Getting started

What you need

• A supported Windows, macOS, or Linux desktop
• Network access for sign-in, license checks, and optional model providers
• A Bitslix account with BLXAde access (lifetime license or authorized local development path)
• Optional: OpenRouter API key for the Global Agent

Download channels and builds are announced on blxade.dev.

First launch flow

BLXAde walks you through a fixed app flow:

1. Booting — loads runtime, preferences, and local state
2. Login — GitHub or Google via Bitslix (Better Auth)
3. Onboarding — language, agents, integrations, Global Agent, optional extras
4. Projects / Main menu — create or open a workspace
5. App — the canvas editor for the open project

There is no browser-style URL routing. Overlays such as Settings and the project switcher sit on top of the current surface.

Sign in

1. On the login screen, choose Continue with GitHub or Continue with Google.
2. Complete OAuth in the system browser.
3. BLXAde returns via deep link (blxade://auth/callback) and establishes a native session.

Notes

• Discord and email/password are not accepted for the BLXAde desktop client.
• Access tokens stay in native memory; the refresh credential is stored in the OS keyring — never in SQLite, logs, or the webview.
• If the network drops after a successful session, BLXAde can stay in offline mode while a valid signed license lease is still active (see Security). Offline mode shows a retry banner and disables account profile writes until online again.
• UI language is English or German (chosen in onboarding / General).

Debug builds may expose a Skip login action for local UI work. That control is compiled out of release builds and cannot be enabled with an environment variable.

License access

Signing in identifies you; a separate access gate authorizes the app.

• Productive use requires a valid lifetime license lease (or an allowed local development bypass in debug environments).
• Leases are signed, installation-bound, and expire after seven days; the app refreshes them online periodically.
• When a lease expires or is denied, BLXAde returns you to login and closes productive workspaces.

Account and profile controls live under Settings → General.

Onboarding steps

Required progress is versioned so new steps can catch up existing users. The ordered steps are:

You cannot finish onboarding until the Global Agent OpenRouter check succeeds. YouTube Music can be skipped and completed later under Settings → Connections.

You can replay onboarding later from Settings without deleting projects (see Settings → General).

First project

1. From the project overview / main menu, create a project (base folder + name) or open an existing folder.
2. BLXAde creates or reuses a .blxade/ marker inside that folder.
3. The canvas opens with an empty (or restored) board.

See Projects for workspace details and autosave.

Minimum productive setup

Next steps

• Projects — how workspaces are stored
• Canvas — drawing and layout
• Canvas nodes — apps and tools on the board
• Settings — full configuration reference