Installation

FluxDown ships full-featured native builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Every package contains the same Rust download engine and the same interface — there’s no “lite” edition and no account to create.

System Requirements

Platform	Requirement
Windows	Windows 10 (64-bit) or later, x64 or ARM64
macOS	macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or later, Apple Silicon or Intel
Linux	A 64-bit desktop distribution with a modern GTK3 stack

Windows

Grab a build from the download page. Two options, both offered for x64 and ARM64:

• Installer — FluxDown-<version>-setup.exe. Runs the standard Inno Setup wizard and installs for the current user only (no admin rights required). During setup you can optionally check boxes to create a desktop shortcut, launch FluxDown at system startup, and associate .torrent files with FluxDown — all unchecked by default.
• Portable — FluxDown-<version>-windows-<arch>-portable.zip. Extract anywhere and run flux_down.exe. Nothing is written outside the extracted folder except whatever you opt into at first launch.

The build isn’t code-signed, so Windows SmartScreen may flag it as coming from an “unknown publisher” the first time you run it. Click More info → Run anyway to continue.

Scoop

If you use the Scoop package manager, install FluxDown from the FluxDown bucket:

scoop bucket add fluxdown https://github.com/zerx-lab/FluxDown
scoop install fluxdown/fluxdown

This installs the portable build and keeps your settings.json across upgrades. Update anytime with scoop update fluxdown.

macOS

• DMG — FluxDown-<version>-macos-<arch>.dmg (arm64 for Apple Silicon, x64 for Intel). Open it and drag FluxDown into Applications.
• Portable — FluxDown-<version>-macos-<arch>.tar.gz. Extract it and run the app bundle directly.

The build isn’t notarized, so Gatekeeper blocks the first launch with an “unidentified developer” warning. Right-click (or Control-click) the app and choose Open, or approve it under System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.

Linux

All Linux packages are x64:

• AppImage — FluxDown-<version>-linux-x64.AppImage. Make it executable (chmod +x) and run it. Distributions released in the last few years may need libfuse2 installed for AppImages to launch.
• deb — FluxDown-<version>-linux-x64.deb, for Debian/Ubuntu and derivatives: sudo apt install ./FluxDown-<version>-linux-x64.deb.
• Arch package — FluxDown-<version>-linux-x64.pkg.tar.zst: sudo pacman -U FluxDown-<version>-linux-x64.pkg.tar.zst.
• Portable — FluxDown-<version>-linux-x64.tar.gz. Extract it and run the bundled binary.

First Launch

FluxDown quietly wires itself into the OS the first time it starts, so links and files from other apps reach it without extra setup:

• fluxdown:// protocol — registered automatically on every startup so the browser extension and other apps can hand off downloads to FluxDown.
• Native Messaging Host — registered automatically so the browser extension can talk to FluxDown over Native Messaging (a Windows Named Pipe or a Linux/macOS Unix socket).
• .torrent file association — not automatic. If you didn’t check the installer’s association box, FluxDown shows a one-time dialog on first launch asking whether to make it the default .torrent handler. Accept, dismiss, or change your mind later in Settings → General → Associate .torrent Files.

Automatic Updates

Five seconds after startup, FluxDown silently checks GitHub Releases for a newer version in the background (this can be turned off in Settings → About → Auto-check for Updates). If an update is available, a dialog shows the changelog with Update Now and Remind Me Later. You can trigger a manual check any time from Settings → About, or from the version indicator at the bottom of the sidebar.

Uninstalling

• Windows (installer) — open Settings → Apps → Installed apps, find FluxDown, and uninstall. For a portable install, just delete the extracted folder.
• macOS — drag FluxDown from Applications to the Trash.
• Linux — sudo apt remove fluxdown (deb), sudo pacman -R fluxdown (Arch), or delete the AppImage/extracted folder.

Uninstalling only removes the application itself — files you’ve already downloaded stay wherever you saved them.