Windows

Lokus supports Windows 10 (version 1903 and later) and Windows 11, x64 only.

Installation

Download Lokus_x.x.x_x64-setup.exe from the releases page and run the NSIS installer. Lokus appears in the Start Menu after installation.

WebView2 requirement

Lokus renders its UI through the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime. Windows 11 and Windows 10 (1903+) ship with WebView2 pre-installed. If it is missing, the installer prompts you to download it from Microsoft.

Without WebView2, Lokus will not start.

SmartScreen warnings

Current releases are not code-signed with an EV certificate. Windows SmartScreen may display a “Windows protected your PC” warning on first run.

Click More info, then Run anyway to proceed. This warning appears once.

Code signing

Code signing eliminates the SmartScreen warning and shows a verified publisher name in the installer. The process:

1. Obtain a code signing certificate from a trusted CA (Sectigo, DigiCert, or GlobalSign).
2. Configure the certificate thumbprint in src-tauri/tauri.windows.conf.json.
3. Tauri’s build system calls signtool to sign the .exe and .msi outputs.
4. A timestamp server (e.g., http://timestamp.sectigo.com) ensures signatures remain valid after the certificate expires.

EV certificates provide instant SmartScreen reputation. Standard certificates require approximately 2,000 unique downloads before SmartScreen stops warning.

Build targets

The Windows build produces an NSIS installer by default (targets: ["nsis"] in the Tauri config). The installer uses English language and the Lokus icon.

Auto-updates on Windows use passive install mode — the update is applied silently with a progress bar, no user interaction required.

Build from source

# Install Visual Studio Build Tools
winget install Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.BuildTools

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/lokus-ai/lokus.git
cd lokus
npm install
npm run tauri build

Output: src-tauri\target\release\bundle\nsis\Lokus_x.x.x_x64-setup.exe