NSIS installer
.exe · 12.29 MB · single user
Standard Windows setup wizard with per-user install, a Start-menu shortcut, and an entry in Add or Remove Programs. Best for personal machines.
Download NSIS ↓ 12.29 MB Pulse · Windows · install guide
v0.1.0
Install Pulse for Windows
v0.1.0 · 5 minutes · works offline
Three installers, one portable binary, and a SHA-256 on every file. Pulse runs from the system tray, opens with a global hotkey, and talks to a local model on the same machine. Windows 10 (build 17763) or newer, x86_64 only.
Choose an installer
All three packages install the same Pulse v0.1.0 binary. Pick the format that matches the deployment.
MSI installer
.msi · 16.94 MB · machine-wide
Windows Installer package suitable for Group Policy, SCCM, Intune, and other enterprise deployment pipelines. Installs to Program Files.
Portable
.exe · 9.99 MB · runs anywhere
Standalone executable with no installer. Place it on a USB stick, a network share, or a folder on the desktop. Settings live next to the binary.
Download portable ↓ 9.99 MB
All three hashes are verified at build time and pinned in /updates/desktop.json. Get-FileHash -Algorithm SHA256 <file> in PowerShell reproduces the value on a downloaded copy.
Download
Direct links to the R2-hosted installers. A Microsoft Store winget package is in review — see the optional step below.
Run the installer
Three steps. No reboot. The NSIS installer is shown; MSI and portable follow the same pattern.
- 1
Double-click the downloaded
pulse-windows-0.1.0-setup.exe.A security dialog may ask whether to allow the app to make changes (User Account Control). Pulse is signed with a developer's Authenticode certificate until the WHQL review completes; the publisher field shows the signer name on click.
- 2
Accept the UAC prompt.
Click Yes on the User Account Control dialog. The default install path is
C:\Users\<you>\AppData\Local\Programs\Pulse\(Tauri default, per-user scope). Pick a different folder in the wizard to change it. - 3
Click Install.
The wizard copies the binary, registers the file association, and adds a Start-menu entry under Pulse. The whole flow takes under twenty seconds on a modern SSD. No reboot is required.
First launch
Pulse lives in the system tray. The side panel slides in from the right edge of the screen on a global hotkey.
After install, Pulse starts hidden. A small Pulse · click to open entry appears in the system tray (notification area, bottom-right of the taskbar). Click it once and the side panel slides in from the right edge of the screen — a narrow column about 420 px wide, anchored to the top-right.
The default global hotkey is Ctrl+Shift+Space. Press it from any application to summon or dismiss the panel. The hotkey is rebindable in Settings → Hotkey. The first launch surfaces a one-time setup wizard that detects the GPU and recommends a local model — see the next step.
Pick a local model
Pulse ships a setup wizard that detects the GPU and recommends a model. The choice is required reading before v0.6.0+ models run locally.
On first launch, the wizard inspects the GPU and suggests one of three Ollama models:
- NVIDIA GPU —
gemma3:4b· ~3 GB VRAM · best quality on consumer NVIDIA. - AMD or Intel GPU —
qwen2.5:3b· ~2 GB VRAM · falls back to CPU if Vulkan is missing. - CPU only —
qwen2.5:1.5b· ~1 GB RAM · usable on any x86_64 machine, slower token throughput.
Pulse ships a bundled Ollama runtime on Windows, so no separate install is required. To install Ollama by hand or swap the model catalog, see ollama.com. The wizard reopens from Settings → AI → Model setup at any time.
Enable voice input
Windows speech recognition needs a single toggle in Privacy settings. Without it, the mic button in the panel is disabled.
Open Windows Settings → Privacy & security → Speech and turn on Speech recognition. The Pulse mic button in the side panel listens for tap-to-dictate after the toggle is on. Voice input uses the OS SpeechRecognition API on Windows; no audio leaves the machine.
Cloud STT (Whisper) is a PRO feature in development — it ships in a future Pulse release behind the PRO license.
Install via winget
A Microsoft Store submission is in review. The direct download above works today.
The planned winget package is Pulse.Pulse. The submission is pending Microsoft approval — winget install will fail with Package not found until the listing is live. The direct download at the top of this page is the only working install path right now; check back later or follow the changelog for the winget listing announcement.
Uninstall
The standard Windows uninstall path works for all three installers.
Open Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find Pulse in the list, and click Uninstall. The original pulse-windows-0.1.0-setup.exe and pulse-windows-0.1.0-setup.msi installers also carry an uninstaller — re-run either one and pick Uninstall from the wizard. The portable binary has no installer: delete from the folder where it lives to remove Pulse.
Troubleshooting
The three issues that come up most often, and the fix for each.
- Installer blocked by SmartScreen. SmartScreen shows Windows protected your PC on first run. Click More info, then Run anyway. Pulse uses a developer's code-signing certificate until Microsoft completes the WHQL review — the publisher field shows the signer name on the dialog.
- Pulse does not open after install.
Open Windows Event Viewer → Application and look for the most recent error. If the log mentions
VCRUNTIME140.dllmissing, install the Visual C++ Redistributable from aka.ms/vs/17/release/vc_redist.x64.exe and reboot once. - No AI response in the panel.
Ollama is not running. Open Pulse → Settings → AI and click Start Ollama, or run
ollama servein PowerShell. The bundled Ollama runtime is on the system PATH after the NSIS or MSI install.