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Knovis

Installation & First Launch

Knovis is a native desktop application for Windows and Mac. No account required, no cloud setup. Your data lives on your machine.

Installing Knovis

Windows

Download the installer from knovis.io and run it. The installer walks you through the setup and creates a Start Menu shortcut and an optional desktop shortcut. Knovis installs to your user folder and does not require administrator privileges.

Mac

Download the zip file, open it, and drag Knovis to your Applications folder. On first launch, macOS may ask you to confirm opening an app from the internet; click Open.

Where your data lives

Knovis stores everything in your Documents/Knovis Data/ folder. This includes:

  • .env files: your environments (canvas layouts)
  • .itm files: your items (the building blocks you place on the canvas)
  • .dtg files: DataTag templates (metadata field definitions)

These are ordinary files, so you can back them up, move them, or sync them with any tool you already use.

First launch

When you open Knovis for the first time, you'll see an empty canvas with a default background image. This is your first environment. You're ready to start placing items.

Tip: Before adding items, take a moment to explore the canvas. Pan by dragging the background, zoom with Ctrl + scroll wheel. Getting comfortable with navigation first makes everything else easier.

Creating your first item

Right-click anywhere on the canvas and choose New Item. The New Item dialog opens with fields for:

  • Label: the name that appears under the item on the canvas
  • Image: the thumbnail (you can drag an image in, paste a URL, or capture one automatically)
  • Target: what opens when you double-click the item, whether a file path, a web link, a media file, or another environment

Fill in at least a label and a target, click OK, and your item appears on the canvas. Double-click it to open the target.

Note: Items are saved independently of environments. When you place an item in an environment, you're creating a reference to it, not a copy. The same item can appear in multiple environments.
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