Is Free really free forever?

Yes. The local desktop app is MIT-licensed open source. Revenue comes from cloud sync, team dashboards, and enterprise services — not from selling binaries.

Why do you charge for Pro if everything is open-source?

You're paying for the cloud infrastructure (encrypted sync server, mobile PWA hosting, friend leaderboard ranking, AI assistant API). You can self-host the cloud server from the same repo for free.

Can I cancel any time?

Yes. Pro is month-to-month. Team has a 14-day money-back guarantee. Enterprise contracts are annual with 30-day exit clauses.

When does Pro launch?

Q3 2026. Waitlist signups get 1 month free + early access to friend leaderboard invite codes.

pulse v1.0.0 · local-first

Download pulse

The local desktop app. Runs entirely on your machine. No account, no telemetry by default, no cloud calls except a once-daily FX rate fetch. MIT-licensed — audit the code yourself.

Windows

Available now

Windows 10 + 11 (x64)
~80 MB installer
System-tray app + browser dashboard
Optional auto-start on login

Download installer (.exe)Portable .zip

macOS

From source today

macOS 12+ (Apple Silicon + Intel)
Works from source today (Python 3.12)
Universal2 .app bundle planned Q3 2026
Awaiting Apple Developer ID + notarization

Run from source Notify me when packaged

Linux

From source today

Any X11 / Wayland desktop
Works from source today (Python 3.12)
AppImage planned Q4 2026
Foreground detection via xdotool / wmctrl

Run from source Notify me when packaged

Verifying your download. Every GitHub release ships with SHA-256 checksums in the release notes. Verify with CertUtil -hashfile pulse-setup-1.0.0.exe SHA256 (Windows) or shasum -a 256 <file> (mac/Linux), then compare against the value on the release page.

Install in 4 steps (Windows)

1
Download the installer
Grab pulse-setup-1.0.0.exe from the latest release. First-time downloads may see a "Windows protected your PC" SmartScreen warning — this fades as more people install. Click More info → Run anyway.
2
Run the installer
Pick an install directory (default C:\Program Files\pulse\), choose whether to add a desktop shortcut, and whether to auto-start on login. No admin install required — pulse only writes to HKCU.
3
Click the tray icon
Pulse appears in your system tray (bottom-right of the taskbar). Click it to open the dashboard in your default browser at http://localhost:<port>.
4
Run the 30-second first-run wizard
Pick currency, set a monthly AI budget (optional), choose alert preferences. All skippable. Pulse auto-detects Claude Code logs at ~/.claude/projects/*.jsonl on first launch.

Where your data lives

Everything pulse collects stays on your machine. Nothing is uploaded unless you turn on cloud sync (Pro, not yet shipped).

Location	What's stored
`%USERPROFILE%\pulse\data\tracker.db`	SQLite database — subscriptions, AI usage, activity
`%USERPROFILE%\pulse\backups\`	Auto-rotated DB backups (last 7 days)
`%USERPROFILE%\pulse\logs\`	Diagnostic logs (rotated, last 30 days)
`~/.claude/projects/*.jsonl`	Pulse reads Claude Code token logs from here — never modifies

macOS / Linux equivalents: ~/Library/Application Support/pulse/ and ~/.local/share/pulse/.

Run from source (any OS)

macOS and Linux work today this way — no packaged build needed. Windows users can too, if they want to read or modify the code.

git clone https://github.com/walight999/pulse
cd pulse
pip install -r requirements.txt
python app.py

Requires Python 3.12+ and git. Full developer guide in INSTALL.md.

Troubleshooting

Windows Defender or SmartScreen blocks the installer+

The signing certificate is new, so SmartScreen will warn until enough people install. Click More info → Run anyway. If Defender quarantines the file, restore it from quarantine + add an exclusion for C:\Program Files\pulse\. See full steps in TROUBLESHOOTING.md.

The dashboard didn't open in my browser+

Pulse auto-picks an unused localhost port. Right-click the tray icon → Open dashboard to force-open. If still blocked, copy the URL from %USERPROFILE%\pulse\logs\app.log.

Claude Code logs aren't being detected+

Pulse looks at ~/.claude/projects/*.jsonl. If you've moved your Claude config, set CLAUDE_LOG_DIR to the right path before launch. The Settings → AI Usage tab also has a manual import button.

How do I uninstall and delete all local data?+

Settings → Apps → pulse → Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to keep your data. Choose No to wipe %USERPROFILE%\pulse\ completely. From-source installs: delete the cloned repo and the user-profile pulse folder.

Does pulse phone home? Track me? Sell my data?+

No, no, and no. The local app makes one outbound call: the daily FX rate fetch from frankfurter.dev, cached for 24h. Telemetry is opt-in and off by default. Cloud sync is Pro-only and not yet shipped. See Privacy + Security.

More help: Discussions · Issues · hi@mintforai.com