Installation Guide
A complete walkthrough for Windows and macOS, including the security prompts you will meet and what changes on a school-managed device.
Last updated — 25 August 2026
Before you start
Two minutes of checking here saves a failed install later.
Check the machine
The full reference figures are in the system requirements guide; these are the ones that decide whether the installer will finish.
- Windows 10 or later, 64-bit — or macOS 10.15 or later, on Apple Silicon or Intel.
- 4 GB of free disk space for the application, plus room for every model you later download.
- 8 GB of RAM to run the application; 16 GB if you want the larger local models.
- An internet connection for the download itself. Local models work offline once they are on disk.
What you do not need
There is no Python environment to set up, no CUDA toolkit to install and no account to create. The inference servers ship inside the application. An account is involved only when you activate a licence or turn on the optional Nexus AI cloud module.
Installing on Windows
Windows 10 or later, 64-bit. Expect one security prompt that is normal for any new installer.
Step by step
- Download the Windows installer from the download page.
- Double-click the file you downloaded. If your browser asks whether to keep the download, keep it.
- If Windows SmartScreen appears, click More info and then Run anyway. SmartScreen shows this for any installer it has not seen many times before.
- Follow the setup wizard. Accept the default install location unless your school images machines to a different drive.
- Approve the administrator prompt if one appears — writing into Program Files requires it.
- Launch the Grout Suite from the Start menu or the desktop shortcut.
Installing on macOS
macOS 10.15 or later. The first launch needs one extra step because the app comes from outside the App Store.
Step by step
- Download the macOS disk image from the download page.
- Open the DMG. A Finder window opens showing the Grout Suite and a shortcut to Applications.
- Drag the Grout Suite onto the Applications folder. Do not run it from the mounted disk image.
- Eject the disk image, then open your Applications folder.
- Right-click (or Control-click) the Grout Suite and choose Open, then confirm at the Gatekeeper prompt. This is needed only the first time; afterwards it opens like any other app.
- Grant any permission macOS asks for when a feature first needs it — for example access to the folder you import images from.
First launch and updates
The first run is where you decide what Grout downloads. Nothing large is fetched until you ask for it.
What happens on first run
- Grout opens with the inference server already bundled — there is nothing else to install.
- Choose the local models you want and download them. Start with one small text model; you can add more at any time.
- Set your workspace preferences: default canvas size, theme and keyboard shortcuts.
- Sign in only if you have a licence to activate or want to use the Nexus AI cloud module.
Keeping it up to date
Grout checks for updates when it is online, and you can check manually from the Help menu inside the application. Updating the application does not delete models you have already downloaded, and it does not sign you out.
Installing on a school-managed device
On a managed fleet the blocker is almost always permissions, not the software.
What to ask IT for
- Administrator rights for the install itself. A standard student account cannot approve the Windows elevation prompt, and on managed Macs it cannot approve the first Gatekeeper launch.
- The application in the standard machine image, with the model download left to the teacher — model files are large and live per machine, so imaging them multiplies storage for no gain.
- Outbound HTTPS to Grout's download and model endpoints if the network filters traffic. Nothing else needs to be opened for local models.
- Enough free space on the drive students actually write to, not just on the system drive.
A note on privacy in schools
Local models run entirely on the machine, so student work and answer sheets never leave the building. Grout holds no compliance certification of its own, so if your institution needs a formal assessment, base it on the fact that the local processing path involves no upload rather than on any certification claim.
When it will not install
Four problems account for most failed installs.
The installer will not start
On Windows, right-click it and choose Run as administrator. On macOS, check that you dragged the app into Applications rather than launching it from the mounted disk image.
Windows blocks the file
SmartScreen: More info, then Run anyway. If antivirus quarantined the download, restore it and retry. A half-finished download is the other common cause — delete it and download again rather than retrying the same file.
Not enough disk space
The application is a predictable 4 GB; models are neither small nor predictable. Free space on the drive you install to before you download a large model, and check the model's size first.
The app opens but a model will not load
The model is almost certainly larger than the memory free on the machine. Close other applications, or download a smaller model. The system requirements guide has the memory-per-model-size figures.