Getting started

Install

Download the package for your system from the download page; the steps for each system are there too.

• Mac: before the first launch, in Terminal, remove the quarantine flag the download carries; the download page has the command to copy.
• Windows: on first launch Windows says “Windows protected your PC”; click “More info”, then “Run anyway”. On Windows 11 with Smart App Control on, turn it off first as the download page shows.
• Linux: install the .deb, or make the AppImage executable and run it.

Upgrading from 0.1.4 or 0.1.3, install over it and your data carries on as it is (on Windows, replace the unzipped folder with the new one); from 0.1.2 or earlier, first bring your ledger across as Upgrading from an earlier version below describes.

Using it through an AI Agent

An AI Agent with a cloud computer can install ZIKARON and get it ready to work by itself, and you use it simply by talking with the agent; an AI Agent on your own computer walks you through the app, which you open once. There is a prompt for each case on the Use page, copied in one click. The details of each way are in Command line and AI Agents and remote operation.

Upgrading from an earlier version

From 0.1.4 or 0.1.3: install over it; the machine folder and data folders carry on as they are, with nothing else to do. From 0.1.2 or earlier: this version starts from an empty machine folder, and the key store, identities, settings and data those versions left stay where they are. Bring a Recorder’s ledger across in five steps:

1. In 0.1.2, open Settings › Local data, press “Export ledger mirror”, save it to a folder outside the machine folder, then quit.
2. Move the earlier machine folder aside together with its pointer file. On a Mac and on Linux the pointer file is .zikaron-desk in your home folder and the machine folder is .zikaron-desk.d by default; on Windows both are in %LOCALAPPDATA%\ZIKARON\.
3. Open the new version, set a passcode, and at “Create an identity” press “Import an existing key” and import with the same recovery words.
4. At “Create the ledger”, click “Adopt existing ledger folder”, choose the mirror’s ZIKARON-backup/<address>/author folder and press “Adopt in place”. Every entry is checked again and the ledger is checked against the records on chain; that completes the step.
5. Run a ledger check on the Ledger page and see it read “OK”.

Other identities go the same way: import each with “Import key” from the identity chip, then take its mirror with “Adopt existing ledger folder” under “Advanced options” in Settings › Local data. Add received grants again in “My grants”, and set the network and other settings again. After upgrading, keep opening the data with the new version: 0.1.2 and earlier cannot read the files it writes.

First launch

A wizard opens, with six steps down the left:

1. Set a passcode. 8 letters or digits, asked for each time the app opens.
2. Create an identity. The app generates 12 recovery words; write them on paper, then fill three of them back in when asked. You can also import a key you already have, or restore from a whole-machine backup.
3. Network. Choose “Ethereum mainnet”; the app comes with public nodes. To try it free first, choose “Custom”, then in Settings › Network press “Edit nodes”; in “Edit nodes and chain” choose “Custom”, pick “Sepolia testnet” under “Preset”, and press “Save”.
4. Create the ledger. Write a line of description (or leave it empty) and press “Create the ledger”. Free. With a ledger already at hand (a ledger folder, or a mirror “Export ledger mirror” wrote), click “Adopt existing ledger folder” beside it, choose it under “Ledger folder” and press “Adopt in place”.
5. Add gas. Send a little ETH to the address on the page, or scan the payment QR code with your wallet (it names the chosen network), and press “I have sent it”. You can choose “Later”.
6. Whole-machine backup. Export a password-protected backup file. You can do it later; the sooner the better.

“中文” | “English” at the bottom left switches the language from the first step. “Back” returns to the previous page; on the page that checks the recovery words it returns to the same twelve words. Once the passcode and the identity are set, “Exit setup” (or Esc) is at the bottom left.

Keep the recovery words on paper, somewhere only you can reach. They bring back your keys; ledgers and settings come back from a whole-machine backup.

Your first record

Choose “Recorder” at the top of the sidebar.

1. Record. Drop a file onto Home, fill in “Record name” on the “New record” card, and press “Add to ledger”.
2. Put it on chain. Click the “Pending” card on Home, then press “Confirm and send” on the “Put on chain” card that opens. A few minutes later the state turns “Confirmed”.
3. Grant. Open “Grant” and press “New grant”: fill in the other side’s address, choose this record, drop in a terms file, add it to the ledger and put it on chain the same way. See Grants.

Keep the original files safe: to prove something later, you show the very file the record was made from.

Receiving a grant

1. Switch to “User” at the top of the sidebar.
2. Paste the grant code you received into the “Verify a grant” card on Home and press “Start check”.
3. Open “My grants”, press “Add grant”, paste the grant code or drop in the grant file, and press “Verify and add” to keep it. When it is about to expire or gets revoked, the Alerts page tells you.

The window

The sidebar is on the left: at the top the identity chip and the “Recorder” / “User” switch, in the middle that role’s pages, and at the bottom “Settings”, “Lock” and the sync status.

Every action that writes to your ledger or the chain happens on a card that says what will be written and what it costs. The red key on the card writes; “Cancel” leaves everything as it was.