Install on Windows
Requirements
Section titled “Requirements”- Windows 11, 64-bit. Windows 10 is not supported.
- An ASIO driver for your audio interface (Focusrite, RME, Universal Audio, Steinberg, …). On Windows the runner opens the interface through its ASIO driver only; without one it reports an error and the browser engine stays active. See Audio interface & latency.
- For plugin windows of WCLAP plugins: the WebView2 runtime, which Windows 11 includes.
- For HEVC video: Microsoft’s HEVC Video Extensions from the Microsoft Store.
Plinken Run ships as a zip with a single plinken-run.exe. There is no installer, and the build is not code-signed yet, so Windows treats it as an unknown download. The steps below get past that once.
Download
Section titled “Download”- In Plinken, open Settings → Runner.
- Click Download for Windows on the Plinken Run card.
The direct link for the latest build is https://cdn.plinken.com/run/latest/PlinkenRun-windows-x86_64.zip.
Install
Section titled “Install”- Right-click the downloaded zip → Properties → tick Unblock → OK. This removes the “downloaded from the internet” mark before you extract, so SmartScreen will not warn on the exe.
- Extract the zip to a folder you keep, for example
C:\Program Files\Plinken Runor a folder in your user profile. - Double-click
plinken-run.exe. A small window titled Plinken Run opens showing the version and Waiting for browser — open app.plinken.com. That window is the whole app; there is no console window and no tray icon. - If Windows Firewall asks, allow Plinken Run on private networks. The runner only ever listens on
127.0.0.1, but the prompt can still appear.
Pin the exe to the taskbar or Start if you want a shortcut.
If Windows blocks it
Section titled “If Windows blocks it”| What you see | What it is | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Windows protected your PC with a More info link | SmartScreen, because the zip was not unblocked first | Click More info → Run anyway. You see this once per file. |
| This app has been blocked with no Run anyway | Smart App Control, on by default on clean Windows 11 installs | Open Windows Security → App & browser control → Smart App Control settings and turn it Off, then run the exe again. Smart App Control cannot be turned on again without reinstalling Windows, so decide deliberately. |
Connect
Section titled “Connect”Switch to the browser tab and connect — see Connect & status. On the first connect choose your interface’s ASIO driver under Settings → Runner → Audio driver if it is not picked automatically.
Quitting
Section titled “Quitting”Close the Plinken Run window or press Ctrl+Q. Audio hands back to the browser engine immediately.
Files it keeps
Section titled “Files it keeps”Everything lives under %USERPROFILE%\.plinken\ (for example C:\Users\you\.plinken\):
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
logs\plinken-run.log | The log of the current launch (overwritten each time you open the app) |
cache\assets, cache\pcm | Local copies of your project’s audio for timeline playback |
cache\media | Video originals during import, removed automatically after a day |
plugin-prefs.json | Your per-plugin format choices and exclusions |
What is different from the Mac build
Section titled “What is different from the Mac build”- No AU plugins (AU is a macOS format). CLAP and VST3 work, and WCLAP plugins run everywhere.
- No ProRes decoding or encoding. Master bounces are H.264, or HEVC when the HEVC Video Extensions are installed.
- Video decoding and encoding currently run on the CPU rather than the GPU.