Moon Desktop is available for Windows, macOS and Linux, from the Moon Desktop page, which offers the right file for your computer, in the latest version released for your system. You then sign in with your usual Moon AI account.
System requirementsLink to the System requirements section
| System | File | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit (x64) | Setup wizard MoonDesktop-Setup-2.5.0.exe, or portable version MoonDesktop-2.5.0-portable.exe | Installs for your account only, without administrator rights. The portable version doesn’t update itself. |
| macOS, Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel processor | Disk image MoonDesktop-2.5.0-mac.dmg | One app for both kinds of Mac, notarized by Apple. It updates itself. |
| Linux 64-bit (x64) | MoonDesktop-2.5.0.AppImage, or MoonDesktop-2.5.0.deb package (Debian, Ubuntu) | The AppImage updates itself, the .deb package doesn’t. |
You need an internet connection: Moon Desktop shows Moon AI, which works online.
On WindowsLink to the On Windows section
- Download the installer from the Moon Desktop page.
- Open the file. The installer is signed by STELLARR STUDIO. For now, SmartScreen may still ask for confirmation: check that the publisher shown is STELLARR STUDIO. See SmartScreen.
- Follow the installer: welcome, terms of use, installation folder (in your account, by default), then the options. “Install Moon CLI” installs Moon AI’s coding agent, for Code and the terminal (a newer version already installed is kept); “Install Git” is only offered if Git is missing; then come “Create a desktop shortcut”, “Start Moon Desktop when Windows starts”, “Open moonai:// links with Moon Desktop”, which brings you back to the app after signing in with Google, Apple, Microsoft or GitHub, and “Add “Open in Moon Desktop” to the folder right-click menu”. This last option, checked by default, also adds “Ask Moon AI” to the right-click menu of files: unchecked, neither entry is added (you can add them later in “Settings” › “Moon Desktop” › “Code”).
- At the end, Moon Desktop opens. A welcome assistant guides you through six steps: “Sign in to Moon AI”, “Moon CLI”, “Link Moon CLI to your account”, “Git”, “The gestures of Moon Desktop” (the shortcuts, to try for real) and “Startup”. You can skip any step, and you can reopen the assistant from the ☰ menu › Help › “Welcome assistant…” (the ☰ button is in the title bar).
The portable version opens without installing: keep the file in a folder of your own. It adds nothing to the File Explorer right-click menu.
On MacLink to the On Mac section
- Download the
MoonDesktop-2.5.0-mac.dmgdisk image from the Moon Desktop page, then open it. - In the window that appears, drag Moon Desktop onto the Applications folder.
- Open Moon Desktop from the Applications folder. The app is notarized by Apple: the first time, macOS may ask for confirmation, as for any app downloaded from the internet. Click “Open”. If macOS refuses to open it, see On Mac.
- A welcome assistant guides you, with the same six steps as on Windows. You can skip any step, and you can reopen the assistant from the Help menu › “Welcome assistant…”.
The Mac app doesn’t include Moon CLI. At the Moon CLI step, “Download and install Moon CLI” downloads it from realmoon.ai, checks its signature, then installs it for your account: nothing is downloaded without that click. If Git is missing, the assistant offers “Install Apple’s tools”: an Apple window opens, choose “Install”.
The first time you use the microphone or the camera, macOS asks for permission. Screenshots need the “Screen Recording” permission: see Screenshots on Mac. Once Moon Desktop is in the Applications folder, you can eject the disk image.
On LinuxLink to the On Linux section
chmod +x MoonDesktop-2.5.0.AppImage
./MoonDesktop-2.5.0.AppImagesudo apt install ./MoonDesktop-2.5.0.debThe AppImage needs the FUSE 2 library: if it doesn’t open, see AppImage. The .deb package recommends Git, which apt installs along with it.
Check a fileLink to the Check a file section
The SHA-256 checksums of each released file (Windows, Mac, Linux) let you check a download:
Get-FileHash .\MoonDesktop-Setup-2.5.0.exe -Algorithm SHA256shasum -a 256 MoonDesktop-2.5.0-mac.dmgsha256sum MoonDesktop-2.5.0.AppImageThe checksum shown must be exactly the one in the checksum file for its version (MoonDesktop-2.5.0-SHA256SUMS.txt for Windows, MoonDesktop-2.5.0-mac-SHA256SUMS.txt for Mac, MoonDesktop-2.5.0-SHA256SUMS.txt for Linux). If it isn’t, delete the file and download it again from the Moon Desktop page; never open a copy you got any other way.
On Windows, you can also see the signature in the file’s properties, on the “Digital Signatures” tab: the signer must be STELLARR STUDIO.
UpdatesLink to the Updates section
The Windows installer version, the Mac app and the AppImage update themselves: Moon Desktop checks 30 seconds after it starts and then every 6 hours, downloads in the background and offers “Restart to update”. Nothing is forced: the update also installs when you quit the app. For the Windows portable version and the .deb package, download the new version from the Moon Desktop page.
UninstallLink to the Uninstall section
| System | How |
|---|---|
| Windows | “Settings” › “Apps” › “Installed apps”, then Moon Desktop › “Uninstall”. The uninstaller also removes the shortcuts, the startup entry, the right-click entries and moonai:// links. |
| macOS | Quit Moon Desktop (Moon Desktop menu › “Quit Moon Desktop”), then drag it from the Applications folder to the Trash. |
| Linux (AppImage) | Delete the file. |
| Linux (.deb) | Uninstall the package with your package manager. |
Your conversations stay in your Moon AI account: uninstalling the app erases nothing on chat.realmoon.ai. Moon CLI and Git stay on the computer: uninstalling Moon Desktop doesn’t remove them (to remove Moon CLI, type moon in a terminal).
On Windows, the uninstaller offers “Also erase my Moon Desktop data (sign-in, settings, cache)”, unchecked by default. Without this box, you get your settings and your sign-in back if you reinstall Moon Desktop. Checked, the app’s sign-in, settings and cache are erased from the computer.