Install Trove
Trove ships as a native desktop build. Download, drag to Applications, open. No installer wizard, no Homebrew tap (yet), no curl | sh.
Get a build
Section titled “Get a build”The latest signed build for each platform is on the GitHub Releases page.
| Platform | File | Size |
|---|---|---|
| macOS Universal | Trove_x.y.z_universal.dmg | ~38 MB |
| Windows | at launch | — |
| Linux (AppImage) | at launch | — |
The macOS build is notarised. Windows builds will be code-signed; Linux ships as an AppImage with checksum file.
First launch and the trial
Section titled “First launch and the trial”The first time you open Trove, you get a 14-day full-features trial. No card, no account, no email. The clock starts on the local machine and runs from the day you first launch — Trove records this in license.toml under the app data directory.
After 14 days without an Activation:
- Your files stay visible.
- The editor switches to read-only mode.
- You can browse, read, and export — you just can’t write until you activate.
This is deliberate. Trove never holds your manuscript hostage.
Activate with a License Key
Section titled “Activate with a License Key”If you’ve bought Trove (£49 standard, £39 founders price for the first six months), Polar emails you a License Key in the format TROVE-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX.
To activate:
- Open Trove.
- Go to Settings → License.
- Paste your key. Click Activate.
The desktop client talks directly to Polar’s customer-portal endpoints to validate and bind the machine. No intermediate server. Each License allows up to 5 Activations (machines). You can free a slot at any time from the Polar customer portal.
Re-installing or moving machines
Section titled “Re-installing or moving machines”- Same machine, fresh install — Trove will find the existing
license.tomland re-validate on first launch. No action needed. - New machine — re-paste your License Key in Settings → License. If you’ve used all 5 activation slots, free one from the Polar portal first.
- No internet — Trove caches validation for a generous window. You can write offline for weeks before the cache requires a re-check.
- Set your storage location — where Trove keeps your Projects, Worlds, and Tome.
- Create your first Project.