Installation and minimum requirements
How to install ADT Studio on your computer, and what your machine needs to run it.
ADT Studio runs locally on your computer. For almost everyone, the desktop app is the way to install it — download it, double-click it, open it, like any normal program.
Install the desktop app
The desktop app is available for Windows and macOS.
Download
Go to the ADT Studio download page and download the installer for your system.
Install it
Open the downloaded file and follow the installation steps.
Launch ADT Studio
Open it like any other app on your computer.
Minimum requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Windows | Windows 10 or newer, 64-bit only. Windows 7, 8, and 8.1, and 32-bit systems, aren't supported. |
| macOS | macOS 12 (Monterey) or newer, on Apple Silicon (arm64). There is currently no Intel or Universal build — Intel Macs aren't supported. |
| Internet connection | Required during installation, when applying updates, and during PDF conversion (for the AI processing). Not required to open or use a finished ADT. |
| An AI provider API key | Required before you can convert a PDF. See AI providers and costs. |
Working with a long book on a slower machine?
Very long or complex books can be demanding to process in one go, and on lower-powered machines this has, in some cases, caused the app to crash mid-run. If that happens, use Split & merge to break the book into smaller parts, process them separately (even across different people or machines), and reassemble the results afterward — see Splitting a book into parts.
Notes
- Updates. ADT Studio updates itself automatically, so you never need to download or run a new installer by hand. The update itself is still fetched over the internet in the background, so an internet connection is needed for a new version to apply.
- Something not working? Check the Troubleshooting & FAQ page, or report the issue.
Option for developers: run it from source
If you want to build ADT Studio yourself, contribute to the project, or run it in an environment where the packaged installer doesn't fit — you can run it directly from source, using the same tools you'd use for any software project: an IDE, Git, and Node.js.
Prerequisites
Node.js 20+, pnpm 9+, and Git. Running the desktop shell itself (rather than just the browser-based dev version) additionally needs the Rust toolchain.
Clone and install
git clone git@github.com:unicef/adt-studio.git
cd adt-studio
pnpm installRun it
pnpm devThis starts the API and Studio dev servers and opens the app in your browser. See the GitHub repository for the full setup, including how to launch the desktop shell (pnpm dev:desktop) instead of the browser version.
Self-hosting on shared infrastructure (e.g. for an IT-managed environment) is also possible — see Can I self-host ADT Studio for my organisation? in the FAQ.