Install and sign in

The desktop app shows the same projects, co-authors and history as the web, in a window of its own.

How to do it

1. Open the account menu on the Projects page and choose Download desktop app, or open the Download page from the site footer.
2. Pick the download for your computer: Apple silicon or Intel on macOS, the installer on Windows, or the AppImage, .deb or .rpm on Linux.
3. Open the app and choose Sign in with your browser; your browser opens and shows a sign-in code, and the app shows the same code.
4. Check that the code in the browser is the same one the app shows, then choose Continue. The app opens signed in.
5. Choose Sign in in this window instead if you would rather not go through the browser.

Compile on this computer

In the desktop app a project can be built with the TeX you already have, or with TeX Live in a container, instead of on the JointTex server.

How to do it

1. Open Settings in a project, go to Compile and find Compile on.
2. Choose This computer to use the TeX Live, MacTeX or MiKTeX installed here, This computer (Docker) or This computer (Podman) to build in a container that is isolated from your files, or JointTex server.
3. Read the line under the setting: it names the local TeX it found, or says what is missing.
4. The first time, the app asks Compile on this computer? Choose Allow if you trust the people you write with; change the answer later from the menu item Compiling on This Computer….
5. Compile as usual. The PDF, the Problems tab and jumps between the PDF and the source work the same way.

Windows and updates

The app can keep several projects open side by side, and it tells you when a newer version is out.

How to do it

1. Choose File → New Window to open another window at the project list.
2. Choose Open in new window in a project's menu on the Projects page to give that project its own window.
3. Choose Check for Updates… in the app menu on macOS, or in the File menu on Windows and Linux.
4. When an update is available, choose Download, then open the downloaded installer to replace the version you have.

Ctrl+N opens a new window. Ctrl+W closes the active tab, which a browser does not allow.

When a local compile fails

A compile on this computer depends on what is installed here, so most failures are fixed outside the document.

How to do it

1. No TeX installation was found: install TeX Live or MiKTeX, or set Compile on to JointTex server.
2. latexmk was not found: a minimal installation such as BasicTeX leaves it out. Run tlmgr install latexmk in a terminal (sudo tlmgr install latexmk on macOS), or install the latexmk package from MiKTeX Console.
3. Docker or Podman is installed but not running: start it, or choose another place to compile.
4. Compiling with this computer's TeX is not allowed: compile again after a few seconds to be asked, or change it from Compiling on This Computer… in the menu.
5. A file name in this project cannot be written on this computer: rename the file, or compile on the JointTex server.
6. Source and PDF positions cannot be linked: install your TeX distribution's synctex program, or compile on the JointTex server.