Mac install — early access

What you'll need

• A Mac running macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer
• About 5 minutes
• The license key you received when you signed up
• Comfort opening Terminal and pasting a few commands (no programming required)

Step 1 — Download the right binary

Check your Mac's processor (Apple menu → "About This Mac"):

• Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4): GlidePathMoney-macOS-arm64.tar.gz (~45 MB)
• Intel Mac: GlidePathMoney-macOS-x64.tar.gz (~48 MB)

Step 2 — Extract and place the app

Open Terminal and run (assuming the download is in ~/Downloads):

# For Apple Silicon
cd ~/Downloads
tar -xzf GlidePathMoney-macOS-arm64.tar.gz
mv GlidePathMoney ~/Applications/   # or anywhere you prefer
cd ~/Applications/GlidePathMoney

# Remove the macOS quarantine flag so Gatekeeper doesn't block it
xattr -d com.apple.quarantine GlidePathMoney 2>/dev/null || true
chmod +x GlidePathMoney

The xattr line clears the "downloaded from the internet" flag that macOS adds automatically. Without it, Gatekeeper blocks the binary. This isn't a security bypass — the app is the same as if you'd built it locally; we just haven't paid for Apple's code-signing yet (on the roadmap).

Step 3 — Install Cloudflared (the secure tunnel)

If you don't already have Homebrew (most Mac developers do), install it from brew.sh. Then:

brew install cloudflared

Step 4 — Provision your tunnel + start it

This is the step where you paste your license key. Run:

# Replace LICENSE_KEY_HERE and EMAIL_HERE with what's in your welcome email
curl -s -X POST https://api.glidepathmoney.com/provision \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"license_key":"LICENSE_KEY_HERE","email":"EMAIL_HERE"}'

The response contains your hostname and connector_token. Copy the connector_token — you'll paste it in the next command.

# Register cloudflared with your token (the long string from the previous response)
sudo cloudflared service install YOUR_CONNECTOR_TOKEN_HERE
sudo launchctl start com.cloudflare.cloudflared

Step 5 — Start the app

Back in Terminal:

cd ~/Applications/GlidePathMoney
./GlidePathMoney

Open your browser to http://localhost:5000. You should see the dashboard. The first time, it'll show the guided welcome card asking you to add your household, accounts, etc.

Step 6 — (Optional) Make it start at login

To have GlidePath Money launch automatically when you log into your Mac, create a Launch Agent. Save the file below as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.glidepathmoney.app.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>com.glidepathmoney.app</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Applications/GlidePathMoney/GlidePathMoney</string>
  </array>
  <key>WorkingDirectory</key>
  <string>/Users/YOUR_USERNAME/Applications/GlidePathMoney</string>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
  <key>KeepAlive</key>
  <true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Replace YOUR_USERNAME with your Mac username. Then:

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.glidepathmoney.app.plist

Where your data lives

On Mac, GlidePath Money defaults to ~/Library/Application Support/GlidePath Money/ for your CSVs. You can override this by setting GLIDEPATHMONEY_DATA_FOLDER in your shell environment or in the LaunchAgent plist above.

Updating to a newer version

Download the latest tar.gz from this page, extract it over the old folder, and re-launch the app. Your data and cloudflared tunnel are untouched.

Stuck?

Email hi@glidepathmoney.com with the exact step you're on and any error message. This is early-access — please send feedback, even minor stuff. It's how we know what to polish in the proper installer.

What's coming

The polished Mac installer (signed .pkg, auto-launch agent, GUI license-key entry, cloudflared bundled) is on the roadmap. ETA: a few weeks. This early-access path works the same as the eventual final product — just with manual setup steps that the .pkg will automate.