Calimero Desktop

Calimero Desktop is the GUI application for managing Calimero nodes, identities, contexts, and installed apps from a single interface — no CLI required.

Download Calimero Desktop :material-download:{ .md-button .md-button—primary target=“_blank” }

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What It Does

Capability	Description
Node management	Start, stop, and monitor your local Calimero node
Identity management	Create and manage root keys and client identities
Context management	Browse, create, and join application contexts
App launcher	Install apps from the registry and open them with one click
Single sign-on	Passes auth tokens directly to apps — no manual login needed

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Installation

Download the latest release for your platform from calimero.network/download.

Platform	Format
macOS	.dmg universal binary
Linux	.AppImage / .deb
Windows	.exe installer

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Getting Started

1. Download and install Desktop from calimero.network/download.
2. Start the app — it will launch and manage a local merod node automatically on first run.
3. Create an identity — generate your root key and first client identity inside the app.
4. Install an app — browse the App Registry and install an app to your node.
5. Open the app — click Open; Desktop injects your auth tokens so you’re logged in immediately.

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Single Sign-On (SSO) for App Developers

When a user opens an app from Desktop, it passes authentication tokens directly to the app’s frontend via the URL hash:

https://your-app-frontend.com/#access_token=...&refresh_token=...&node_url=...&application_id=...

Apps built with @calimero-network/calimero-client read these values automatically from window.location.hash and skip the manual auth flow.

Hash parameters passed by Desktop:

Parameter	Description
access_token	JWT for authenticated node calls
refresh_token	Token used to obtain a new access token
node_url	URL of the local node the app should connect to
application_id	The installed application’s ID on the node

If your app uses calimero-client, SSO works out of the box — no extra integration needed. If you’re building a custom frontend, read these four values from the hash on startup and use them to initialize your node connection.

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Desktop vs CLI

Task	Desktop	CLI (meroctl)
Daily use by non-developers	✅ Recommended	⚠️ Possible but steep
Automated scripts / CI	❌	✅ Recommended
Local dev multi-node testing	❌	✅ Use Merobox
Opening apps with SSO	✅ Built-in	❌ Manual

For CLI-based node management see meroctl. For local multi-node dev environments see Developer Tools.