Getting started

Install Vibeless, sign in, create a project, and connect your coding agent. The steps below also show how the app window is laid out, so the other articles make sense.

Install Vibeless

Vibeless is a desktop app for these platforms:

• Windows (x64). Download and run the Windows installer.
• macOS on Apple Silicon and on Intel Macs. Download the DMG, open it, and drag the Vibeless app into your Applications folder. The macOS builds are signed and notarized by Apple, so macOS opens them without a security override.

Vibeless publishes releases on 2 channels. The production channel is the one everyone gets. The beta channel carries prerelease versions for invited testers. Each install follows the channel it was built for, and both channels check for updates the same way.

Updates

The app checks for a new version on its own. The first check runs about 20 seconds after launch, and then every 24 hours. If a check fails, for example while you are offline, it tries again an hour later.

When a newer version exists, a banner appears under the header: "Vibeless 1.2.3 is available." It has 2 buttons:

• View opens Account → Software Updates, where you can read the release notes and install. The banner then stays hidden until the app restarts or a newer version appears.
• Later hides the banner for that version. A newer version shows the banner again.

Vibeless never installs an update by itself. To install, open Account → Software Updates, click Install & Restart, then click Confirm & restart. The app downloads the update, closes, and reopens. The same card has a Check for updates button if you want to check right away.

Sign in

The first time you open Vibeless, you see the sign-in screen. The main window opens only after you sign in.

1. Click Sign in with Vibeless. Your default web browser opens the Vibeless sign-in page.
2. Sign in with GitHub, Google, or email on that page.
3. Return to the app. It detects the finished sign-in and opens the main window.

If you have no account yet, click Sign up under the sign-in card. It opens the sign-up page in your browser.

Vibeless keeps your session in your operating system's keychain, so you stay signed in between launches. If the session expires or is revoked, the app returns to the sign-in screen. If sign-in fails, the sign-in screen shows a Sign-in failed message with the reason.

Your plan decides what you can use. The free plan has no LLM features, such as the Vibe Coder assistant. Paid plans include LLM features and differ by credit budget and project count. Every tool that does not use an LLM, including connecting agents, works on every plan.

Find your way around

The main window has a sidebar on the left, a header across the top, and the active panel below the header.

Sidebar

The sidebar lists the panels in this order:

1. Dashboard: the project overview, agent connections, team sync, and project settings.
2. Spec Editor: the project's spec, the written description of what you are building.
3. Phase Planner: phases, the stages of work that group tickets.
4. Tickets: the units of work you and your agents pick up.
5. Logs: decisions, history, and the Drift Log. Drift is a gap between what the project record says and what the code does. A badge on Logs counts changes waiting for review that are classified as drift or unknown. Click the badge to jump straight to them.
6. Context Editor: the context nodes that make up the spec map your agents read.
7. Topology: a map of the project's structure.
8. Vibe Coder: the guided, AI-assisted project builder.
9. Organization: shown only when your account belongs to an organization.
10. Account: your account, plan, credits, software updates, and the Projects tab with all your projects.
11. Search: search across the project.

The button at the top of the sidebar collapses it to icons only. Click it again to expand it. Hover over any item to see its keyboard shortcut.

Header

The header shows these items, left to right:

• The name of the current panel.
• The workspace switcher. It appears only after a workspace has been selected on this computer, and a new project never joins a workspace (see Workspaces and linked projects). With more than 1 workspace, click the name to switch.
• The project dropdown. It shows the open project, or Select Project when none is open. The list shows your projects, then New Project... and All projects.... All projects... opens Account → Projects.
• The system status. This reports the local MCP server that your agents connect to. Connected (green) means it is running and online. Offline mode (amber) means it is running, but the app has no connection to the Vibeless service configured. Connecting... and Reconnecting (1/3)... appear while it starts or restarts. MCP Server disconnected or MCP Server not found (red) means agents cannot reach the project.
• The sync indicator. It appears only when the open project is shared with a team. It shows states such as Synced, Syncing, Offline, or Read-only. Click it to see conflicts and who else is online.
• The notification bell. It appears only on team plans. It lists projects shared with you that are not set up yet, access requests waiting for you, and sync problems on the open project.
• The app version.

Banners

Banners appear under the header when something needs your attention:

• Update available. See Updates.
• Past due. Your last payment did not go through. Update your payment method to keep your plan active. Your access does not change while the banner shows. You can dismiss it for the current session.

When you reach your plan's project limit, a Project limit reached notice appears in the New Project dialog and on Account → Projects. It has a Manage projects button and an Upgrade plan button that opens the pricing page in your browser.

Create your first project

With no project open, the Dashboard shows Welcome to Vibeless and an Open Projects button. To create a project from anywhere, press Ctrl+N, or open the project dropdown in the header and choose New Project....

The New Project dialog offers 2 choices.

Import an existing project

Use this for a repository that already has code.

1. Click Import Existing Project.
2. Enter the Repository Path, or click Browse to pick the folder. The Project Name fills in from the folder name. You can change it.
3. Click Import & Scan.

Vibeless creates the project, connects the folder, and opens the Project Import panel while it scans the repository. When the scan finishes, you choose Developer Review (accept or reject each found item yourself) or Guided Review (step through categories with plain-language summaries). Nothing from the scan reaches the spec until you accept it.

Start a new project

1. Click Start New Project.
2. Enter a Project Name. A Repository Path is optional.
3. Choose a starting experience:
   • Sandbox creates the project right away and opens the Dashboard. You build the spec yourself with every non-LLM tool. Sandbox works on the free plan.
   • Vibe Coder opens the Vibe Coder panel and walks you through a guided setup with AI assistance. The project is created when you finish the guided setup. This option needs a plan with LLM features; on the free plan it shows Pro plan required and stays disabled.

Project limits

Each plan allows a number of active projects:

The count is per signed-in account, not per computer. Another account's projects on the same computer do not count against yours. Locked projects (kept after a downgrade) do not count either. At the limit, every option in the New Project dialog is disabled. Delete a project or upgrade to make space.

A project created while no account is signed in has no owner. Every account that signs in on the same operating-system login can see it.

Connect your agent

A project is useful to your agent only after the agent is connected through MCP (Model Context Protocol). Each project has its own MCP connection, which gives the agent that project's spec, context, and constraints and nothing else.

After you create a project with Import & Scan or Sandbox, the Dashboard shows an Agent not connected notice and opens the Agent Setup panel once. The setup has 5 steps:

1. Select Agent. Choose Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, or Generic MCP.
2. Connection Method. Pick one of the methods listed for that agent, such as MCP (stdio). The choice is shown for review on the next step. It does not change what the installer writes in step 5.
3. Confirm. Review the agent, connection method, and context budget.
4. Setup. For Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex, Vibeless installs the connection for you in the next step. For Generic MCP, this step shows a configuration snippet with a Copy button.
5. MCP. Expand your agent and click Install (for example, Install Claude Code). A dialog lists every file Vibeless will write. Click Confirm. Then click Done.

Restart your agent or open a new agent session so it loads the new configuration.

If you are not ready, click I'll do it later on the last step. This closes the setup and also clears the Agent not connected notice, even though nothing was installed. To connect later, open Dashboard → Agents and use Install in the Connected agents list. For details on each agent, see Connecting agents.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcuts do not run while your cursor is in a text field or an editor. There, Ctrl+V pastes and Ctrl+N and Ctrl+P keep their normal editing behavior.

Close the window

Closing the window does not quit Vibeless. The app keeps running in the system tray (the menu bar on macOS), so your agents stay connected to their projects. The first time you close the window, a notification tells you that Vibeless is still running.

To bring the window back, click the tray icon, or right-click it and choose Show Vibeless. On macOS, clicking the Dock icon also brings it back. Launching Vibeless again while it is running shows the open window instead of starting a second copy.

To quit, right-click the tray icon and choose Quit Vibeless. Connected agents cannot reach your projects until you start the app again.

If something looks wrong

• The header shows MCP Server disconnected. Your agents cannot reach Vibeless. Quit Vibeless from the tray and start it again.
• The Vibe Coder option is disabled. Enter a Project Name first. If it stays disabled, your plan has no LLM features or you are at your project limit. The text under the option says which.
• Every option in New Project is disabled. You are at your plan's project limit. Delete a project from Account → Projects or upgrade.
• Your agent does not see the project. Make sure Vibeless is running, then restart the agent session. If it still fails, reinstall the agent from Dashboard → Agents.

Next steps

• Dashboard: the project overview and its tabs.
• Spec Editor: write the spec your agents follow.
• Phase Planner: plan the stages of work.
• Tickets: create and track the work.
• Connecting agents: agent setup in depth.