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The Cortex desktop app is the same Chat and Code you know from the browser, with one addition that only a native app can offer: Code sessions can run on This PC or over SSH as well as in the Cloud. Download it from releases.cortex.foundation and sign in when the app asks — same account as the web.

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Install and sign in

1

Download

Open releases.cortex.foundation and pick the build for your platform.
2

Open and sign in

Launch the app. It asks you to sign in with your Cortex account; guests cannot use Code, so the desktop app expects a member.
3

Choose a host for Code

Start a Code session and pick Cloud, This PC, or SSH. Chat needs no host — it works exactly as it does in the browser.

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What desktop adds

Web Code stays Cloud-only. That is host placement — the code runs where the host is — not a missing catalog entry.

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Hosts for Code

This PC and SSH need an already connected Code session; Cortex never silently substitutes the Cloud for a host you selected. The CLI exposes the same hosts through CORTEX_COMPUTER — see Code on desktop and CLI configuration.

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Two desktop apps

The Cortex desktop app has a Chat and Code sidebar. Bots live in their own desktop app with an agents, routines, and channels sidebar and no Chat or Code — see Bot desktop. Design’s working UI is a third app — see Design desktop.

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