← Nightjar Browser

Installing Nightjar Browser

• Windows
• macOS (preview)

Both downloads are on trynightjar.com and on the releases page, where the newest release is at the top. Neither build is signed yet, which is why each platform has one extra step below. If something does not work, the ⋮ menu's Report a problem writes an email you can send.

Windows

What you need

• Windows 10 (version 1903 or newer) or Windows 11, 64-bit.
• .NET Framework 4.7.2+ and the WebView2 runtime — both standard on Windows 10 1903 and later, so almost certainly already there.
• 4 GB of memory at least; 16 GB is comfortable.
• 2 GB of free disk at least; 10 GB is comfortable — the app is small, the model is not.
• A graphics card is strongly recommended but not required. Without one, a small model answers about as fast as you read; a large one takes minutes.

Install

1. Download NightjarBrowser-0.3.3-windows.zip (version 0.3.3, about 100 MB). The Get Nightjar Browser button on trynightjar.com gives you the same file.
2. Unzip it into a new, empty folder — Desktop, Documents, a USB stick, anywhere. The zip has no folder of its own inside it, so extracting it straight into Downloads scatters a thousand files there. There is no installer, and nothing is written outside the folder you choose.
3. In that folder, run START-HERE.bat — not NightjarBrowser.exe.

START-HERE.bat removes the "downloaded from the internet" mark Windows puts on every file in a downloaded zip, then starts the browser. That mark is what makes Windows refuse to run an unsigned app. It changes no setting and turns nothing off; it clears one attribute on the files in that folder. After the first time you can start NightjarBrowser.exe directly.

If Windows blocks it

Windows protected your PC — Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognised app from starting.

Click More info, then Run anyway. That is what an unsigned app looks like, not a sign that anything is wrong.

An Application Control policy has blocked this file

This is Smart App Control, which is stricter than SmartScreen: it allows only signed apps or ones Microsoft already knows, has no "run anyway", and START-HERE.bat cannot get past it. Please do not turn it off to try Nightjar — on many Windows 11 machines it cannot be turned back on without resetting Windows. Until the app is signed it will run only where Smart App Control is already off, which includes any PC upgraded from Windows 10.

macOS (preview)

The macOS build runs, but has had far less use than the Windows one.

What you need

• An Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or later). Intel Macs are not supported: they have no Apple Silicon GPU, so the model would run on the CPU at a few words a second.
• macOS 26 or newer. The AI engine inside the app is built for macOS 26. On anything older the browser opens and browses normally, then fails the first time you ask the assistant something.
• 8 GB of memory at least; 16 GB is comfortable.
• About 3 GB of free disk: ~110 MB for the app, the rest for a model.

Install

1. Download NightjarBrowser-0.3.3.dmg (version 0.3.3, about 55 MB). The macOS preview button on trynightjar.com gives you the same file.

2. Open the .dmg and drag NightjarBrowser into Applications.

3. Open Terminal (Applications → Utilities) and run:

   xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/NightjarBrowser.app
   

   This removes the "downloaded from the internet" mark macOS puts on the app. It changes no setting and turns nothing off; it clears one attribute on this one app.

4. Open NightjarBrowser from Applications or Launchpad.

If macOS blocks it

Without step 3, macOS says the app is "damaged" or from an "unidentified developer". It is neither — it is not yet signed with an Apple Developer ID. If it still refuses after step 3, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll to the message about NightjarBrowser, and click Open Anyway.

First run (both)

The browser works straight away. The AI panel asks you to pick a model to download — once, kept on your computer; the panel cannot answer until it finishes. Qwen 3.5 2B (1.2 GB) is a good first choice anywhere; the Models tab shows which of the others suit your machine and hides the ones that will not run.

Nightjar checks once at launch whether a newer version exists (switch that off in Privacy & blocking). It never updates itself: to update, download the new version and install it the same way.

Uninstall

• Windows: delete the folder you unzipped it into. Settings and downloaded models are in %LOCALAPPDATA%\NightjarBrowser; delete that folder too to remove everything.
• macOS: drag NightjarBrowser from Applications to the Bin. Settings and models are in ~/Library/Application Support/NightjarBrowser; delete that folder too to remove everything.