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MetaTana

These docs are for MetaTana 2.0, coming soon

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Desktop Installation

Use the desktop app when MetaTana will run on a Mac with Apple silicon, a Windows PC, or a Linux workstation with direct or mounted access to your media.

Intel Macs The macOS desktop build is for Apple silicon only. Intel Macs are not supported by the desktop app; run MetaTana with Docker instead.

Current stable release: MetaTana 1.1.14.

Download

Platform Installer
macOS, Apple silicon Download the DMG
Windows x64 Download the signed x64 installer
Windows ARM64 Download the signed ARM64 installer
Linux Use the install script below, or choose a direct package under Release Links

After installation, open MetaTana and continue to Add Your First File Or Folder. That first-run guide covers sign-in, the required metadata check, safe file defaults, exact-file and folder scanning, and review.

Linux Install Script

The installer chooses a native package when it can and falls back to a user-local AppImage when needed:

curl -fsSL https://metatana.com/install-linux.sh | sh

To inspect the script first:

curl -fsSL https://metatana.com/install-linux.sh -o metatana-install.sh

For Linux desktops, the install script detects x64 or ARM64. It uses apt on Debian/Ubuntu-family systems and a supported RPM manager on RPM-family systems, then falls back to AppImage for other glibc-based desktop distributions or when no root privilege path is available.

Linux compatibility details

The desktop packages target glibc-based distributions. Alpine and other musl-based systems should use Docker. Arch, Gentoo, Void, Solus, and other non-deb/non-rpm desktops use the AppImage path. Mageia and OpenMandriva-style systems use RPM when a supported manager is available.

openSUSE transactional systems use transactional-update and require a reboot before launch. NixOS AppImage installs require appimage-run. When usable FUSE access or libfuse.so.2 is unavailable, the installer creates an extract-and-run wrapper.

MetaTana opens the app. Lowercase metatana is the command-line tool; run with no arguments, it still opens the app. Debian and RPM packages link /usr/bin/MetaTana to the app and /usr/bin/metatana to the command-line tool. The installer checks that MetaTana opens the packaged app and that metatana runs the packaged app or its command-line tool, including one you installed for your user from Settings › Maintenance › Advanced › Command-line tool. It stops if an earlier stale command would launch another binary.

The AppImage fallback creates MetaTana and metatana command aliases, a desktop launcher, an app icon, and support for metatana:// links. If ~/.local/bin/metatana is already the command-line tool installed from Settings, the installer keeps it and makes MetaTana and the desktop launcher open the app instead.

Updates

Direct desktop installs check for updates from MetaTana itself, shortly after it opens and then every four hours. When a new version is out, MetaTana opens an update window and shows a banner at the top of every page until you update. Later closes the window until the next check; the banner stays. To stop the background checks, turn off Settings › General › Updates › Check for updates automatically.

Updates are also on Help: it shows the version and update status with Check for updates, then Download and Restart to update when a new version is ready. MetaTana → Check for Updates… on macOS, Help → Check for Updates… on Windows and Linux, and Check for Updates… in the notification-area menu open Help.

MetaTana shows available version details before downloading and restarts only when you choose to apply the update. Linux AppImage builds use this updater. Linux .deb and .rpm installs remain owned by the package manager, so update them through apt, dnf, yum, or your normal package workflow. MetaTana still shows a banner when a new version is out.

Desktop releases use the Cloudflare-backed stable feed at https://updates.metatana.com/stable.

Direct files and updater feeds

Direct installer files

Updater metadata

Account downloads are also listed on Account after sign-in.

Run a development checkout

The app repository is pinned to Node 24.15.0 for local commands:

npm install
cp .env.example .env.local
npm run dev

Open http://localhost:3000. A development checkout is not the supported desktop distribution path; use a signed installer for normal use.