macOS

Download Reaper-<version>-macos-arm64.dmg from the releases page, open it, and drag Reaper to Applications. Apple Silicon only, macOS 14 or newer. A zip of the same app sits beside it for scripted installs.

Which build

Download	Follows
the newest release	the stable channel. Use this.
dev-build	the dev branch, refreshed nightly, for testing what is coming.

To run the dev channel, download the same DMG from the dev-build prerelease on the releases page and install it the same way. Dev builds change often. Releases are the steadier channel.

First launch

Note

macOS warns the first time you open it. The app is not code-signed yet, so Gatekeeper cannot verify it. Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway; on macOS 14 you can instead right-click the app and choose Open. Each update asks again.

Reaper then lives in the menu bar: no Dock icon and no window, just an icon offering Open Reaper and Quit Reaper. Your browser opens on http://127.0.0.1:8420 once the server is ready. Closing the tab leaves the server running; Quit is what stops it.

macOS also asks whether Reaper may accept incoming connections. Allow it if other machines should reach Reaper. Until the app is code-signed, it may ask again after an update.

Where the data lives

~/Library/Application Support/Reaper holds the database, the encryption keys, and launcher.conf. Back up reaper.db, secret.key, and secret.salt, covered in Back this up. Updates leave the folder alone.

Settings

A double-clicked app receives no environment variables, so Reaper reads launcher.conf from the data folder instead. The first run writes it as a commented template: the port, the listening address, the browser launch, the update check, the menu bar icon, and the Dock icon each have a line. The last two also have switches in the app, under Settings, General, Desktop app.

Reaching it from other machines

Reaper listens on every interface, the same as the container. Open http://<host-ip>:8420 from the other machine; 127.0.0.1 is only what your own browser opens.

Starting at login

Reaper runs while open and stops when you quit it. To start it with your Mac, add Reaper under System Settings, General, Login Items.

Updating

Drag the new app over the old one. The data folder is untouched. Settings, About says when a newer build exists.

Next

First run, in order. The first account to sign in claims the install, so it matters who does it.