# Install

Whinge is a menu-bar app with an optional command-line tool, `whinge`. It needs macOS 26 Tahoe or later.

## With Homebrew

```sh
brew install --cask unreasonable-magic/tap/whinge
```

This installs the signed app and links the `whinge` command.

## From the website

1. Download Whinge from [whinge.computer](/). The button says which Mac it's built for.
2. Open the disk image and drag **Whinge** into **Applications**.
3. Open Whinge. It lives in the menu bar, not the Dock.
4. Add the command-line tool in **Settings → General**, or from a terminal:

   ```sh
   /Applications/Whinge.app/Contents/Helpers/whinge install
   ```

The download is signed and notarized, so it opens without Gatekeeper warnings.

## The command line

`whinge install` (and the button in Settings) creates a link:

| What | Where |
| --- | --- |
| The `whinge` command | `~/.local/bin/whinge`, linked to the app's copy |

If `~/.local/bin` isn't on your `PATH`, it says so. Add it in your shell profile:

```sh
export PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
```

## Permissions

The first whinge asks for **Screen Recording** and **Microphone** access. Check or change them in
**Settings → Permissions**. The first transcription in a language may download its speech model.

Turn on **Open Whinge at login** in **Settings → General** to keep it ready for the CLI.

## Upgrade

Whinge updates itself. It checks once a day, and when there's a new version it says so with a
notification and an **Update to…** item in its menu, rather than a window over your work. Choose it
to see what's new and install it, or pick **Check for Updates…** in the menu at any time. Turn on
**Download and install updates automatically** in [Settings → General](/docs/settings#general) and
it installs them itself when you quit.

It never restarts in the middle of a whinge, or while one is being saved: an update that's
ready waits until Whinge isn't busy.

Installed with Homebrew, `brew upgrade --cask whinge` leaves Whinge to update itself;
`brew upgrade --cask --greedy whinge` upgrades it anyway. Or download the new version and drag it
over the old one. See what changed in the [changelog](/changelog).

## Uninstall

```sh
brew uninstall --cask whinge
```

Or drag Whinge from **Applications** to the Bin and delete `~/.local/bin/whinge`. Your recordings
and settings stay in **Documents/Whinges** and `~/Library/Application Support/Whinge/`.

## Build it yourself

With macOS 26, Xcode 26 and [mise](https://mise.jdx.dev), from a clone of the repository:

```sh
mise run dev:install
```

It builds `Whinge Dev.app` into `/Applications` and links `whinge-dev`. Open it from Applications when you want it.