Operator reference

Desktop App

Install and configure the Nexus desktop application

Before you begin

This reference describes the underlying platform. Use a Nexus school release with its school membership, class policy, and cost controls. Installing a base engine alone does not add those controls. Some options require a separately licensed feature. The presence of a guide does not unlock that feature.

The Nexus Desktop App provides users with a native application experience for accessing Nexus on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Features include:

Quick-launch from system tray or dock
Desktop notifications

The desktop app is used for connecting to a Nexus server backend. Users will need access to the Nexus instance URL. It cannot connect directly to a local inference backend.

Download#

Download the latest Nexus Desktop App for your platform:

Windows #

Download for Windows (.exe)

macOS #

Download for macOS (.dmg)

Linux #

Download for Linux (.deb)

Additional architectures and formats (.msi, .rpm, .app.tar.gz) are available on the GitHub Releases page.

First Launch#

Self-hosted users: On first launch, the app opens a Settings screen to configure the connection to your Nexus instance:

Server URL: Your Nexus instance URL (e.g., https://onyx.yourcompany.com)
Authentication: Sign in with your configured authentication method

The Server URL can be changed at any time from the Settings screen (⌘ , on macOS, Ctrl , on Windows and Linux).

Enterprise Deployment#

For organizations rolling out the desktop app at scale, you can pre-configure the Server URL (and other options) so users skip the first-launch Settings prompt entirely. Place a config.json file on each machine before the user first opens the app. On launch, Nexus reads the file and connects to your instance directly; users only need to sign in.

Configuration File Location#

The app reads its settings from a config.json file at the following location:

Windows#

  %APPDATA%\onyx\onyx-desktop\config\config.json

macOS#

  ~/Library/Application Support/app.onyx.onyx-desktop/config.json

Linux#

  ~/.config/onyx-desktop/config.json
  # or, if $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is set:
  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/onyx-desktop/config.json

Example config.json:

{
"server_url": "https://onyx.yourcompany.com",
"window_title": "Nexus"
}

Configuration Options#

Option	Values	Platforms	Description
`server_url`	string(default: `"https://school.narb.cc"`)	Windows, macOS, Linux	The Nexus instance the app connects to. Required for the app to skip the first-launch Settings prompt. A trailing slash is ignored.
`window_title`	string(default: `"Nexus"`)	Windows, macOS, Linux	Custom title shown in the application window.
`show_menu_bar`	boolean(default: `true`)	Windows, Linux	Whether the application menu bar is shown. Normally toggled from Window → Show Menu Bar rather than pre-configured. Ignored on macOS, where the menu bar is managed by the operating system.
`hide_window_decorations`	boolean(default: `false`)	Linux	Hides the window's title bar and borders. Normally toggled from Window → Hide Window Decorations.

config.json must be valid JSON with values of the correct type. A single invalid entry causes the app to discard the entire file and fall back to the default settings.