Install Fabric Desktop by KratosBI

This page takes you from nothing to a running app on one Windows PC. There is no app registration to set up: you sign in with your work account and that's it. If you look after Fabric for a whole organization, Configure Azure and Fabric lists the few tenant settings worth checking.

Before you start: Fabric Desktop by KratosBI is new. The parts that only talk to your own PC are tested on every build. Several features that talk to Fabric are marked Preview in the app because nobody has tried them on a live Fabric tenant yet. See What is tested and what isn't.

What you need#

You do not need Python, Spark, Java or admin rights on the PC. The app brings its own engine.

Download and start#

1. Download fabric-desktop.exe (the Stable channel). It is also on the repository's Releases page.

2. Put it anywhere you like, for example a Tools folder or your Desktop. It is a single file; there is no installer.

3. Double-click it.

4. Windows SmartScreen may say "Windows protected your PC" because the exe isn't code-signed yet. Choose More info > Run anyway. You only see this the first time.

5. The first start installs the local engine. A Checking components window shows three lines:

   Line	What happens
   Fabric Desktop by KratosBI	Checks GitHub for a newer build on your channel and installs it straight away, then restarts.
   Python	Comes with the engine. Nothing to install.
   Local engine	Downloads fabric-desktop-engine.zip (Python plus every package) and unpacks it into %LOCALAPPDATA%\FabricDesktop\engine.

   This takes a minute or two the first time. Later starts go straight to Home unless something is updating.

6. Sign in. Click Sign in on Home (or the ? circle at the top right). Windows asks which work account to use, or signs you in with the one you use on Windows. There is nothing to paste and no app ID to ask for; Fabric Desktop by KratosBI signs in through Microsoft's own Fabric sign-in, and only ever does what your own Fabric access allows (Permissions).

That's it. Home shows a Get started list until you set up a metadata project. Go on to the user guide.

If Windows blocks the engine#

On some PCs Windows refuses to load parts of the engine. The startup window then says Windows Smart App Control blocked it or An App Control policy on this PC blocked it, and names the blocked packages.

This isn't a broken install, so reinstalling won't help. The engine's Python packages (pyarrow, Polars, DuckDB and others) aren't code-signed by their makers, and these Windows features only let signed code load.

The lasting fix is code signing: CI signs every file when the repository has an Azure Trusted Signing account set up (README: Code signing). That isn't in place yet.

Updates#

Fabric Desktop by KratosBI updates itself. Each time it starts it asks GitHub whether a newer build is out on your channel. If one is, it downloads it, checks it is the right file, swaps the exe in place and restarts. Then What's new lists what changed. You never run an old build by accident.

Change it in Settings > Updates. The change takes effect the next time the app starts. An organization can fix the channel for everyone with a policy file, or turn self-updates off and roll out builds itself (Enterprise install).

The update check uses GitHub's public API, which allows 60 checks an hour from one internet address. In a large office behind one address you may see "Could not check for a newer build" now and then. The app keeps working on the build you have and checks again at the next start.

Check a download yourself#

Every build of main comes with proof of where it came from and a list of what is inside it. Security teams can check both before allowing the app.

• Build provenance. GitHub signs a statement that fabric-desktop.exe and fabric-desktop-engine.zip were built by this repository's CI workflow from a named commit. With the GitHub CLI, check a file you downloaded:

  gh attestation verify fabric-desktop.exe -R KratosDataGod/fabric-desktop
  

  It prints the workflow and commit that built it, or fails if the file was changed. A file promoted to Stable is the same file, so the same check works.

• Software bill of materials. The Preview (latest) release carries sbom-engine.cdx.json (every Python package in the engine, read from the engine itself) and sbom-app.cdx.json (every Rust crate in the exe), in CycloneDX format. Most vulnerability scanners and asset tools read it.

• Vulnerability scanning. CI checks the engine's pinned Python packages (pip-audit) and the exe's Rust crates (cargo audit) on every pull request.

These prove where a file came from; they don't replace code signing, which is still being set up (If Windows blocks the engine).

Where things are kept on your PC#

Uninstall#

1. If you added schedules on this PC, remove them in Monitor > Schedules first. They live in Windows Task Scheduler under the FabricDesktop folder.
2. Close the app and delete fabric-desktop.exe.
3. Delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\FabricDesktop to remove the engine, your notebooks, settings and sign-in. Copy the notebooks folder somewhere first if you want to keep them.

Nothing in Fabric is removed. Lakehouses, tables and notebooks you published stay where they are.

For developers: run from source#

To work on Fabric Desktop by KratosBI itself, see CONTRIBUTING.md. In short:

cd sidecar
python -m pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest -q                                          # tests, no Fabric needed
$env:FABRIC_DESKTOP_PYTHON = (Get-Command python).Source    # the app uses this Python
cd ..\app\src-tauri
cargo run                                                    # needs Rust and the Tauri prerequisites

Builds you make yourself skip the update check.