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Install & first run

Prebuilt downloads are published for macOS, Windows, and Linux on the Releases page. Windows and Linux ship both Intel/AMD (amd64) and ARM (arm64) builds. Stable releases are cut from tags; the newest pre-release tracks main, and the in-app updater can follow either channel.

Download the latest Cascade-<version>-universal.dmg from the Releases page. It's a universal binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

  1. Open the DMG and drag Cascade to your Applications folder.
  2. The build isn't code-signed, so the first launch needs one extra step to get past Gatekeeper:
    • Right-click Cascade.app → Open → Open in the dialog, or
    • run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Cascade.app in Terminal.

You only need to do this once; afterwards it launches normally.

Download cascade-<arch>-installer.exe for your architecture (amd64 for most PCs, arm64 for ARM machines like Surface Pro X) and run it. It's an NSIS installer that drops Cascade into your Start menu.

The build isn't code-signed, so SmartScreen may warn on first run — click More info → Run anyway to continue.

Three packages are published per architecture (amd64 and arm64); pick the one that matches your distro:

  • AppImage — chmod +x it and run directly, no install needed.
  • .deb — sudo apt install ./Cascade-*.deb (Debian/Ubuntu).
  • .rpm — sudo dnf install ./Cascade-*.rpm (Fedora/RHEL/openSUSE).

Building from source

Prebuilt downloads above are the easy path; build from source if you want to hack on Cascade or target a platform we don't publish. Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Prerequisites

  • Go 1.25+ (required by Wails v3)
  • Node.js 20 (see .nvmrc; with nvm, run nvm use)
  • Task: go install github.com/go-task/task/v3/cmd/task@latest
  • Wails v3 CLI: go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v3/cmd/wails3@latest

Build

git clone https://github.com/matt0x6F/irc-client
cd irc-client
task build      # builds for your current platform; output in bin/

To produce a distributable package instead of a bare binary:

task package           # native build + installer

wails3 task linux:package   # AppImage (.deb / .rpm tasks also available)

task dmg-universal     # universal .dmg in bin/

Hot-reload dev build

To run Cascade from source with live reload while hacking on it, use task dev (or wails3 dev).

Cascade registers itself as the system handler for irc:// and ircs:// URIs so that clicking IRC links in a browser or another app opens Cascade directly. Registration happens automatically at install/first-run time, per platform:

  • macOS: declared in the app bundle's Info.plist; no manual step needed.
  • Windows: written to the registry by the NSIS installer.
  • Linux: provided by the .desktop file installed alongside the binary.

See Opening irc:// links for what Cascade does after it receives the link.