The setup app is the platform’s desktop companion for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Get it from the download page.
Signing in
After starting the app, sign in with your Application Platform account. The app then loads your organizations and projects.
The three areas
Projects
- Select a project and clone it: all repositories of the project are cloned into your workspace folder (default:
~/Documents/application-platform) or updated. - The app sets up everything else automatically: the
apCLI, the Git pre-commit hook, symlinks for the shared IDE/AI configuration fromlocal-configuration, and the platform extension for VS Code, Cursor, and Antigravity. - Open the project in your tool: with one click in the IDE or AI tool of your choice. Change the default tool in the settings – see Choose your program.
Developer setup
Checks your machine and installs missing tools – from Git and runtimes (Node, Flutter, Java, …) to IDEs and AI tools. The full list is in Requirements. Each entry shows its status; install tools individually or all at once.
Settings
- Choose the default tool for opening projects (e.g. VS Code).
- Configure your Git identity (name, email) and credentials.
- Open the workspace folder, copy its path, check versions of app, CLI, and extension.
Updates
The app checks for new versions itself and offers the download. The ap CLI also keeps itself up to date (ap cli-update check).
CLI: ap-app vs ap
Besides the GUI there is the setup CLI ap-app (Dart, shared core with the desktop app). Use it to drive the same setup steps headlessly – e.g. for tests or automation:
ap-app tools status
ap-app tools install asdf-plugin-hugo
ap-app tools uninstall asdf-plugin-hugo
ap-app auth login
ap-app projects clone <org>/<project>
ap-app remote-dev status
| CLI | Purpose |
|---|---|
ap-app |
Setup: tools, Platform App login session, project clone, remote-dev agent |
ap |
Runtime: ap run-local, devices, Git hooks, Platform API, MCP |
GUI and ap-app share the auth session via the same file store (~/Library/Application Support/application-platform/ap-app/session.json on macOS, otherwise ~/.config/application-platform/ap-app/session.json). The Go CLI ap login still uses its own credential store.