Installation

Verbatim Studio is available as a free desktop app (macOS and Windows) and as an enterprise Docker deployment for teams.

Desktop App (Free)

The desktop app is a standalone Electron application that runs the full transcription stack locally — no server, no account, no internet required.

  1. Download the latest release from GitHub Releases
  2. macOS: Open the .dmg and drag to Applications. On first launch, right-click → Open to bypass Gatekeeper.
  3. Windows: Run the .exe installer. Windows SmartScreen may show a warning — click "More info" → "Run anyway".

On first launch, the app will download the transcription model (~1.5 GB) automatically. Subsequent launches are fully offline.

Enterprise (Docker)

The enterprise edition runs as a Docker stack. You'll need Docker installed and a valid license key.

Prerequisites

  • Docker Engine 24+ with Docker Compose v2
  • A valid Verbatim Enterprise license key (JWT)
  • 2 GB+ RAM available for the stack

Quick Setup

# Clone the enterprise repo
git clone https://github.com/JongoDB/verbatim-studio-enterprise.git
cd verbatim-studio-enterprise

# Run the setup script with your license
./scripts/setup.sh --license <your-license-jwt>

# Start the stack
cd docker && docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

# Verify it's running
curl http://localhost/api/info
# → {"mode":"enterprise","version":"..."}

What the Setup Script Does

  1. Validates your license — posts the JWT to the auth service to confirm it's valid and not expired
  2. Configures Docker registry access — logs you into GHCR so Docker can pull the enterprise image
  3. Creates your environment file — copies .env.example to .env and injects your license key

Manual Setup

If you prefer not to use the script, you can configure manually:

# 1. Log in to the container registry
docker login ghcr.io -u verbatim-customer

# 2. Create your environment file
cp docker/.env.example docker/.env

# 3. Edit docker/.env with your values:
#    VERBATIM_SECRET_KEY=<your-secret-key>
#    VERBATIM_LICENSE_KEY=<your-license-jwt>
#    POSTGRES_PASSWORD=<strong-password>

# 4. Start the stack
cd docker && docker compose -f docker-compose.prod.yml up -d

First Login

After the stack starts, open http://localhost in your browser. The first user to register becomes the admin. You can then invite team members from the Admin panel.

Next Steps