Installation

Minima runs in the browser at app.minima.dev, and as a desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. The desktop app is the same studio with the same account, in its own window. Get it from the download page.

The downloads are nightly builds: each one is built from the latest code, and a new one appears on any night the code changed. A stable release will follow.

Requirements

• macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
• Windows 10 or 11. Minima draws its window with Microsoft Edge WebView2, which Windows 11 already has. If it is missing, the installer downloads it.
• Linux with glibc 2.35 or later and WebKitGTK 4.1: Ubuntu 22.04, Debian 12, or anything newer.

Choosing a download

The button at the top of the download page offers the usual build for your system. The full list is below it.

• macOS. Universal runs on every Mac. The ARM64 build is for Apple silicon (M1 and later) and the x64 build for Intel; each is smaller than Universal.
• Windows. User installs Minima for you alone and needs no administrator rights. System installs it for everyone on the computer and asks for an administrator. Choose x64 for most PCs and ARM64 for Windows on Arm.
• Linux. Choose .deb on Debian, Ubuntu, and their relatives, RPM on Fedora, openSUSE, and their relatives, or AppImage to run Minima without installing a package. Choose x64 for most PCs and ARM64 for Arm computers.

Installing

macOS

1. Open the .dmg.
2. Drag Minima into Applications.
3. Open Minima from Applications or Launchpad.

Windows

1. Run the installer you downloaded.
2. Follow its steps. The System installer asks for an administrator first.
3. Open Minima from the Start menu.

If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen has not seen this build often yet. Select More info and check that the publisher is Minima Technologies, Inc. Only then select Run anyway. If it says “Unknown publisher” or names anyone else, do not run the file: delete it and download it again from the download page.

Linux

• .deb: sudo apt install ./Minima-linux-x64.deb, with the name of the file you downloaded.
• RPM: sudo dnf install ./Minima-linux-x64.rpm, or your distribution’s equivalent.
• AppImage: make the file executable with chmod +x Minima-linux-x64.AppImage, then run it. Keep it somewhere you can write to, so that it can update itself. If it does not start on Ubuntu, install FUSE 2 with sudo apt install libfuse2 (libfuse2t64 on Ubuntu 24.04 and later).

Then sign in with the account you use on the web.

Checking a download

Download Minima only from the download page. Its links all lead to https://downloads.minima.dev, and a copy from anywhere else is not one we made.

• macOS: every build is signed with Minima’s Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so on first launch macOS only asks whether to open an app downloaded from the internet. If macOS says it cannot check Minima for malicious software, or that the developer cannot be verified, do not open it: move it to the Trash and download it again.
• Windows: every installer is signed by Minima Technologies, Inc. Windows shows the publisher when it asks to install, and under More info if SmartScreen stops it.
• Linux: the .deb, RPM and AppImage carry no operating-system signature, so the download page is your check. Every update the app installs afterwards is checked against Minima’s signature first, and one that fails the check is refused.

Updates

Minima checks for a newer build when it starts and every six hours while it is online, and downloads it in the background. When an update is ready, a notice at the top of the window offers it with Restart. Restarting installs it and reopens Minima; until then, you keep working in the version you have.

On Windows the installer runs briefly on its own during the restart. On Linux, a .deb or RPM update asks for your password, because it installs through your package manager.

Your data

Your projects live in your Minima account, as they do on the web. On the computer, the app keeps your sign-in, your preferences, such as your MIDI devices and window size, and patch edits you have not saved yet in a file that only your user account can read. Like a browser, it also keeps offline copies of the projects and media you open, so they load quickly. They are in these folders:

System	Folders
macOS	~/Library/Application Support/dev.minima.desktop/, ~/Library/WebKit/dev.minima.desktop/ and ~/Library/Caches/dev.minima.desktop/
Windows	%APPDATA%\dev.minima.desktop\ and %LOCALAPPDATA%\dev.minima.desktop\
Linux	~/.local/share/dev.minima.desktop/ and ~/.config/dev.minima.desktop/

Local network

OSC, Ableton Link, NDI and network MIDI talk to other apps and devices on your local network. Each is off until you turn it on in Settings, and turning it off closes its connections. Your system may ask about the first one you turn on:

• macOS: macOS 15 and later asks whether Minima may find and connect to devices on your local network. Select Allow. If you said no, turn it back on in System Settings, under Privacy & Security, then Local Network.
• Windows: Windows Defender Firewall asks the first time a feature listens for connections, after either installer. Allow it on private networks. If you selected Cancel, Windows may block Minima until you allow it in Windows Security, under Firewall & network protection, then Allow an app through firewall.
• Linux: Minima adds no firewall rules. If your distribution runs a firewall, allow the ports you set for each feature.

Uninstalling

• macOS: drag Minima from Applications to the Trash.
• Windows: open Settings, then Apps, choose Minima, and select Uninstall.
• Linux: remove the package with your package manager, or delete the AppImage.

To remove your sign-in, preferences and offline copies too, delete the folders above. Your account and projects stay in Minima; delete them from Settings, under Data.

Known limits

• Linux shows no graphics previews. WebKitGTK, the engine Minima uses on Linux, has no WebGPU yet, so graphics previews and image or video exports made on your own computer do not work there. Cloud renders still work.
• Graphics on macOS need Safari 26’s engine. It comes with macOS 26, and with Safari 26 on macOS 14 and 15. Keep Safari up to date in Software Update.
• Only nightly builds exist for now. They are signed as Checking a download describes, but they change every night the code does.