Getting Started & Setup - Morph IDE Docs

1Installing on macOS, Windows & Linux

During our public beta period, application binaries are currently unsigned while our developer security certificates undergo standard OS reputation evaluations. Follow the simple step-by-step installation instructions below for your platform:

🍎macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel)

Notice: Because the beta application is unsigned, Apple Gatekeeper may show a warning stating "Morph IDE is damaged and can't be opened. You should move it to the Bin" or "cannot be verified" upon first launch.

Move to Applications: Open the downloaded archive and drag MorphIDE.app directly into your macOS /Applications folder.
Clear Quarantine Attribute:Open your Terminal app and run the following direct command to clear Apple's internet download restriction:
$xattr -cr /Applications/MorphIDE.app
Launch Normally: Double-click Morph IDE in your Applications folder and it will boot instantly!

🪟Microsoft Windows (x64 & Arm64)

Notice: When launching the installer, Microsoft Defender SmartScreen may display a blue dialog stating "Windows protected your PC: SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting."

Click More Info: In the Windows Defender SmartScreen pop-up window, click the underlined text labeled More info directly below the warning text.
Select Run Anyway: A new action button labeled Run anyway will appear near the bottom-right of the window. Click it to launch the setup wizard immediately.
Complete Setup: Follow the on-screen installer prompts to complete installation and enable WSL2 integration.

🐧Linux (.deb, .rpm & .AppImage)

AppImage Permissions: If utilizing portable AppImage builds, navigate to your downloads directory in your terminal and mark the file as executable:
$chmod +x Morph-IDE-x86_64.AppImage && ./Morph-IDE-x86_64.AppImage
Debian / Ubuntu: Install the deb package via standard package managers: sudo dpkg -i morph-ide_0.1.0_amd64.deb

2Migrating from Standard VS Code

Because Morph IDE is engineered as a direct native hard fork of Microsoft's core VS Code source tree, transitioning your active developer setup is effortless and takes under 60 seconds:

Full Extension Compatibility

Morph IDE works seamlessly with official Open VSX and VS Code marketplace registries. Your everyday engineering tools function without modification:

Language Servers: TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go, C++
Code Formatters: ESLint, Prettier, Biome, Ruff
Debugger Extensions: Chrome DevTools, Python Debugger

Automated Onboarding Wizard

Upon first launch, Morph IDE opens an intuitive onboarding assistant designed to transfer your previous workbench customizations instantly:

Settings & Preferences: Automatically imports settings.json
Keybindings: Preserves custom shortcut mappings and Vim layouts
Themes & Icons: Migrates favored editor syntax color themes

3Provider Configuration (Bring Your Own Key)

Morph IDE enforces a strict BYOK Architecture, putting you in complete control over billing rates, API limits, and model governance without intermediary markup or cloud proxy routing.

Cloud AI Platforms

Direct Provider API Keys

Open the custom AI Provider Settings Panel inside Morph and paste your direct secret keys. All API payloads communicate directly over verified TLS encryption:

Anthropic: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Haiku & Opus
OpenAI: GPT-4o, o1-mini & o3-mini reasoning models
Google Gemini: Gemini 1.5 Pro / Flash & Gemini 2.0
Groq: Ultra-fast real-time inference endpoints

Air-Gapped Privacy

Local Open-Source LLMs

Connect cleanly to local runtime instances of Ollama, LM Studio, or vLLM on localized localhost ports (e.g., http://localhost:11434 or http://localhost:1234).

Because requests originate natively within Electron's main backend Node process, zero tricky network configurations or browser CORS proxy rules are necessary!