Download By Dawn
By Dawn runs in your browser and as a desktop app. This page shows you how to install the desktop app, how it keeps itself up to date, and how to install By Dawn’s agent on another computer so it can run tickets there.
You don’t need the desktop app to use By Dawn: the web app has your board, tickets and Docs. The desktop app adds three things. It can run agents on your own computer, it lets you ask questions about your code, and it opens By Dawn links in the app.
Get the desktop app
Section titled “Get the desktop app”The easiest way is from the web app. Open the account menu (your initials, at the top right) and choose Get the desktop app. Get SAW for your desktop picks the right download for your computer, then walks you through installing it.
Or download it here. Each link always gets the newest build:
| Computer | Download |
|---|---|
| macOS, Apple silicon or Intel | SAW-dev-mac.dmg |
| Windows, 64-bit | SAW-dev-windows-setup.exe |
| Linux, 64-bit | SAW-dev-linux.AppImage |
These are the dev builds, made from the latest code every couple of hours, because By Dawn hasn’t published a stable release yet.
Install it
Section titled “Install it”-
Open the
.dmgfile and drag SAW into Applications. -
Open SAW from Applications: the installed app keeps the name SAW for now. It is signed and checked by Apple, so it opens normally. If macOS says it “can’t be opened”, right-click SAW, choose Open, then Open again.
-
The first time, By Dawn asks for two permissions, so the agent can work on this Mac: Accessibility and Screen & System Audio Recording. Choose Open System Settings, find SAW in the list under Privacy & Security and turn its switch on. Then choose Restart SAW.
-
Open
SAW-dev-windows-setup.exe. -
The installer isn’t signed yet, so Windows shows Windows protected your PC. That’s expected, and the download isn’t damaged. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
-
The installer finishes on its own and opens By Dawn.
-
Make the AppImage executable. Right-click it and choose Properties › Allow executing, or run:
Terminal window chmod +x SAW-dev-linux.AppImage -
Open it.
Then sign in with the same account you use on the web, and your projects and tickets are already there. See Sign in.
Already have the app? On a By Dawn page in your browser, the download dialog’s Open this page in the app opens the same page in the desktop app.
Updates
Section titled “Updates”The desktop app checks for a new version shortly after it starts, then every six hours. It never updates without asking:
- SAW … is available asks first. Choose Download to get it in the background, Later to be asked again, or Stop Checking Automatically.
- SAW … is ready to install asks again before restarting. Restarting stops any agent sessions running on this computer, so choose Restart Now when that suits you, or Later.
A bar at the top of the window says when an update is waiting, with Update… or Restart to update. If the bar says an update is required, it also says how long you have. After that, this computer can’t start new cloud jobs until you update, though anything already running carries on.
On a Mac, you can check now with SAW, then Check for Updates… in the menu bar. It tells you if you’re already up to date.
If a check fails, the bar offers Retry, and a failed check from the menu offers Download Installer, which gets the newest installer. Installing it over the app you have keeps your workspace and settings.
The web app updates itself whenever you load it. If the page you have open is too old to keep working with By Dawn, a bar says A newer version of SAW is available. Reload to pick it up. Choose Reload.
Install the agent on another machine
Section titled “Install the agent on another machine”By Dawn’s agent runs tickets on whichever computer it’s installed on. Put it on a machine that’s always on, such as a Mac mini or a cloud server, and it keeps working on tickets while your own computer is off. Such a machine is a remote agent. It runs on macOS and Linux.
Install it from a terminal on that machine:
- macOS:
brew install lendercom/tap/saw-agent - Linux, or anything with curl:
curl -fsSL https://get.sawrun.com/agent | sh
The installer at get.sawrun.com checks that the release is signed by By Dawn before it installs anything, puts the
agent in ~/.saw/bin, and sets it to run in the background. The machine only needs to reach the internet: there are
no ports to open. After that, the agent updates itself when By Dawn tells it a new version is out.
Installing is the first step of pairing the machine with your organization, which an org admin does from
Settings, then Organization, then Remote Agents. The pairing guide there shows these commands, and the dev
agent’s (saw-agent-dev) on a dev build of By Dawn, then walks you through the rest. See
Pair a machine.
Which versions of macOS, Windows and Linux does By Dawn support?
The Mac app is one download for Apple silicon and Intel Macs. The Windows and Linux apps are 64-bit only. The agent installer runs on macOS and Linux.
Do I need the desktop app to run agents?
No. A remote agent runs them for your whole organization, and you can follow every run from the web app. The desktop app lets your own computer run them too.
Why does Windows warn me about the installer?
Because it isn’t code-signed yet. The warning, “Windows protected your PC”, appears for any unsigned installer. Choose More info, then Run anyway.
- Sign in: sign in to the app you just installed.
- Start guide: your first project, ticket and agent run.