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How to install SurfSense on macOS (MODSetter/SurfSense) · gitmanual

How to install on macOS

MODSetter/SurfSense

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Difficulty: Moderate
Time: about 15 min
Stars: ★ 16,793
Activity: Updated this month
License: Apache-2.0
Open issues: 63
Got it running: Be the first
Looked up: 5 h ago

Saved setup from 5 h ago

Start here

Website ↗surfsense.comThe project's own site.

Will it work on my device?

Yes, it installs on your macOS

A ready-made macOS download is in the latest release.

Checking for

macOS Windows Linux

Download for macOS

v2.3.1 · 11/3/2026 ↗

SurfSense-arm64.dmg

dmg · Apple Silicon · 1118.3 MB · 92 downloads · best match

Download

Drag the app into Applications.

curl -LO "https://github.com/MODSetter/SurfSense/releases/download/v2.3.1/SurfSense-arm64.dmg"
open "SurfSense-arm64.dmg"

Install with a package manager

install script

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MODSetter/SurfSense/main/docker/scripts/install.sh \| bash

Pipes a remote script into your shell. Read it before running.

From the README, exactly as the maintainers wrote it.

Did you get it running?

No reports for macOS yet.

Still stuck? Ask an AI

Opens a chat with this manual already filled in, for macOS. It uses your own account; gitmanual sends nothing.

Ask Claude Ask ChatGPT

Parts list

1×Redis service

27× settings in .env

NEXT_PUBLIC_FASTAPI_BACKEND_URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_KEYsecretoptional
NEXT_PUBLIC_POSTHOG_HOSToptional
DESKTOP_TELEMETRY_POSTHOG_KEYsecret
NEXT_PUBLIC_GLOBAL_ANNOUNCEMENT_ENABLED
NEXT_PUBLIC_GLOBAL_ANNOUNCEMENT_MESSAGE
NEXT_PUBLIC_GLOBAL_ANNOUNCEMENT_TONE
NEXT_PUBLIC_TOP_ANNOUNCEMENT_ENABLED
NEXT_PUBLIC_STRIPE_LICENSE_INDIVIDUAL_URLoptional
PORT
PLUGINS
REDIS_URL
SCRAPING_PROXY_PROVIDER
SCRAPING_CAPTCHA_PROVIDER
CRAWL_HEADED_XVFB_ENABLED
SURFSENSE_VERSION
SURFSENSE_VARIANToptional
SURFSENSE_PORT
SURFSENSE_PASSWORDsecret
SURFSENSE_AUTH
SURFSENSE_BIND
SURFSENSE_ALLOWED_HOSTS
SURFSENSE_TLS
SURFSENSE_DOMAIN
SURFSENSE_HTTPS_PORT
SURFSENSE_SECRETsecret
SURFSENSE_IMAGE

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[![Setup manual](https://gitmanual.com/MODSetter/SurfSense/badge.svg)](https://gitmanual.com/MODSetter/SurfSense)

Good to know

Has AGENTS.md — instructions for coding agents. You can open Claude Code (or another agent) in the cloned folder and ask it to do the setup for you.
Nested projects: backend/plugins/bundles/core/cli/pyproject.toml, backend/plugins/bundles/core/manifest/pyproject.toml, backend/plugins/bundles/core/sdk/pyproject.toml, backend/plugins/bundles/example/requirements.txt and 9 more

Files we read (11)

.github/workflows/build-audiocpp.yml

.github/workflows/build-opencv.yml

.github/workflows/build-sdcpp.yml

.github/workflows/desktop-tests.yml

.github/workflows/docker-tests.yml

.github/workflows/plugins-pull-request-checks.yml

CONTRIBUTING.md

README.md

backend/server/.env.example

docker/surfsense/.env.example

www/.env.example

Branch main · 4,966 files in the repo