The current state, first
Checked against the Orcyx source tree at c339cf993 on 2026-09-14. Where this page describes something the build does not do yet, it says so in place rather than describing the intention.
Two things are true about installing Orcyx today, and both are easier to read here than to discover halfway through:
- There is no published installer. The release manifest at https://downloads.orcyx.dev/orcyx/latest/release.json returned HTTP 404 (Cloudflare) when this page was written (2026-09-14T15:29:10Z). The download page reads that manifest and will tell you the same thing rather than offering a link that 404s.
- The binaries are not signed by the operating system. Update packages ARE cryptographically signed — that part is live — but Windows Authenticode and Apple notarization are both waiting on certificate purchases, so a first launch shows an OS warning. What that warning looks like is below.
When a build is published, the download page renders its real version, size and SHA-256 from the manifest. Check the SHA-256 you downloaded against the one the page shows. That check is the thing an unsigned binary makes more important, not less.
Windows
The Windows build ships as an installer executable. Because it is not yet Authenticode-signed, SmartScreen shows a blue panel, and its default button is the one that does not run the app.
- The panel reads "Windows protected your PC". Choose "More info", then "Run anyway".
- Verify the SHA-256 of the download against the one on the download page before you do that. This is the step that actually protects you; clicking through a warning without it is not a security decision.
- An OV certificate will still show this panel for a while after it is issued — SmartScreen reputation builds with downloads. An EV certificate clears it immediately.
Get-FileHash .\Orcyx-x64-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256
macOS
The macOS build ships as a universal disk image. Unsigned and un-notarized, Gatekeeper refuses it with "Orcyx cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified".
- Right-click (or Control-click) the app in Applications and choose Open, then confirm. The right-click route is what makes an UNSIGNED app openable.
- Do not expect that escape hatch to work for a signed-but-un-notarized build. Gatekeeper rejects those harder than unsigned ones, which is why the release pipeline refuses to build with a partial signing configuration at all — a half-configured signing setup produces a strictly worse artefact than no signing.
shasum -a 256 Orcyx-universal.dmg
Linux
Linux is on the roadmap and is not a supported install target before 1.0. Linux bundles carry no operating-system code signature in any case, so the signing work above does not apply to them.
Until a build is published
Founding-cohort registrations closed on 2026-09-15 and builds reach that cohort by invitation. There is no public build to download today, and there is no source to build: Orcyx is proprietary and the repository is private. The download page reads the release manifest and will show the installer, its version, size and SHA-256 the moment one is published — nothing here changes hands by hand.
If you have an invitation, the installer it links to is the same artefact the download page will publish, verified the same way: check its SHA-256 against the one in the invitation before you run it.
Updates
Update packages are signed with a key whose public half is compiled into the app, and the app verifies that signature before applying an update. This is independent of operating-system code signing: it is what stops a tampered update, not what stops the first-launch warning.