Download

Beta

Get Kernl

v0.432.0 · Aug 25, 2026 (today)

Windows
x64 installer

Windows x64, 252 MB · no account, no sign-up

macOS
In progress
Linux
Planned

Windows is our primary platform, and every release is built and tested on Windows before it ships. The macOS build is in progress. Linux is planned, without a date we would want to hold ourselves to yet. Both will be listed here once they meet the same bar.

On a Mac or Linux? Leave your email and we will tell you the day that build ships. We will not send you anything else.

Email me when the macOS or Linux build ships.

Release notes only. We do not sell or share your address, and you can unsubscribe from any of them.

Previous versions

We do not support older builds, and they will not receive updates. Take the latest one unless you have a reason not to.

Windows 10 or 11. A graphics card with 8 GB or more of its own memory makes the built-in AI fast.
Without one it still runs, using 16 GB of your computer's memory instead, just more slowly. You can also connect an account you already have with Claude, GPT, or Gemini, which works on any machine.

Using Kernl at a company? See team licensing.

After you download

What happens next

  1. 1Run the installer. Windows may still warn you the first time. If it does, click More info, then Run anyway.
  2. 2Kernl opens on one setup screen. It offers the best local model your machine can run and downloads it, or you can point it at a plan or a key you already have. No account needed either way.
  3. 3Point it at a folder to work in. Inside that folder it reads, edits, and runs things without stopping to ask each time. Outside it, and for anything it cannot undo, it asks first.
  4. 4Try the first task below. Watch it plan, ask before anything risky, and show its work as it goes.

A good first task to try

"Look in my Downloads folder, find the duplicate files, and show me a list before deleting anything."

It will look, and it will show you the list, but nothing gets deleted without your say-so. It is a calm way to watch Kernl plan, act, and ask.

Changed your mind? Uninstall it from Windows Settings, Apps, like any other program. It asks what to keep, and keeps everything unless you say otherwise: your conversations, your settings, and the models you downloaded all stay unless you tick the box to remove them. Your own files are never touched.

Before you install

Is it safe?

Kernl can read your files, run commands, and drive your browser. That is what makes it useful, so here is the straight answer on what to expect.

Want to try it without touching your main PC at all? Run it in a separate, disposable copy of Windows first.

You approve anything it cannot take back

Inside the folder you opened, it edits files and runs commands without stopping each time, so you are not clicking Allow every few seconds. It asks first for anything it cannot undo: reaching outside that folder, sending anything off your machine, or a delete that sweeps the whole project folder.

Signed, and Windows may still warn you

The installer is signed, and the release stops rather than publishing one that is not. We will not pretend it will make the warning disappear on its own: Windows lifts that prompt once enough people have downloaded a build, not the moment a certificate is attached. So if you see it, click More info, then Run anyway, and use the fingerprint check below to tell you the file is ours.

You can confirm it is really from us

The installer is signed by us, so Windows can confirm it came from us.
Want to check the file yourself? Open PowerShell in your Downloads folder and run Get-FileHash .\Kernl_*_x64-setup.exe, then compare what it prints with the line in SHA256SUMS.txt. It prints capitals and the file uses lower case; it is the same value. If they match, this exact file is the one we published: the signature says who published it, and this fingerprint says which build, so nothing was altered on the way to you.

Your data stays on your machine

With the built-in AI, what you type, your files, and the results never leave the machine. If you connect an account of your own, your request goes straight to that company rather than through us. See exactly what goes where.

We never see your files or your messages

The short version: your files, what you type, and the results are never sent to us, and you can turn off everything below in one click. In full, so nothing is hidden: on by default, Kernl keeps counters: crashes, failed updates, that a tool ran, that a turn finished, which model was loaded. Counts only, never content. A finer set, covering the individual features and settings you touch, stays off until you switch it on. Also on by default, Kernl asks our download server for a newer version when it starts, sending the version you have and the kind of computer it runs on. Neither one ever contains your files or your messages, and the switch is what stops them: Airplane Mode governs what the agent may reach, not what the app reports. The full breakdown.

Updates are one download

Kernl downloads the new version and installs it. Your conversations, settings, and files are not touched.

Kernl can

  • +Read files you point it at
  • +Edit and create files in the folder you opened
  • +Run commands in that folder
  • +Drive a browser session you start
  • +Use a local model, or your own cloud key

Kernl does not

  • xRequire an account for personal use
  • xUpload your files by default
  • xRun a command without showing it first
  • xTouch anything outside your project folder unasked
  • xSend prompts anywhere when using the local model

Requirements

  • Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
  • A graphics card from the last few years, from NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel. Eight gigabytes or more of memory on the card is where the built-in AI starts to feel fast.
  • No graphics card is fine too, as long as the computer has 16 GB of memory. It works, it is just slow. You can also skip the built-in AI entirely and connect an account you already have with Claude, GPT, or Gemini.
  • Room for the app and its first AI. The smallest built-in model is 1.8 GB, and Kernl offers a larger one when your machine can run it.

Windows today. macOS is in progress and Linux is planned. Get an email when they ship.

Which AI it can use

Built in, on your machine

  • Open models from Qwen and Ornith, in several sizes
  • Kernl picks the largest one your machine can handle
  • Some of them read images and screenshots directly. The rest are text only, and Kernl reads any picture you give them with its built-in text recognition instead.
  • You can add other open models yourself
  • Already have models in Ollama, LM Studio, or Jan? Kernl finds them and runs them from where they already are, so nothing is downloaded twice

Or an account of your own

  • A plan you already pay for: Claude Pro or Max, or ChatGPT through Codex
  • Or a key: Claude, GPT, Gemini
  • Or OpenRouter, Groq, Mistral, DeepSeek, xAI, Moonshot, and the other services that speak the same format

If the AI you picked cannot read images, Kernl reads them on your machine instead and passes on the text. When you use an account of your own, what you type goes to that company under your account rather than through us. What stays local, and what leaves.