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Desktop

Babel Desktop is an Electron visual shell for the Babel Harness. The real work still runs the Babel CLI underneath; Desktop is the window around it.

Install and set up

Section titled “Install and set up”

Use Get Babel for the currently published Windows x64 assets and their SHA256 checksums. The per-user Setup.exe installs Babel Desktop, adds a Start Menu shortcut and an Installed apps uninstall entry, and stages upgrades with rollback. The portable ZIP is an alternative: extract the entire archive before opening Babel Desktop.exe.

  1. Open a project and start Docker Desktop with Linux containers for the default safe_repo profile.
  2. In Setup, choose Prepare recommended image. Babel downloads a pinned Linux amd64 image with shell, Git, Node 24 and npm, then verifies it. This may take several minutes. For a custom toolchain, expand Use an existing local image and choose Validate and use image. Other languages or project tools may require a custom image. The exact verified image is saved for both Desktop and Babel Harness.cmd.
  3. Open Providers and models, select your provider, and enter its API key. Leave the key blank when keeping a saved credential. Local Ollama requires a running local server and no cloud key.
  4. Enable the models you want available, choose a default, and save. Catalog refresh shows routes qualified by the CLI; Ollama refresh discovers locally installed models.
  5. Send a task in Chat. Desktop invokes the bundled CLI and displays its real responses, tool activity, approvals and result. Plan and Deep currently require OpenRouter; other providers offer Chat with an explanation.

Desktop starts on an empty, connected harness workspace. It supplies no simulated conversation, file findings, tool results or context numbers.

Bundled runtime and behavior

Section titled “Bundled runtime and behavior”

The Windows bundle includes the Desktop shell, the authoritative CLI, immutable prompt assets, production dependencies, and a pinned Node runtime — no separate npm install needed. Setup notes:

  • Provider setup saves credentials in a private plaintext .env under the Desktop profile’s engine/config directory by default. This is not an OS keychain. Optional project storage requires explicit opt-in to an untracked, Git-ignored destination. Existing process environment variables take precedence. Desktop does not import credentials from other apps.
  • Desktop does not start Docker, change Windows policy, or switch to unrestricted host execution. The default safe_repo profile still applies. A running Docker daemon alone is insufficient: Setup and run admission also check the saved image’s shell and Git execution. Image checks do not mount your project or receive provider keys.
  • UI preferences live under %APPDATA%\babel-north-star-desktop; CLI state lives under that profile’s engine directory. Nothing writes back to bundled resources.

Explicitly unqualified

Section titled “Explicitly unqualified”

Per the product’s own installation notes:

  • No code-signing identity, SmartScreen reputation, or automatic updater.
  • Active model-task shutdown on quit is not qualified.
  • Cross-version profile migration is not qualified.

The app remains unsigned. Checksums verify bytes, not publisher identity. Do not disable Windows security settings to run it. Model calls require a working provider and can incur charges; credential presence does not prove authentication. A successful scoped test does not establish general coding reliability.