Desktop app

The desktop app is the easiest way to run Open Net Worth: it includes everything it needs, keeps your book in a folder on your computer, and updates itself. It can also be a window onto an Open Net Worth server you run elsewhere.

It runs on macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows 10/11 (x64) and Linux (x86_64, AppImage or .deb). To download it, see Installing Open Net Worth.

First launch: choose where your book lives

Open the app and click Get started.
On Where should we keep your book?, the app suggests a Book folder on this computer — ~/.open-net-worth in your home folder (on Windows, %USERPROFILE%\.open-net-worth).
- Click Continue to use it. If a book is already there, it opens.
- Or click Change to pick another folder. An empty folder starts a new book. A folder that already holds other files gets a new Open Net Worth subfolder for the book, so it never mixes with your files (the app asks first).
- Or, under Or keep your book elsewhere, choose On your own server — see Connect to a server.
The app then walks you through your first run. To bring back a book you exported earlier, click I have a backup to restore on the first step — see Export and portability.

Opening a book you already have

The desktop app starts with its own book, separate from a browser/server install. To open an existing book instead:

Settings → Desktop → Your book → Open another folder…, or File → Open book folder…
Choose the book’s main folder (the one containing data/onw.db). Choosing its data folder works too.

The app confirms, closes any unfinished reviews, reloads with the chosen book and remembers it next time. Your previous book stays where it is. A folder with unrelated files, a book already open in another program, or a book from a newer version is refused, and the app stays on the book you had.

Only one program can have a book open at a time. If an Open Net Worth server on this computer is already using a book, connect to that server instead of opening its folder.

Connect to a server

Use this when Open Net Worth runs on another machine (or as a server on this one) and you want the desktop app as its window.

At first launch choose On your own server, or later use File → Connection… or Settings → Desktop → Connection → Change connection.
In Server URL, enter the address you open in your browser — the root only, such as https://wealth.example.com or http://127.0.0.1:8080 (no path).
Click Connect and sign in with that server’s password.

Rules for the address: a public server must use https://. Plain http:// works for this computer (localhost/127.0.0.1), and for a private home-network address after you confirm Connect anyway on the “This connection is not encrypted.” warning.

While connected, your book, AI settings and Automations all live on the server and keep running when you quit the app. The desktop features that act on a local book — import, export, open book folder, watched folders, review documents — are turned off; use the server’s own upload and download screens instead. Your last local book is remembered; switch back from the same Connection screen (On this computer).

When the app starts, it waits up to a minute for the server to answer, so a server on this computer that starts at login (onw autostart install) has time to come up. If it still can’t be reached, you see Can’t reach your server. with Try again, Change connection… and Use a book on this computer. The app keeps checking in the background on that screen, and opens the server by itself as soon as it answers.

Keep it running in the background

After setup, a one-time Ready when you need it window offers two switches, both off until you turn them on. Change them later in Settings → Desktop → Background activity (or the Background and startup… menu item).

Keep running when the window closes (called Keep running in the background in the one-time window) — the app keeps an icon in the menu bar (macOS) or system tray (Windows/Linux), and your imports, Automations and browser access keep running after you close the window. Quit stops it.
Start at login — starts quietly in the tray when you sign in to your computer. No window opens until you open the app. It doesn’t wake a sleeping computer.

Keep computer awake

Keep computer awake (Settings → Desktop → Background activity, or the Keep awake switch on Automations) stops idle sleep while the app runs, so Automations run on time. The display can still turn off; closing a laptop lid still sleeps (unless it’s plugged in with an external display, where Keep awake still holds). Off by default.

Running the server yourself (onw) on macOS or Windows? The same Keep awake switch appears on Automations in the browser and holds that computer awake while the server runs. It isn’t offered on Linux or in Docker — use the machine’s own power settings there.

With background mode off, closing the window quits the app on Windows and Linux. On macOS, closing the window only hides it; the app keeps running until you quit.

On Linux, stock GNOME shows no tray icon. With background mode on, start Open Net Worth again from the applications menu to bring the window back. Start at login there is an entry in ~/.config/autostart, removed when you turn it off.

When connected to a server, your Automations run on the server whether or not the app is open.

Notifications

Settings → Desktop → Notifications → Show desktop notifications (on by default) shows a system banner for:

everything that appears in Activity, and
Intel alerts: a price alert firing, a sharp-drop warning on a holding, an explained watchlist alert, and a news analysis worth acting on.

Each banner shows the alert’s own title and summary — amounts included — so it can appear on your lock screen. To hide that, turn off previews for Open Net Worth in your system’s notification settings. No notification channel needs to be set up; the app shows these itself, once each.

If more than three arrive at once (say, after your computer wakes), you get one banner, “N new alerts”, naming the newest few. When the app starts, only Intel alerts from the last 15 minutes are announced; older ones wait in Intel. Clicking a banner opens the transactions to review, or Intel for an Intel alert.

Watch a folder for new statements

Go to Settings → Desktop → Statement folders and click Choose folder….
Pick the folder your bank statements download to.
When a new file lands there, you get “New documents are ready to review.” Click Review next to it (or View → Review documents) to open it in the usual import review. Nothing is booked until you approve the rows, and nothing is sent to an AI model just because it arrived.

A document marked Private stays Private and refuses an AI preview until you change that in Documents. Remove access stops future reads; files already copied into your book stay. Folder access belongs to this computer and doesn’t travel with an exported book.

You can also import one-off files with File → Import statement or receipt… (⌘/Ctrl + O). Each file opens in the review separately.

Updates

The app checks for a new version 30 seconds after it starts and every 4 hours after that.

When one is out, it downloads in the background — nothing to answer — and the menu shows Downloading Update….
When it’s ready, you get a notification and the menu shows Restart to Update to Open Net Worth X. Choose it to restart now, or keep working: the update installs the next time you quit. The app never restarts on its own, and it closes your book safely before installing — a small Installing Open Net Worth X… window shows while it does.
After restarting, a notification confirms “Open Net Worth was updated to X.”

To check right away: Open Net Worth → Check for Updates… on macOS, Help → Check for Updates… on Windows and Linux. A manual check asks first — Download and Install, Skip This Version or Later — always offers the newest version, even one you skipped, and says “You’re up to date.” otherwise.

Skip This Version is remembered until a newer version comes out; background checks don’t download it.
If a background download fails, the menu shows Update Available… and the next check tries again.
Linux AppImage downloads the new AppImage, checks it against the release’s signed SHA256SUMS, and swaps it in place. A .deb install, or an AppImage in a folder you can’t write to, can’t update itself: you get a notification and Update Available… offers Open Download Page.
A copy you built yourself can’t install updates; it says so and offers the download page. Install the released app once and later updates work normally.
To turn automatic checks off, start the app with ONW_DESKTOP_UPDATES=0.

When the new version starts, it updates your book’s database automatically, with a backup first — see Upgrading. An older version can’t open a book a newer one has updated.

Back up your book

Settings → Desktop → Your book → Export backup… or File → Export book… (⇧⌘E / CtrlShiftE) saves your whole book as one .zip you can keep anywhere outside the book folder. This is the same export as Settings → Data — see Export and portability. The app also keeps its own daily backups — see Backup and restore.

Window and shortcuts

On macOS the window has no separate title bar: the traffic-light buttons sit in the app’s top bar, next to a sidebar toggle and Back / Forward arrows. Drag an empty part of the bar to move the window; double-click it to zoom. Windows and Linux use the system title bar and a menu bar.

Action	macOS	Windows / Linux
Reload / Force Reload (View menu)	`⌘R` / `⇧⌘R`	`CtrlR` or `F5` / `CtrlShiftR`
Back / Forward (Go menu)	`⌘[` / `⌘]`	`Alt←` / `Alt→`
Show or hide the sidebar	`⌘B`	`CtrlB`
Command palette	`⌘K`	`CtrlK`
Go to Lucius, Assets, Accounts, Plan, Investments, Intel, Commitments, Dashboard (Go menu)	`⌘1` to `8`	`Ctrl1` to `8`
Close Window (hides it, like the red button)	`⌘W`	not applicable
Keyboard Shortcuts (Help menu)	`⇧⌘/`	`CtrlShift/`
Open Lucius	`⌘L`	`CtrlL`
New transaction	`⌘N`	`CtrlN`
Import statement or receipt	`⌘O`	`CtrlO`
Export book	`⇧⌘E`	`CtrlShiftE`
Settings	`⌘,`	`Ctrl,`
Hide amounts	`H`	`H`

Keyboard Shortcuts uses ⇧ because plain ⌘/Ctrl + / shows or hides the Lucius panel. With the sidebar hidden, hovering the sidebar button previews it (Esc closes the preview); clicking pins it open. Shortcuts that also work in a browser are under Keyboard shortcuts.

Where things are in the menus:

Open Net Worth (macOS only): About, Settings…, Check for Updates…, Background and startup…, Quit.
File: Connection…, Open book folder…, Open in browser, Import statement or receipt…, Export book…, New transaction. On Windows and Linux, File also holds Settings…, Background and startup… and Quit.
View: command palette, Toggle Sidebar, Lucius, Review documents, zoom, reload, full screen.
Go: Back, Forward and the eight main screens.
Window: includes Show Main Window, which brings the app back even when it’s hidden to the tray.
Help: Open Net Worth Help (this documentation), Keyboard Shortcuts, a Troubleshooting submenu (Open Logs Folder, Reveal Book Folder, Restart Server), Report a Problem…, and on Windows/Linux Check for Updates….

The tray icon menu has Open Open Net Worth, Open in browser, Import statement or receipt…, Review documents and Quit Open Net Worth.

Troubleshooting

“Your book folder isn’t there anymore” — the folder the app remembered was moved, renamed, deleted, or is on a drive that isn’t connected. Nothing was created or deleted at the old path. Reconnect the drive and choose Open another folder…, or pick Create a new book…, Restore from backup… (needs an empty folder, then restores an exported .zip) or Connect to a server.

“Book already open” — another program (usually an Open Net Worth server on this computer) has this book open. Stop it and choose Retry startup, or Choose another folder, or connect to that server instead.

The book is from a newer version — click Check for updates to update the app. An older app never changes a newer book.

“Open Net Worth could not start” — click Try again. If it keeps failing, Open logs folder shows the reason (see Logs), and Report this problem sends it to the developers after you’ve reviewed it.

Something’s stuck — Help → Troubleshooting → Restart Server restarts the app’s local engine without quitting (unsaved changes and unfinished reviews close).

What the desktop app doesn’t do

Lucius’s code sandbox, local (stdio) MCP servers for Lucius, and the app-building coding engines aren’t available in the desktop app; HTTP MCP servers and your configured AI providers work as usual. The other direction does work: Claude Desktop, Cursor and other AI apps can use your book through the app — see Use your book from other AI apps.