Download & Install

macOS

1. Download the latest .dmg file from the releases page 
2. Open the DMG and drag Shard Launcher to your Applications folder
3. Launch Shard from Applications

Note: On first launch, macOS may show a security warning. Right-click the app and select “Open” to bypass Gatekeeper.

Windows & Linux

Windows and Linux builds are coming soon. In the meantime, you can build from source.

Verifying Downloads

Each release includes SHA-256 checksums. To verify your download:

# macOS
shasum -a 256 Shard-Launcher-*.dmg
 
# Compare with the checksum in CHECKSUMS.txt from the release

Data Location

Shard stores all data in ~/.shard/:

~/.shard/
├── store/          # Content-addressed storage (mods, packs)
├── profiles/       # Profile manifests
├── instances/      # Materialized game directories
├── minecraft/      # Versions, libraries, assets
├── accounts.json   # Account tokens
└── config.json     # Launcher settings

Next Steps

• Create your first profile
• Add your Microsoft account
• Learn about profiles