Quickstart · Windows

From download to first answer in 15 minutes.

No terminal. No account with an AI vendor. No gryndara.com account to try it. You need a Windows 10/11 PC with at least 8 GB of RAM and about 10 GB of free disk.

1. Download — no account

Open the download page and click Download for Windows, or take the file directly: installer · portable zip.

Run GryndaraFortress-Setup-<version>.exe. It installs for your Windows user (no administrator rights), adds Start menu and desktop shortcuts, and offers to start Gryndara when it finishes. Prefer no installer? Unzip the portable zip and double-click Gryndara Fortress.exe.

A tray icon appears near the clock and your browser opens http://127.0.0.1:8080. If another program on this PC already uses port 8080, Gryndara takes the next free local port (8081, then 18760…) and the tray opens that address. IT can pin a port with the GRYNDARA_PORT environment variable.

2. Create the local admin account

Name, email, password (10+ characters). This is a local account stored in .gryndara/data/users.json next to the executable — it is not sent anywhere and is separate from a later gryndara.com sign-in.

3. Start the trial, or paste a key

No website account yet? Start a 14-day trial (one short check-in with gryndara.com; one trial per PC). Inbox files stay if you activate later.

Already have a key? Paste it. The portal registers this PC as one device and stores a signed license file that works offline. It re-checks once a day when online and has a 14-day grace period if it can't reach us. Get a key at sign-in — email or Google — then your account.

4. Install the local AI engine

Click Install local AI engine. Gryndara downloads Ollama's plain engine package over HTTPS, checks its size and SHA-256, inspects the files before unpacking, and requires a valid Authenticode signature issued to Ollama on the engine program before it runs. The Ollama desktop app is not installed. The engine listens on 127.0.0.1:11434.

5. Take the recommended model

Setup picks Eco on a processor-only PC and Lite when a dedicated GPU is present. Click Download if you want a larger tier. Details: requirements.

6. Add folders

Accept the defaults — Documents\Gryndara Inbox and Documents\Gryndara Outbox — or pick your own. Inbox folders are indexed in place (nothing is copied); the outbox receives deliverables. Drop three or four PDFs or Word documents into the inbox.

7. Ask in Quick Chat

Open Chat. Leave Quick Chat selected and type something you actually need, for example:

What is the total payroll in the spreadsheet?

Full swarm (Orchestrator → Research → Writer → Publisher → Planner → Monitor) is for PCs with a graphics card. On Eco / CPU-only machines the button is off — that is intentional.

Adding a second PC

Create an account if you have not, copy the license key, install on the other machine, and activate with the same key. Each PC uses one device seat; see and remove devices on your account page.