Install Stuga on a Mac

For the person who set up Stuga.

You need:

• A Mac with an M1 chip or newer, on macOS 15 or later. About This Mac, in the Apple menu, shows the chip and the macOS version.
• The Mac’s administrator password.
• For a team: a Mac that stays on, on the same Wi‑Fi or wired office connection as everyone else.

Install

1. Download the Stuga package.

2. Open it and follow the installer. When it asks, enter the Mac’s administrator password.

3. When it finishes, the Stuga mark appears in the menu bar. Once Stuga is running, your browser opens its setup page.

   If the page doesn’t open, click the Stuga mark in the menu bar and choose Set Up Stuga….

4. Create your account and your first workspace, as Create your account and first workspace shows.

Note

Allow requests to find devices on local networks or accept incoming connections so other computers can reach Stuga.

Use the Stuga menu

Click the Stuga mark in the menu bar. The menu and the installer follow your Mac’s language; this page uses their English names.

Choose	To
Open Stuga	Open Stuga in your browser. Double-clicking Stuga in Applications does the same.
Copy Address	Copy the address other people open.
Show Address as QR Code…	Show the address as a QR code, to open Stuga on a phone with its camera.
Show Logs	Open Stuga’s logs, for when something goes wrong.
Restart Stuga…	Restart Stuga, after the Mac’s administrator password.
Uninstall Stuga…	Remove Stuga, keeping or deleting your documents.
Quit Menu	Close the menu. Stuga keeps running, and the menu is back the next time you log in.

Until you have created your account, the first three read Set Up Stuga…, Copy Setup Link and Show Setup Link as QR Code…. The setup link lets whoever opens it create the first account, so keep it to yourself.

The top line shows whether Stuga is running. If it stays unavailable, an alert offers Restart Stuga… and Show Logs. If it says Stuga is older than its data, an earlier version was started on newer data and changed nothing: choose Open Stuga to see what to do.

Good to know

• Stuga starts when the Mac starts, before anyone logs in.
• By default, Stuga backs itself up daily and keeps the newest three backups on this Mac. See Back up and restore.
• When a new version is out, Settings → This node → About says so, and Update now installs it. Stuga backs up your data first. Update Stuga also shows how to go back to the version you had.

Next

• Open Stuga on other computers and phones: share the address with your team.
• Invite people: create an invite link.
• Connect Claude Desktop: let Claude read your documents and make changes.
• Back up and restore: find your backups and learn how to restore one.

More detail: Install on macOS on GitHub