer" warning on first launch

The Mac build is unsigned and unnotarized today, Apple's code-signing pipeline hasn't been wired in yet, and signingIdentity: null ships as part of tauri.conf.json. macOS Gatekeeper refuses to open it on the first double-click with:

"GBOSS TAB" cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.

This is expected for now, and it's a one-time workaround:

  1. Open Applications in Finder.
  2. Right-click (or hold Control and click) the GBOSS TAB icon.
  3. Pick Open from the menu.
  4. A new prompt appears with an Open button. Click it.

macOS remembers your decision; a normal double-click works from then on. You'll need this workaround again only if you reinstall a new version.

Signed and notarized builds are on the roadmap. Once they ship the step goes away.

First launch: sign in

Depending on which build your firm distributes, you may or may not see a Backend URL field on the login screen. Production builds bake the URL in at compile time (via VITE_TAB_BACKEND_URL) and the field is hidden; dev / generic builds show the field pre-filled with http://localhost:9080.

See Signing in on the desktop for the full sign-in walkthrough.

Where the app stores its data

The desktop writes two small files under ~/Library/Application Support/gboss-tab/:

  • session_token, your platform-session JWT in plain text. File permissions (0600 on creation) keep it scoped to your user. We moved off the OS Keychain because of a write-then-read inconsistency on some Macs; see Desktop troubleshooting.
  • backend_url, the saved backend URL (only used when no preset URL is baked into the build).
  • tab-buffer.sqlite, a local SQLite database initialised at first launch. The schema is there but it's not in use today (see Working offline for the honest status).

If support ever asks you to "reset" the desktop, removing that folder and reopening the app starts fresh.

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