Totally Lean for your Mac. Same product. Less browser.

Get the macOS installer

One universal binary — both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs run from the same .dmg. Served through this domain, no third-party redirect, no tracking script in the download flow.

• macOS — Universal (Apple Silicon + Intel)

  .dmg installer · ~25 MB · v0.3.20

  Download

What the desktop app does that the browser can’t

• Native file open and save. Cmd/Ctrl-O picks a .leancanvas file from anywhere on disk; Cmd/Ctrl-S saves to the file you opened. The browser equivalent is a download dialog every time.
• File association. Double-click a .leancanvas in Finder / Explorer / Files and the desktop app opens it directly. The web app can’t register file types; you’d have to open the editor first and then import.
• Auto-update.On launch the app pings the update manifest, prompts when a newer build is out, downloads in the background, and applies on restart. Browser users always have the latest version, but there’s no equivalent prompt for “you’ve been running an old version of the editor.”
• A window, not a tab. The canvas lives in a system window with its own menu bar and dock/taskbar icon. You can’t accidentally close it by hitting Cmd-W on the wrong tab.

What stays exactly the same

• The nine sections, drag-and-drop stickies, threads, validation markers, version history, and Sankey flow visualisation.
• The local AI. Three agents (Onboarding, Explorer, Critic) and a 90-second voiced pitch generator, all running on your machine via WebGPU or your own Ollama daemon.
• The .leancanvas file format. Identical between web and desktop; the web version’s JSON export opens directly in the desktop app and vice versa.
• The privacy posture. No account, no server, no canvas data leaves your device. The desktop app phones home once on launch for the update manifest; nothing else.

System requirements

• macOS: 12+ (Monterey or later). Apple Silicon and Intel both run from the same universal .dmg.
• RAM: 4 GB minimum, 8 GB recommended if using the local AI features.
• GPU (optional): WebGPU-capable GPU lets the local AI run faster. Otherwise the app falls back to your own Ollama daemon if you have one installed, or browser speech synthesis for the voiced pitch.
• Windows / Linux: no installer — open leancanvas.online in Edge or Chrome and install it as a PWA. Identical product, same offline-first posture.

Frequently asked

Is the desktop app the same product as the web version?

Yes. Same React app, same nine sections, same local AI, same file format. The desktop version adds native file open/save, file association (drop a .leancanvas onto the app icon), and auto-update prompts on launch. Everything else is identical, including the privacy posture: nothing leaves your device.

Does the desktop app phone home?

Once. On launch it pings the update manifest at leancanvas.online/desktop/updates to check for a newer version. No canvas data, no usage telemetry, no analytics. The check is a single HTTP GET that returns a JSON file with the latest version number.

Can I open my web canvas in the desktop app?

Yes — the file format is identical. From the web app, export your canvas as JSON. Open the desktop app and drag the .leancanvas file onto the window, or use File → Open. The reverse works too: save a canvas in the desktop app, open the JSON in the web app via Import.

Does the desktop app work offline?

Yes. The whole app is bundled into the installer — there's no runtime network dependency for editing, exporting, or sharing via URL. The local AI runs via WebGPU or your own Ollama daemon, neither of which requires internet after the model is downloaded once.

Why is the macOS app not signed by a known developer?

Because Totally Lean is built by a single maintainer who hasn't paid for the Apple Developer Program (yet). On first launch, macOS Gatekeeper will block the app — right-click the app icon and choose Open to bypass. Once approved, future launches work normally. If signing matters to you, the web version has identical functionality.

Can I uninstall the desktop app?

Of course. Drag from Applications to Trash. No background services, no system-wide registry entries, no leftover state outside the app's own data directory.

Why is there no Windows or Linux installer?

Honest answer: the desktop build is one person and CI minutes weren't free. Maintaining macOS-only keeps the desktop release in lockstep with the web app — every web update is followed by a desktop update inside ten minutes. Windows and Linux users get the full product via the web app, and modern Edge / Chrome let you install it as a PWA so it lives in your launcher with a window of its own.

Will Windows or Linux installers come back?

Maybe, if it stops slowing down lockstep. The signing keys and build recipes are preserved in git history, so reviving them is a one-day project — not a rewrite. For now the web app is the platform target, and the PWA install path covers most of what a packaged desktop binary would.