# Getting started

> Five minutes from download to your first scheduled post — and one more to let Claude do the scheduling for you.

Social Quack is a normal desktop app. There is no server to set up, no Node or Docker to install, no account to create with us. Everything runs on your computer.

## 1. Install

- **Mac:** open the `.dmg` from your purchase email, drag **Social Quack** into **Applications**, then open it from Applications (or Spotlight). The first time, macOS may ask you to confirm you want to open an app downloaded from the internet — click Open.



Apple Silicon (M1 and later) and Intel Macs each have their own installer (`-arm64` or `-x64`). Not sure which you have? Apple menu → About This Mac: "Chip: Apple M…" means arm64.

## 2. Find the icon

Social Quack lives in your **menu bar** (Mac: top-right, next to the clock — not the Dock). Closing the window only hides it; the app keeps running from that icon and posts on schedule while it is running. Turn on **Start at login** in that menu so it is always there.

Everything in the icon's menu is also in the **Social Quack** menu at the top-left, in case a full menu bar hides the icon.

## 3. First-run wizard

The app opens on a short wizard: choose your **timezone**, paste your **license key** from the purchase email, and connect your **first channel**. Bluesky and Mastodon take a minute. X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Threads need a free developer app from the platform first; the card for each one walks you through it step by step, and every value you have to paste has a copy button. Just exploring? Add the **Demo** channel — it posts nowhere and shows how everything works.

## 4. Let Claude schedule for you

Social Quack is an MCP server, so Claude Desktop can read your queue and schedule posts from a conversation.

1. Install [Claude Desktop](https://claude.ai/download) if you don't have it, and sign in.
2. In Social Quack, open the **Social Quack** menu (or the menu-bar icon) → **Install into Claude Desktop…**. That adds a connector called **Social Quack** to Claude's settings. Nothing else to install.
3. **Quit Claude Desktop completely** (Mac: Cmd+Q, not just closing the window) and open it again. The tools icon under the message box now lists Social Quack.
4. Ask for what you want, in plain words: *"Plan a week of posts about our autumn menu for Acme Coffee and schedule one per day at 9am on Instagram and Facebook."* Claude drafts them, schedules them, and you review them in the Queue.

Claude Code, Cursor and other MCP apps connect with a copy-paste from the **Use with Claude / ChatGPT** page inside the app — the ChatGPT desktop app included.

## 5. While it runs

- **Queue** shows what is scheduled, published and failed. A post that is more than an hour late (laptop closed at the time) is not sent late — it lands in **Failed** with a **Reschedule** button.
- **Updates** arrive through the app: **Check for updates…** in the menu, or the notice the app shows when one is ready.
- **Backup** (Settings → Backup) exports everything — accounts, keys, posts — to move to another computer.
- Stuck? **support@socialquack.com**.

## System requirements

| | Minimum |
|---|---|
| **macOS** | macOS 12 Monterey or newer. Apple Silicon (M1 and later) and Intel Macs — download the matching installer (`-arm64` or `-x64`). |


| **Disk / memory** | About 400 MB of disk and 200 MB of memory while running. |
| **Network** | Internet access at posting time. No inbound ports, no public address needed. |
| **AI assistant** | Optional. Claude Desktop (free plan works), Claude Code, Cursor, or ChatGPT. You can also use the app on its own. |

No Node, Docker or database to install — everything is inside the app.