Installation

Requirements

Requirement	Details
System	macOS 13 Ventura or later
Processor	Apple silicon (arm64), or Intel (x64) from 1.3.0, not yet tested on Intel hardware
Disk	about 130 MB for the download

Go to the Download page

Install

From a release

1. Download the latest Synapse-<version>-arm64.dmg (Apple silicon) or Synapse-<version>-x64.dmg (Intel) from the Download page or GitHub Releases.

2. Open the DMG and drag Synapse onto Applications.

3. Open Synapse from Applications. The first time, macOS warns that it cannot verify the app.

4. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about Synapse and click Open Anyway.

Why the warning?

Builds are ad-hoc signed and not notarized by Apple yet, so macOS cannot verify the developer. You only confirm once per installed version.

From source

Building needs Node.js 22 or newer.

1. Clone and install:

   git clone https://github.com/Sero3105/Synapse.git
   cd Synapse
   npm install

2. Build the app bundle:

   npm run package       # builds release/mac-arm64/Synapse.app

3. Install it into Applications:

   npm run install:app   # copies it to /Applications/Synapse.app

Tip

install:app only replaces an existing Synapse build (bundle id com.synapse.notes), refuses while the app is running, and never touches your notes or preferences. To update, pull and run the last two steps again.

Update

From version 1.3.0, Synapse checks GitHub Releases at launch and shows Synapse x.y.z is available when a newer version is out. Click Download, open the new DMG and drag Synapse onto Applications to replace the old one. Your notes and preferences are stored elsewhere and are not touched.

The check sends no personal data and can be turned off in Settings → General → Check for updates. Earlier versions do not check: compare with the Download page.

Uninstall

Delete /Applications/Synapse.app. To also remove preferences, delete ~/Library/Application Support/Synapse.

Caution

Your vaults are ordinary folders and are never stored inside the app or its preferences folder, so uninstalling does not delete notes.

Build from source

See the From source tab above.