Available now — v0.8

The desktop client.

Run a node. Browse .alt sites in any browser. Publish your own.
Windows and Linux.

Version v0.8 — EARLY RELEASE

Download for Windows Download for Linux View source

01What it is

The window into AltNet.

AltNet Studio is the desktop application that connects your computer to the AltNet peer-to-peer network. It runs a background node, routes .alt names through your browser, lets you request a .alt name, and publishes the folder you point it at.

One cross-platform codebase. Built with Wails v2 (Go + a vanilla-JS frontend). The protocol/daemon lives in the separate AltNet repo.

02In action

Four screens. That’s the whole app.

Node mode

Claim a name

Home

Sites dashboard

03What it does

Four jobs. One window.

// 01

Be a node.

One click starts a background daemon that joins the network, helps route and serve content, and comes back automatically on every login.

// 02

Browse .alt

Routes name.alt through your local node so any browser can reach it. Windows: NRPT rule. Linux: a systemd-resolved drop-in.

// 03

Accounts & domains.

Request a .alt name (admin-approved) and publish a site folder. The .alt is yours after approval.

// 04

Admin tools.

Approve or decline incoming name requests and take sites down — all from inside the app.

04Install

Pick your platform.

// Windows · x86-64

Windows.

Download the installer and run it. SmartScreen may warn about an unrecognized app — click More info → Run anyway.

Open AltNet Studio and click Be a node. A UAC prompt asks to install the .alt NRPT rule — accept it. Closing the window hides the app; the node keeps running.

↓ AltNetStudio-Setup.exe

// Debian / Ubuntu · x86-64

GNU/Linux.

Install it from your Downloads folder:

cd ~/Downloads sudo apt install ./altnet-studio_0.8.0_amd64.deb

Then launch AltNet Studio from your apps menu — it’ll ask for your password since it needs root for port 80, .alt DNS, and its certificate.

↓ altnet-studio_0.8.0_amd64.deb

05Build from source

For the fork-curious.

Requires Go 1.23+, Node.js, and the Wails CLI.

// Wails CLI

go install github.com/wailsapp/wails/v2/cmd/wails@v2.12.0

// Windows build

wails build # → build/bin/AltNetStudio.exe

// Linux deps

sudo apt install build-essential pkg-config \ libgtk-3-dev libwebkit2gtk-4.1-dev nodejs npm

// Linux build

wails build -tags webkit2_41 # → build/bin/AltNetStudio

The same source builds both — platform-specific behavior is isolated in build-tagged files (nrpt_windows.go vs nrpt_linux.go, etc.); Go compiles only the ones matching the target OS.

06Notes

Things to know.

Early release — v0.8 is the first public build. Feedback welcome on the source repo.
No account needed to browse .alt sites. An admin-approved account is required to publish.
AltNet Studio launches the altnet daemon as a child process and expects the binary next to it (altnet.exe on Windows, altnet on Linux).
Protocol & daemon live in the separate AltNet protocol repo. Studio is the desktop client.

Free — and yours.

AltNet Studio is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3. Audit, fork, ship your own — we’d be honored.

View source Learn about AltNet

Licensed under GNU GPL v3

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