Installation Guide

How to install Silver Bullet 3.0 (a release candidate; the version is in the Release Notes) on your own computer, set it up, keep it backed up, upgrade it and remove it. Silver Bullet is a desktop app for one person: it runs on your computer, opens in your browser and is reachable from that computer only. For what you do once it runs, see Getting Started and the Administration Guide.

What you need

Operating systems

Linux: Ubuntu 20.04 or later, Debian 11 or later, RHEL / Rocky Linux / Oracle Linux 9 or later, or another distribution with glibc 2.31 or later. RHEL 8 and its relatives are not supported (glibc 2.28).

Windows releases older than Windows 10, and 32-bit Windows, are not supported.

Windows: Silver Bullet 3 is tested on Windows 11. The test machine is Windows 11 on Arm, where the x64 program runs through Windows’ x64 emulation; on x64 PCs it is expected to work the same.

Browsers

You use Silver Bullet in your browser. Nothing else is installed for it.

Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or Apple Safari.

A current version of any of these, on the computer Silver Bullet runs on. Internet Explorer is not supported. The pages need JavaScript. “Read it to me” uses the browser’s own speech; voice input, when an administrator turns it on, needs a browser with speech recognition (Chrome sends the audio to Google).

Hardware

• Silver Bullet itself: One program, using about 60 MB of memory when idle. Most memory is used while a file is checked and loaded: the whole file is read into memory and every value is checked. Measured in October 2026 (packaging/memory-test.sh): the Test Kit’s four files took up to about 650 MB; a 190 MB CSV of 740,000 rows and 29 columns took up to about 3.7 GB while it was checked and loaded, given back within seconds once it was added; answering questions from it took almost nothing more. Allow about 4 GB of free memory for each file near the upload limit (200 MB) loaded at the same time — about 20 times the file’s size — and more for wider files.
• Disk: The program is about 100 MB. The data folder grows with the files you load (kept in DuckDB, compressed), plus the temporary result area (at most 512 MB by default, SB_RESULT_MAX_MB), the rows each file import set aside, and the logs (at most about 60 MB). Databases are queried where they are: nothing is copied from them. Plan for at least 3 times the size of the files you expect to load, plus the automatic backups in the data folder (7 by default, each about the size of app.db and the loaded files).
• The local AI model: qwen3-coder-next (the default, and the model this release was measured with) needs about 64 GB of memory or a GPU with similar memory; codestral:22b runs in 16 GB but is wrong more often. nomic-embed-text, used to match questions to verified answers by meaning, is small (under 1 GB). With a cloud provider an ordinary computer is enough.

Network

Silver Bullet makes only the connections below, all from your computer. Nothing needs to reach your computer from outside.

Nothing else is contacted: there is no licence server, no update check and no telemetry. A licence key is checked on the computer itself.

See Connecting to your databases for what to ask your network team.

Supported databases

Silver Bullet reads PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server and Oracle databases where they are, through a read-only account. The table says which versions were tested for this release and which are expected to work.

Last verified 30 September 2026. The Data sources page shows the tested versions on each database’s card, and a connection test says which of these it found.

• Tested — The safety tests passed on it — a login that can write is refused, every query runs read-only with a time limit, and a query that would read too much is refused before it runs. Where it says so, the answers were also checked against known results.
• Tested — works with a warning — Tested, and it works, but something about it deserves attention — for example the vendor no longer supports that version. The advice says what to do.
• Expected to work — not yet tested — Not yet tested. It is expected to work for the reason given (usually: the same database engine and protocol as something tested). Test the connection, try some questions, and tell support what you find.
• Not supported — It does not work, it is refused, or it cannot be vouched for. The advice says what to use instead.

Not tested in this release: Kerberos and Microsoft Entra ID sign-ins to SQL Server, and Oracle 19c on a real server. The sign-ins, connection methods and encryption for each database are in the Administration Guide.

Files (Excel, CSV, TSV, text, Parquet) need nothing else: they are loaded into Silver Bullet’s own data folder.

Getting Silver Bullet

Download Silver Bullet from silverbullet.govirang.com/download. No account is needed. The page finds your system and offers the right package. There are two ways to get it:

• The install command (macOS, Linux and Windows), shown on the Download page:

  • macOS and Linux, in a terminal: curl -fsSL https://silverbullet.govirang.com/install.sh | sh
  • Windows, in PowerShell: irm https://silverbullet.govirang.com/install.ps1 | iex

  It downloads the package for your computer, checks it against the SHA-256 built into the command, and installs it (see below). When Silver Bullet is already installed, the installed copy also checks the new package’s signature first. Nothing else on your computer is changed.

• The package itself: a zip file for your system, to unpack and install by hand.

What is in the package

Each package is a zip named SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-<platform>.zip, where <platform> is macos-apple-silicon, macos-intel, windows-x64, linux-x64 or linux-arm64. It unpacks into a folder of the same name, holding:

Keep THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.txt with the program if you pass it on. The Mac app carries it inside too (Contents/Resources), and Silver Bullet shows it under About → Third-party notices.

Checking a downloaded package

The Download page shows the SHA-256 of every package. The install command checks it for you. If you download the zip yourself, compare it before you unpack it:

shasum -a 256 SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-macos-apple-silicon.zip   # macOS
sha256sum SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-linux-x64.zip                 # Linux

Get-FileHash SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-windows-x64.zip -Algorithm SHA256

The value printed must match the one on the Download page exactly. If it does not, do not install it: download it again.

Every package is also signed with the release key of Govirang Microspaces Private Limited. SilverBullet version prints that key’s fingerprint on the line Release key:, and the Download page shows the published one.

The packages are signed by Govirang only: not with an Apple Developer ID or a Windows code-signing certificate, and they will not be (clause 10A of the End User Licence Agreement). The Mac app has an ad hoc signature only, and is not notarised. macOS and Windows may therefore warn the first time; the steps below say what to click. If your organisation allows only software signed by Apple, Microsoft or a public certificate authority, check this during the free trial, before you buy.

Installing

Silver Bullet is one program. It needs no administrator rights and keeps your data in your own user folder (see Where your data is). Quit any running copy before you install a new one over it.

macOS

With the install command: paste the command from the Download page into Terminal. It installs Silver Bullet 3.app into /Applications, or into ~/Applications if you cannot write to /Applications. Start it from Launchpad or the Applications folder.

From the zip:

1. Unzip SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-macos-apple-silicon.zip (Apple silicon) or …-macos-intel.zip (Intel).
2. Drag Silver Bullet 3.app to Applications (or anywhere you like).
3. Double-click it. The first time, macOS may say it cannot check the app, because it is ad hoc signed and not notarised. Click Done, open System Settings → Privacy & Security, click Open Anyway next to Silver Bullet 3 and confirm with your password or Touch ID. (On macOS 14 Sonoma or earlier, right-clicking the app and choosing Open, then Open, also works; macOS 15 Sequoia and later no longer offer it.) macOS remembers the choice.

The app has no Dock icon: it lives in the menu bar.

Windows

With the install command: paste the PowerShell command from the Download page into PowerShell (administrator rights are not needed). It installs Silver Bullet into %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SilverBullet3 and adds Silver Bullet 3 to the Start menu. Start it from there. The installed files keep Windows’ mark of a downloaded file, so the first start may show the SmartScreen warning below.

From the zip:

1. Unzip SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-windows-x64.zip anywhere, for example into your Documents folder.
2. Double-click SilverBullet.exe. The first time, Windows SmartScreen may say “Windows protected your PC”: click More info, then Run anyway.

The Windows package is for x64. Windows 11 on Arm runs it through Windows' own x64 emulation.

Linux

With the install command: paste the command from the Download page into a terminal. It installs Silver Bullet into ~/.local/opt/silver-bullet-3 and adds the command silverbullet to ~/.local/bin. Start it with silverbullet.

From the zip:

1. Unzip SilverBullet3-desktop-3.0.0-rc.16-linux-x64.zip (or …-linux-arm64.zip).
2. Run it from a terminal: ./SilverBullet (or from your file manager).

A tray icon needs a desktop that shows status icons (KDE and most others; GNOME only with its AppIndicator extension). Without one, the terminal is the window: press Enter in it to open Silver Bullet in the browser again, Ctrl+C to stop it.

The first start

Your browser opens on Silver Bullet, already signed in. There is no password: Silver Bullet is reachable from this computer only, and signs you in by itself. The link it opens with works once, for two minutes. Starting the program again while it runs just opens the browser again, signed in.

Your 14-day trial starts now (see Your licence). Next, set up the AI model (below) and add your first data source: Getting Started walks you through it.

The tray or menu-bar icon

On a Mac the icon is in the menu bar; on Windows in the notification area (it may be behind the ^ arrow).

Stopping by itself

There is no window to close but the browser. Silver Bullet stops by itself about 90 seconds after its last page is closed, or 10 minutes after the last sign of life from any page (for example when the browser was killed). It does not stop in the first 10 minutes after it starts, so there is time to open it. A computer that went to sleep is not treated as a closed browser. Start it again whenever you like; nothing is lost.

SB_DESKTOP_IDLE_MINUTES changes the 10 minutes; 0 turns stopping by itself off (then quit from the icon). See Settings.

Starting it from a terminal

Two options help on a computer without a desktop, or for support:

On a Mac, run the program inside the app:

"/Applications/Silver Bullet 3.app/Contents/MacOS/SilverBullet" -no-tray

SilverBullet version prints the version.

Your licence

Silver Bullet runs a 14-day trial of the whole product from its first start on your computer. After that it needs a licence key (SBS2-… when bought from inside the app, SBS1-… when issued by hand). A licence is per computer: the key works on the computer it was issued for. One licence includes every data-source plugin. The key is checked on your computer itself, at start and every few minutes, with no connection; only buying, a subscription’s monthly key, Get my key and moves contact the licensing service.

To buy a licence (no account to make):

1. In Silver Bullet, open Admin → Licence and press Buy a licence (also on the trial’s banner in its last days).
2. Choose Monthly or Yearly (two months free). The price shown is your region’s (India ₹250 + GST a month; US$7, €8, £8, S$10 or A$10 + tax elsewhere); change it if you pay from another region. Outside India, tick I am buying for business use. There are no refunds once the key is delivered: try it during the trial first.
3. Go to checkout opens Dodo Payments’ checkout in your browser (or pay from your phone with the QR code). Pay by card (or UPI in India).
4. The key is shown on the thank-you page, e-mailed to you, and — unless you switched it off — installed by Silver Bullet itself within a minute. Otherwise paste it under Enter a licence key and press Use this key.

Lost the key, reinstalled, or moving to a new computer: Get my key and Move to this computer on the same page, with the order number and the e-mail you paid with. A key can always be pasted by hand, with no connection.

The code comes from the computer itself: reinstalling Silver Bullet or moving its data folder keeps it. Reinstalling the system or a new computer gives a new code: use Move to this computer. A key made for another computer is refused (SB3-6002).

When the trial or the licence ends, every page shows Licence needed with a place to enter a key. Your data is never touched. The trial’s start is also recorded outside the data folder, in your account’s own configuration folder (as .sb3-installation), so deleting the data folder does not start a new trial.

From a terminal, SilverBullet licence status prints this computer’s code and the licence state, and SilverBullet licence activate SBS1-… enters a key. A key bought online is checked with the licensing service at once, as on the Licence page. If the service cannot be reached, the key is kept with a note, and Silver Bullet checks it when it next starts. A running Silver Bullet sees the new licence within a minute.

The computer’s code comes from the computer’s own id. If that id cannot be read, nothing is licensed and every page says so (SB3-6011). This happens on Linux inside unshare or a container made by an ordinary user, and on a Mac started under sandbox-exec. Run Silver Bullet as a normal program.

The AI model

Silver Bullet uses an AI model to read questions. By default it is a local model, run by Ollama on your computer:

qwen3-coder-next needs about 64 GB of memory or a GPU with similar memory. On a 16 GB computer, codestral:22b runs but is wrong more often. Without the embedding model, questions are matched to verified answers by words instead.

Installing Ollama and the models

1. Install Ollama from ollama.com (macOS and Windows: the installer; Linux: curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh).

2. Pull the two models (the first is large; allow time):

   ollama pull qwen3-coder-next
   ollama pull nomic-embed-text
   

3. Check: ollama list shows both.

Silver Bullet looks for Ollama at http://127.0.0.1:11434. Downloading the models needs Ollama’s model library on the internet, once; answering questions does not.

Ollama on another computer

If your computer is too small for the model, Ollama can run on a bigger one on your network. There, make Ollama listen on a network address (Ollama’s own OLLAMA_HOST setting). In Silver Bullet, enter its address on Admin → AI model (or set SB_OLLAMA_URL). Port 11434 must then be open from your computer to that one.

Another model, or a cloud provider

You can choose a different model in Admin → AI model: Ollama, LM Studio, or a cloud provider (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google Gemini, Azure OpenAI, Mistral) with an API key. Test connection checks it before you save. What a cloud model receives is set out in Security and Privacy. The local model qwen3-coder-next and the cloud model Google Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite were measured with the Test Kit (figures in the Release Notes); the other cloud models were not.

The SB_MODEL, SB_EMBED_MODEL and SB_OLLAMA_URL settings are the defaults used until you save a choice on that page; after that, the page’s choice is used.

Connecting to your databases

Silver Bullet connects from your computer straight to each database you add. Nothing is copied from the database: questions are answered by read-only queries, run where the data is.

What your computer must reach

• Each database’s server and port (PostgreSQL 5432, MySQL and MariaDB 3306, SQL Server 1433, Oracle 1521, unless the database uses another). On an office network this may need a firewall rule from your computer, or the VPN when you work from elsewhere.
• For SQL Server sign-in other than a SQL Server login: Microsoft Entra ID (login.microsoftonline.com, port 443), or Kerberos (the domain’s KDCs, port 88 TCP and UDP). A named instance also needs SQL Server Browser (port 1434 UDP).
• The AI model: nothing when Ollama runs on your computer; Ollama’s host and port 11434 (or LM Studio’s, 1234) when it runs elsewhere; the provider’s HTTPS address (port 443) for a cloud model.

Admin → Network and firewall lists the connections your Silver Bullet makes, from its own data sources and AI model, so you can ask for any firewall, VPN or proxy change in one go. Check from here tries each connection from your computer and says, per row, connected or why not in words the network team can act on: the name does not resolve, refused (nothing listens, or a firewall rejects it), no answer within 5 s (a firewall drops it), or a certificate replaced by an inspecting proxy. It sends no password and no data. Download CSV and Copy as text give the request for a ticket or an e-mail.

A web proxy

If your computer reaches the internet through a web proxy, set HTTPS_PROXY in the environment Silver Bullet starts from. HTTPS calls (a cloud AI model, Microsoft Entra ID) then go through it, and Admin → Network and firewall shows it and the host names it must allow. A proxy that inspects TLS must not replace those hosts’ certificates, unless its own CA is trusted by your computer. If you also set HTTP_PROXY, add the address of an Ollama computer on your network to NO_PROXY.

Read-only database accounts

Silver Bullet only reads, and it insists on an account that cannot change anything: Test connection reads the account’s privileges and refuses one that can write. Create an account like these, or ask whoever manages the database to (choose the names; … is the password). Give the account only what it needs to read the tables you will ask about.

PostgreSQL

CREATE ROLE sb_reader LOGIN PASSWORD '…';
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE erp TO sb_reader;
GRANT USAGE ON SCHEMA sales TO sb_reader;
GRANT SELECT ON ALL TABLES IN SCHEMA sales TO sb_reader;
-- app_owner = the role that creates the tables; without FOR ROLE this
-- covers only tables created by whoever runs it, so new tables stay unreadable
ALTER DEFAULT PRIVILEGES FOR ROLE app_owner IN SCHEMA sales GRANT SELECT ON TABLES TO sb_reader;

MySQL and MariaDB

CREATE USER 'sb_reader'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY '…';   -- better: '%' = your computer's address
GRANT SELECT ON sales.* TO 'sb_reader'@'%';
GRANT SHOW VIEW ON sales.* TO 'sb_reader'@'%';   -- only if the schema has views
-- MariaDB 10.11+: anything granted TO PUBLIC applies to this login too
SHOW GRANTS FOR PUBLIC;

SQL Server (SQL Server login; for a Windows account or group use CREATE LOGIN [DOMAIN\name] FROM WINDOWS, for Microsoft Entra ID CREATE USER [name] FROM EXTERNAL PROVIDER in the database itself)

CREATE LOGIN [sb_reader] WITH PASSWORD = '…';
USE erp;
CREATE USER [sb_reader] FOR LOGIN [sb_reader];
GRANT SELECT ON SCHEMA::sales TO [sb_reader];
GRANT SHOWPLAN TO [sb_reader];  -- required: every query is compiled first (nothing runs) and checked

SHOWPLAN is required. Check also that public has no EXECUTE on procedures and that the login is in no role that writes. A Windows group login gives the rights of every group the account is in; the test checks them all.

Oracle (connected to the pluggable database, not the root)

CREATE USER sb_reader IDENTIFIED BY "…";
GRANT CREATE SESSION TO sb_reader;
GRANT READ ON sales.customers TO sb_reader;   -- one line per table or view (READ, or SELECT)
-- 23ai / 26ai: a whole schema at once
-- GRANT SELECT ANY TABLE ON SCHEMA sales TO sb_reader;
-- Optional: lets the test report whether the database is open read-only
-- GRANT SELECT ON V_$DATABASE TO sb_reader;

No roles and no ANY privileges (other than the schema-level grant above). Give Silver Bullet the PDB’s service name, not a SID.

Where your data is

Show data folder in the icon’s menu opens it. Each person on a shared computer has their own folder. To use another folder, set the environment variable SB_DATA_DIR before starting Silver Bullet.

Inside:

The program itself is wherever you installed it; it holds none of your data.

Settings

Silver Bullet needs no settings. To change one (the model, the limits, stopping by itself), make a text file silverbullet.env in the data folder and start Silver Bullet again. It holds KEY=value lines. A line starting with # is a comment, and so is # … after a value; quotes around a value are removed (inside quotes # is kept). A leading export is allowed. A value that cannot be read stops Silver Bullet at start, with a message naming it. An environment variable of the same name wins over the file.

For example:

SB_MODEL=codestral:22b
SB_DESKTOP_IDLE_MINUTES=30

These are the settings that apply:

Silver Bullet always listens on 127.0.0.1 and picks its own port, so the address settings have no effect here. Two more are read from the environment only:

The AI model can also be changed in the product, on Admin → AI model.

Backups and restore

Silver Bullet backs itself up every 24 hours (SB_BACKUP_HOURS) while it runs, into backups/ in the data folder, keeping the newest 7 (SB_BACKUP_KEEP): consistent copies of app.db, vault.key and the loaded files. Admin → Health and logs → Backups shows the last one and has Back up now. The backups are on the same disk as the data: copy the newest backup folder to other storage regularly (any backup tool can take the backups/ folder). The Administration Guide explains what a backup holds.

app.db and vault.key belong together: the saved database passwords and API keys in app.db can only be opened with the vault.key of the same folder. A backup holding both can open them, so keep backups as safe as the passwords themselves.

To restore a backup:

1. Quit Silver Bullet (Quit Silver Bullet in the icon’s menu).
2. In a terminal, run SilverBullet restore <backup folder> (on a Mac, "/Applications/Silver Bullet 3.app/Contents/MacOS/SilverBullet" restore <backup folder>). A backup folder is named silverbullet3-backup-….
3. Start Silver Bullet again.

What the data folder held is moved aside to backups/before-restore-<time>, not deleted. These copies are listed under Health and logs → Backups → Before each restore (and on the Manager’s Backups page), each with Delete; the newest two are always kept, older ones are deleted by themselves after 30 days. A whole copy of the data folder, made with Silver Bullet stopped, also restores by putting it back.

If vault.key is missing but app.db holds saved passwords, Silver Bullet refuses to start and says so: restore the vault.key that matches that database. Only if it is truly lost, start once with the environment variable SB_ALLOW_NEW_VAULT_KEY=1: a new key is made, and every data-source password and API key must then be entered again.

Upgrading

To upgrade, install the new version over the old one. Your data folder is not part of the program, so everything in it is kept.

1. Quit Silver Bullet (Quit Silver Bullet in the icon’s menu).
2. Install the new version:
   • With the install command: run it again. It fetches the newest package and replaces the program it installed before, once the installed copy has checked the new package’s signature (SilverBullet verify-package <unpacked folder>; versions before 3.0.0 cannot, and the SHA-256 check alone is done). If the check fails, nothing is changed. The installed copy also refuses a package that is older than itself, that is for another computer or for the server, or that belongs to another release line (for example a test release). Files a desktop leaves beside a package (._*, .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, __MACOSX) are deleted before the check and are never installed. On a Mac, the app must be named Silver Bullet 3.app.
   • From the zip: replace the app (macOS), SilverBullet.exe (Windows) or SilverBullet (Linux) with the new one, at the same place.
3. Start Silver Bullet.

The new version updates app.db by itself at start. You cannot go back just by starting the older program: it refuses a database a newer one has updated (“the database is version …, newer than this program …: run the newer version or restore a backup”). The install command does not go back either. To go back, restore a backup taken before the upgrade, together with the older program from its zip. Before a large upgrade, press Back up now first.

Silver Bullet Suite 2 on the same computer

Silver Bullet 3 does not import from Silver Bullet Suite 2: it starts with an empty data folder, and Suite 2 is not touched. Both can be installed on one computer at once; nothing is shared:

A Suite 2 trial does not use up Silver Bullet 3’s. In Silver Bullet 3, add your data sources again (each database with its read-only account, and each file through Add files), describe your data in the data dictionary, and choose the AI model.

Uninstalling

1. Quit Silver Bullet.
2. Delete the program:
   • macOS: Silver Bullet 3.app (from Applications).
   • Windows: the folder you unzipped, or, after the install command, %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\SilverBullet3 and the Silver Bullet 3 shortcut in the Start menu’s Programs folder.
   • Linux: the folder you unzipped, or, after the install command, ~/.local/opt/silver-bullet-3 and ~/.local/bin/silverbullet.
3. Optionally delete the data folder (see Where your data is). This deletes everything: your sources, loaded files, the dictionary, your questions and boards. Back it up first if you may need it.

The trial marker in your account’s configuration folder, and the trial record for the whole computer (macOS /Users/Shared/.silverbullet3, Windows %ProgramData%\SilverBullet3, Linux /var/tmp/.silverbullet3), are left behind on purpose. Do not delete them during the trial: the trial then ends at once. A licence key still works.

Getting help

Help with installing and using Silver Bullet is community support: these guides (also in the app, under Help) and the community forum. We answer e-mail about licences and payments only, at [email protected]; there is no telephone support. When you ask for help, have ready: the version (SilverBullet version, or the icon’s menu), your operating system, and the file from Admin → Health and logs → Send to support → Save the file (the logs with passwords and keys removed, the record of the last 30 days' changes and the environment report). The Troubleshooting Guide says what else helps.