Install Ledsten
Still being built.
Ledsten isn’t ready to install yet. Everything below is how it will work when it is.
Ledsten is a free app for Mac and Windows, still being built.
Ledsten is a free app for Mac and Windows computers, still being built. You can send this page to your computer for later.
Ledsten is for Mac and Windows for now, and still being built.
What you’ll download
Two downloads, then no more.
1 · The app
The installer from this page. It holds the whole app, all the guides and quick cards, and the official handbooks.
2 · The assistant
One file of 3.2 to 16 GB, depending on the version you pick. Ledsten downloads it during setup from Hugging Face, a public site that hosts AI models, and checks it against a fingerprint of the original once it has fully arrived. No internet there? Setup offers “Install from file…”: pick the file for your version, from a USB stick, using the offline install kit.
Which version to pick
Three sizes. Pick what your computer can handle.
The assistant runs entirely on your own machine. It uses Gemma 4, an AI model Google released for anyone to use. The bigger versions give more thorough answers but take up more space and need more memory — and you can switch between them later in Settings. The app calls the three sizes model tiers.
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Lite
Quick lookups
- Download
- 3.2 GB
- Free space
- 3.4 GB
- Memory
- 6.7 GB+
- Speed
- ~25 words/s
-
Standard Recommended
Everyday use
- Download
- 5.0 GB
- Free space
- 5.3 GB
- Memory
- 11.1 GB+
- Speed
- ~13 words/s
-
Pro
Deep reasoning
- Download
- 16 GB
- Free space
- 16.7 GB
- Memory
- 39.7 GB+
- Speed
- ~9 words/s
| Version | Best for | Download | Free space needed | Computer memory | Writing speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | Quick lookups | 3.2 GB | 3.4 GB | 6.7 GB+ | ~25 words/sec |
| Standard | Everyday use | 5.0 GB | 5.3 GB | 11.1 GB+ | ~13 words/sec |
| Pro | Deep reasoning | 16 GB | 16.7 GB | 39.7 GB+ | ~9 words/sec |
All three write faster than most people read — the smaller ones just feel snappier. Pro is unusually efficient for its size: it takes a lot of space to store, but only uses a small part of itself to write each word, so it runs at about two-thirds the speed of Standard rather than far slower. It still needs the whole file in memory, though, because a single answer ends up using every part of it. Setup suggests the largest version whose memory use (3, 5, 18 GB) is at most 45% of your computer’s memory and that fits in your free space. Going by memory alone, an 8 GB computer gets Lite, 16 to 36 GB gets Standard, and 48 GB or more gets Pro. If none fits, it suggests Lite and tells you answers may be slow. You can still pick a bigger one — Ledsten warns you to expect slow answers, and won’t start a download without the free space. Speeds are rough estimates, not promises, and depend on your computer. Setup and Settings show these speeds in tokens per second (about 35, 18 and 12); a token is roughly three-quarters of a word.
What your computer needs
System requirements.
- Mac
- macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple Silicon or Intel
- Windows
- Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit
- Lite
- 6.7 GB of computer memory or more, and 3.4 GB of free space to download it
- Standard
- 11.1 GB of computer memory or more, and 5.3 GB of free space to download it
- Pro
- 39.7 GB of computer memory or more, and 16.7 GB of free space to download it
Setup reads your computer’s memory and free space and tells you which versions fit before anything is downloaded.
Every file
All downloads, with checksums.
Once the first version is out, every installer is listed here — Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and Windows — each with its size and SHA-256 checksum.
Installing
Like any other app.
Mac
Open the downloaded .dmg and drag Ledsten into Applications, then open it from
there. The first time, macOS asks whether to open an app downloaded from the internet;
choose Open.
Windows
Open the downloaded .exe. It installs Ledsten and opens it. Windows may ask you
to confirm you want to run an app from the internet first.
Checking your download
Make sure it’s the real file.
Every file has a SHA-256 checksum, a fingerprint that changes if even one byte does. Compare the one your computer works out with the one listed here with each release.
Mac (Terminal)
shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Ledsten-*.dmg
Windows (PowerShell)
Get-FileHash $HOME\Downloads\Ledsten-*.exe -Algorithm SHA256
Updating
Ledsten never updates itself.
Updating on its own would mean going online on its own. When there’s a new version, download it here and install it over the old one: your household, supplies, plans and documents stay where they are, in Ledsten’s folder on your computer.
Setting it up
7 steps, one download.
Setup walks you through it in order. Only one step uses the internet.
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Install Ledsten
Open the installer like any other app.
-
Check your computer
Ledsten reads its memory and free space and suggests the version that fits. Nothing is sent anywhere.
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Pick a version
Lite, Standard or Pro. Take the suggestion or choose another; see the table below.
-
Download the assistant
One file, checked against the original once it has fully arrived. No internet? Install it from a USB stick instead.
Only online step -
Confirm it’s offline
Ledsten tries to reach the internet on purpose, three different ways, and shows you each attempt being stopped.
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Choose guide packs
The 43 base guides are always there. Add the field medicine, water, radio and chemical-emergency packs (8 more guides, already on your computer) now or later. Nothing is downloaded.
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Add your household
How many people, where you live and your climate, so plans and supply sums fit you.