Installation and prerequisites

Availability and verificationCopy Anchor Link

Public Client downloads remain closed while qualification continues. When a target is released, obtain it from the availability page; check its target, source revision and published SHA-256 against the downloaded file before running it. Keep your project files and previous installation until you have verified the new release.

WindowsCopy Anchor Link

1. Download the installer for the stated Windows target. In PowerShell, replace the placeholder filename below with the actual downloaded filename. Compare the displayed hash with the published SHA-256. Stop if they differ.

Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 -LiteralPath ".\REPLACE-WITH-INSTALLER.exe"

2. Run the verified installer as the intended Windows user. It installs a versioned Client release under that user's local app data and adds a SynthCrew Client Start menu shortcut.
3. Start SynthCrew Client from the shortcut. A successful launch opens the Client workspace; connect your customer account only when access is enabled. An unsigned private test is not a claim of public signing or clean-machine verification.

Linux x86-64 and ARM64Copy Anchor Link

1. Choose the archive for your architecture. Replace the example filename below with the actual archive name. Run sha256sum and compare its output with the published SHA-256 before extracting; stop if they differ. The destination below is an example dedicated user-owned directory.

sha256sum ./REPLACE-WITH-CLIENT-ARCHIVE.tar.zst
mkdir -p "$HOME/SynthCrew/preview"
tar --zstd -xf ./REPLACE-WITH-CLIENT-ARCHIVE.tar.zst -C "$HOME/SynthCrew/preview"
cd "$HOME/SynthCrew/preview"
python3 installer/linux_client.py

2. From the unpacked directory run python3 installer/linux_client.py. The launcher verifies its package inventory and uses a compatible official FreeCAD 1.1.4 runtime. It can reuse an existing compatible runtime, or download and checksum-verify the pinned official runtime per user. To select an unpacked runtime explicitly, add --runtime followed by its absolute directory path.
3. A first acquisition needs network access, unsquashfs from squashfs-tools with zstd support, and up to 5 GiB of free space. Install those tools through your distribution if the launcher requests them. A graphical desktop and a working Linux Secret Service with secret-tool are needed for the Client and secure sign-in.
4. A successful launch opens the Client workspace. If a prerequisite, architecture or integrity check fails, read the displayed error, correct the named requirement and retry; do not bypass verification. If an incomplete FreeCAD staging directory is reported, inspect it first, then remove only that task-owned partial directory before retrying.

RemovalCopy Anchor Link

On Windows, use the versioned Uninstall Client Start menu entry or the corresponding installed-app entry. On Linux, remove the dedicated unpacked release directory only after closing it. Preserve project files and any profile or runtime you still need; removal of a release is not proof that every host configuration preserves all data.

Updating safelyCopy Anchor Link

Check the availability page for a new, qualified target and compare its revision and hash before installing. Keep your existing installation, profile and project files until the replacement has launched and you have checked your work. Do not treat a test artifact or another platform’s qualification as an update for your target.

If verification failsCopy Anchor Link

Stop before running the installer. Confirm that the platform and architecture match and re-check the downloaded file against the published SHA-256. If no qualified hash or release is published, there is no public download to verify. Do not disable integrity checks or delete your previous installation to force an update.