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The first time you open the desktop app, it runs a 12-step install wizard. From the second launch onward, if the stack is already up, the app skips the wizard entirely and drops you straight into the Nora SPA.

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The install wizard

Click [Install Nora] on the landing screen. The wizard renders a checklist you can watch line by line — expand Show details to see the raw docker compose log underneath.

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The 12 steps

The pull phase usually takes 2 – 5 minutes on a reasonable connection and is near-instant on a rebuild. If the images cannot be pulled — a private network or a throttled registry — Docker falls back to building from source, which takes 15 – 30 minutes on the first run.
The final step waits for the server to answer with flavor: onprem on purpose. If a different service happens to be answering on the same port, the app treats it as a port conflict rather than silently opening someone else’s app. See the Settings page to change the port.

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The tray icon

Once Nora is installed, it lives in the tray — the menu bar on macOS, the system tray on Windows, or the notification area on Linux. Right-click for these actions:
  • [Open Nora] brings the main window forward.
  • [Stop stack] runs docker compose stop. Configuration and data volumes stay intact.
  • [Restart stack] stops then starts the stack.
  • [Quit Nora] quits the desktop app. Containers keep running unless you stop them first.
The tray icon uses macOS template mode, so it inverts correctly under dark and light menu bars.

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The app menu

The Nora submenu lives in the top menu bar on macOS and in the window menu on Windows and Linux. It has four things:
  • [About Nora] shows the version and build info.
  • [Check for Updates…] and [Import Update…] open the update popup. See Updates.
  • Services, Hide, and Quit are the standard macOS entries.
The Edit submenu wires up Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Select All. It’s there so the license key and port inputs behave like every other native app. The Window submenu covers Minimize, Maximize, and Close Window.

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Second launch

On subsequent launches, the app calls docker info and GET /api/v1/system/deploy before it paints anything. When the stack is already up and healthy:
  • The setup HTML never flashes on screen.
  • The window opens directly on the SPA URL (http://localhost:${NORA_HOST_PORT}).
  • The setup screens — landing, wizard, dashboard — only reappear when the stack is stopped or when you open Settings.
If the stack is installed but stopped, you land on the small Dashboard screen with an [Start Nora] button. One click starts the containers and the app takes you to the SPA once the health probe returns.

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Next

Settings

License key, host port, reset, and full uninstall.

Updates

Update the app shell and container images, together or independently.