Installation

Revela runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Choose the installation method that suits you best.

Option 1: Standalone (Recommended)

Download, extract, run. No prerequisites needed.

Windows (x64)

# Download and extract
curl -L https://github.com/Spectara/Revela/releases/latest/download/revela-standalone-win-x64.zip -o revela.zip
Expand-Archive revela.zip -DestinationPath D:\Revela

Or simply download the .zip from GitHub Releases, right-click → Extract All.

macOS (Apple Silicon)

curl -L https://github.com/Spectara/Revela/releases/latest/download/revela-standalone-osx-arm64.tar.gz | tar xz
chmod +x revela

Linux (x64)

curl -L https://github.com/Spectara/Revela/releases/latest/download/revela-standalone-linux-x64.tar.gz | tar xz
chmod +x revela

Standalone Directory Structure

After extraction, your directory looks like this:

D:\Revela\
├── revela.exe          # The executable
├── revela.json         # Global configuration (created on first run)
├── packages/           # Installed themes & plugins
└── projects/           # Your projects (one folder per site)
    └── MyPhotos/
        ├── project.json
        ├── site.json
        ├── source/
        └── output/

Key feature: In standalone mode, Revela manages multiple projects in the projects/ folder. Double-click revela.exe to start the interactive menu with project selection.

Option 2: .NET Global Tool

If you have the .NET SDK installed (version 10 or later):

dotnet tool install -g Spectara.Revela

Update

dotnet tool update -g Spectara.Revela

Usage

Navigate to your project directory and run commands directly:

cd ~/my-photography-website
revela generate all

Differences from Standalone

Feature	Standalone	.NET Global Tool
Prerequisites	None	.NET 10 SDK
Projects	Multiple (managed in `projects/`)	One per directory
Config location	Next to `revela.exe`	`%APPDATA%/Revela/`
Project selection	Interactive menu	Navigate to project dir
`revela projects`	Available	Not available
Interactive mode	Double-click exe	Run `revela` without args

First Run

After installation, run revela without arguments:

revela

On first run, the Setup Wizard starts automatically:

Install themes and plugins — Full or custom installation
Create a project — Folder name and settings
Ready to go — Add photos and generate

See the User Journey for a complete walkthrough.

Verifying Installation

revela --version

Check where Revela stores its configuration:

revela config locations

Updating

Standalone

Download the latest release and replace revela.exe. Your revela.json, packages/, and projects/ folders are preserved.

.NET Global Tool

dotnet tool update -g Spectara.Revela

After updating, restore your dependencies:

revela restore