# Desktop (single binary)

Run cyoda-go from a single binary — dev, low-volume production, in-memory and SQLite modes.

<FromTheBinary topic="config database" />

The desktop packaging is cyoda-go as it ships out of the box: a single
binary, no orchestrator, no external database. It is the right choice for
local development, edge deployments, small-team self-hosting, and any
low-volume production workload where a single machine is enough.

## In-memory vs SQLite

The desktop binary supports two storage modes:

- **In-memory** — everything lives in process memory. Sub-millisecond
  latencies. Data is lost on restart. Use it for tests, demos, and
  digital-twin scenario runs.
- **SQLite (default after `cyoda init`)** — durable, single-file, zero-ops. Data survives
  restarts; backup is a file copy. Use it for everyday persistent work.
  SQLite is single-writer; all writes serialize through the database file,
  which limits concurrent write throughput.

The SQLite database file is created at `~/.local/share/cyoda/cyoda.db` by
`cyoda init`. Back it up by copying the file; migrate it by moving the file.

## Install

Pick the installer that suits your platform; the authoritative list lives in
the [cyoda-go README](https://github.com/cyoda-platform/cyoda-go#install).

```bash
# macOS / Linux via Homebrew
brew install cyoda-platform/cyoda-go/cyoda
```

Debian, RHEL, and `curl | sh` installers are available in the same
document.

## Run

The Homebrew and packaged installers run `cyoda init` for you, which sets
up the SQLite store. To start the server:

```bash
cyoda
```

The binary exposes REST on port **8080** and gRPC on **9090** by default.
The full CLI reference lives at [Reference → CLI](/reference/cli/).

## Configure

cyoda-go reads configuration from environment variables, a config file, or
CLI flags. The full list of options lives at
[Reference → Configuration](/reference/configuration/); for everyday use
the defaults are fine, and you only set a handful of variables
(`CYODA_STORAGE_BACKEND`, listen ports, JWT keys) to adapt to your environment.

For secrets, cyoda-go supports `*_FILE` suffixes on any credential
environment variable so you can mount them from a secrets store rather than
pass them on the command line.

## Upgrading

Upgrading is a version bump: install the new binary, restart the process.
cyoda-go follows semantic versioning; configuration migration policy is
documented in the
[cyoda-go release notes](https://github.com/cyoda-platform/cyoda-go/releases).