Install Atom Crafter

Atom Crafter is a desktop app. Download a build for your platform and open an Astro project you already have — or create a new one from the start screen.

Download

Builds for macOS (universal) and Windows are published on the releases page. Prefer that “latest” link so you always land on the current version.

Shipped builds update themselves from that feed, so you typically download once and let the app keep current.

If Gatekeeper blocks a macOS build the first time you open it, right-click the app and choose Open.

What your machine needs

Atom Crafter drives the tools your project already uses rather than bundling its own Node toolchain, so those need to be installed:

Tool	Why it is needed
Node.js 22.12+ and a package manager (npm, pnpm, or yarn)	The app shells out to install dependencies and run astro dev for the project you open
git	Branches, commits, and the branch chip in the title bar
GitHub CLI (gh)	Only when you use Publish to GitHub. Authenticate once with gh auth login

A project does not need anything added for Atom Crafter. There is no plugin, no special config file, and no extra dependency. If npm run dev (or your package manager’s equivalent) works in your terminal, the project should open.

After install

1. Launch Atom Crafter.
2. Open an existing Astro project, or create a new one into an empty folder.
3. Wait for the title-bar URL indicator to go green — that means the project’s own dev server is up.
4. Continue with the Quick start.

Need help getting a build or opening a project? Email support@atomcrafter.com.