Skip to main content
GAIA is a desktop chat application that runs AI agents locally on your machine. This is the recommended install method for most users. For the developer / CLI install path, see the Python CLI install plan.

​
What you’ll need

  • A computer running Windows 10/11, macOS 14+ (Apple Silicon), or Linux (Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/Arch)
  • 5 GB of free disk space (for the app + Python environment + minimal model)
  • An internet connection for the first launch (the app downloads its Python backend automatically)
  • About 10 minutes total: ~30 seconds to download, ~10 seconds to install, ~5–10 minutes for the first-launch backend setup

​
Download

  1. Go to GitHub Releases
  2. Download gaia-agent-ui-X.Y.Z-x64-setup.exe
  3. Double-click to run the installer
  4. Follow the wizard. Default options work for most users.
  5. GAIA will start automatically when you sign in to Windows, matching the Slack/Discord/Zoom convention. To disable, open Task Manager → Startup tab → disable “GAIA”, or use the in-app tray menu after first launch.
  6. Click Finish and launch GAIA from the Start Menu or desktop shortcut.
The first time you run an unsigned installer, Windows SmartScreen may show a “Windows protected your PC” warning. Click More info → Run anyway. (We’re working on Windows code signing — see troubleshooting.)

​
First-launch setup

The first time you launch GAIA, it automatically sets up its Python backend. You’ll see a progress dialog with these stages:
  1. Pre-flight checks (~5 seconds) — verifies free disk space and network connectivity
  2. Download uv (~30 seconds) — installs the uv Python package manager
  3. Create Python environment (~30 seconds) — downloads Python 3.12 and creates a virtualenv at ~/.gaia/venv/
  4. Install GAIA backend (~3-5 minutes) — installs the amd-gaia[ui] Python package and its dependencies
  5. Download minimal model (~2-3 minutes) — fetches the Qwen3-0.6B model via Lemonade Server
  6. Verify (~5 seconds) — runs a quick test to confirm everything works
Total: about 5-10 minutes the first time, depending on your internet speed. Subsequent launches are instant — the app reuses the installed environment.

​
What if it fails?

If the install fails, you’ll see an error dialog with:
  • A short explanation of what went wrong
  • A Retry button
  • A Manual install instructions link to the troubleshooting guide
  • A Quit button
The full install log is at ~/.gaia/electron-install.log — attach it when reporting issues. See the installation troubleshooting guide for common failure modes.

​
Updating GAIA

GAIA checks for updates automatically:
  • 10 seconds after launch
  • Every 4 hours while running
When an update is available, you’ll see a small “update available” indicator in the status bar. The update downloads silently in the background. When ready, GAIA prompts you to Restart now or Later. Your chat history is preserved across updates. To disable auto-updates, set the environment variable GAIA_DISABLE_UPDATE=1 before launching.

​
Uninstalling

GAIA follows the platform convention: removing the app leaves your user data (chats, documents, downloaded models) behind. To remove the data too, run the gaia uninstall CLI from a terminal — it has tiered flags so you can decide exactly what to keep.

​
Windows

Settings → Apps → Installed apps → GAIA → Uninstall This removes the app, the Start Menu / Desktop shortcuts, and the autostart registry entry. It does not touch ~/.gaia/. To also remove your data, open a terminal (PowerShell or cmd) and run: 
~\.gaia\venv\Scripts\gaia uninstall --purge

​
macOS

Drag the GAIA app from Applications to the Trash. Empty the Trash. To also remove your data, run from a terminal: 
~/.gaia/venv/bin/gaia uninstall --purge

​
Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)

sudo apt remove gaia-desktop
To also remove your data, use apt purge instead: 
sudo apt purge gaia-desktop

​
Linux (AppImage)

Delete the .AppImage file. To also remove your data: 
~/.gaia/venv/bin/gaia uninstall --purge

​
Tiered cleanup with gaia uninstall

The CLI lets you escalate cleanup as far as you want — useful for reclaiming disk or fully resetting: 
gaia uninstall --dry-run                    # Preview what would be removed
gaia uninstall --venv                       # Just the Python env
gaia uninstall --purge                      # Venv + chats + documents + config
gaia uninstall --purge --purge-lemonade     # Also remove Lemonade Server install
gaia uninstall --purge --purge-models       # Also remove downloaded Lemonade models
gaia uninstall --purge --purge-hf-cache     # Also remove ~/.cache/huggingface/

​
Where things live

WhatLocation
Electron appPlatform-specific (Program Files / /Applications / /opt/GAIA)
Python environment~/.gaia/venv/
Chat database~/.gaia/chat/chat.db
Uploaded documents~/.gaia/documents/
Configuration~/.gaia/electron-config.json
Logs~/.gaia/gaia.log, ~/.gaia/electron-install.log
Models (managed by Lemonade)~/.cache/lemonade/models/

​
Privacy

GAIA runs entirely on your machine. No data is sent externally beyond the package downloads during install. There is no telemetry, no crash reporting, no usage analytics. See the FAQ for more.

​
Next steps