Release DMGs are arm64-only — Intel Mac users cannot install (v0.1.0–v0.6.1)

[asheik01]

Summary

Every release since v0.1.0 ships a single Thuki.dmg that is built as Mach-O thin (arm64) only. Intel Mac users (2019 MacBook Pro 16", Intel Core i9, etc.) cannot install or run the app — the thuki binary silently fails because Rosetta translates x86→arm, not arm→x86.

Reproduce

gh release download v0.6.1 --repo quiet-node/thuki --pattern 'Thuki.dmg'
hdiutil attach Thuki.dmg -nobrowse -quiet
file /Volumes/Thuki/Thuki.app/Contents/MacOS/thuki
# → Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64

codesign --display --verbose=2 /Volumes/Thuki/Thuki.app
# → Format=app bundle with Mach-O thin (arm64)

Impact

• Affects every Intel Mac still on macOS Tahoe (26.x) and earlier — a real population for a beta tool
• Silent-failure UX: drag to /Applications, launch, nothing happens. No error about architecture.
• README.md under ## Getting Started → Step 2: Install Thuki → Download (Recommended) makes no mention of required architecture

Suggested fix — universal binary

The cleanest path is a universal binary. Minimal changes to .github/workflows/release-please.yml in the build-and-release job:

       - name: Install stable Rust toolchain
         run: rustup toolchain install stable --no-self-update
+
+      - name: Add Rust targets for universal build
+        run: |
+          rustup target add aarch64-apple-darwin
+          rustup target add x86_64-apple-darwin

       # ...

-      - name: Build Tauri app
-        run: bun run build:backend
+      - name: Build Tauri app (universal)
+        run: bun run build:backend -- --target universal-apple-darwin

Tauri v2 natively supports --target universal-apple-darwin and emits a single .app with both slices via lipo.

The resulting .app bundle path changes from
src-tauri/target/release/bundle/macos/Thuki.app
to
src-tauri/target/universal-apple-darwin/release/bundle/macos/Thuki.app
— so the create-dmg step and the ad-hoc sign step would need their paths updated to match.

Alternative — separate arm64 and x86_64 DMGs via matrix

If a universal binary is unwanted (larger artifact size), a matrix strategy also works:

build-and-release:
  strategy:
    matrix:
      include:
        - runner: macos-14
          target: aarch64-apple-darwin
          suffix: -arm64
        - runner: macos-13
          target: x86_64-apple-darwin
          suffix: -x64
  runs-on: ${{ matrix.runner }}
  # ... and upload as Thuki${{ matrix.suffix }}.dmg

README change needed either way

Whatever fix lands, ## Step 2: Install Thuki should explicitly name the architecture(s) supported. Current wording implies any Mac works.

Workaround for now

Intel users can build from source per README.md's "Build from Source" path — git clone, bun install, bun run tauri build. That emits an x86_64 binary when run on an Intel host. Not a great UX for a "floating AI for macOS, no setup" positioning, though.

Happy to open a PR for the universal-binary change if it would help — just let me know if that matches how you want to ship.

Thanks for the project — the local-only, zero-telemetry positioning is exactly what this category needs.

[quiet-node]

Thanks for the detailed report and for checking the shipped DMG directly!

This looks legitimate. Our current release pipeline produces a single host-architecture macOS build, so Intel Macs are blocked from installing it. The universal-binary approach you suggested seems like the right direction. We should also update the install docs to clearly state the supported architectures.

I appreciate you taking the time to write this up and for offering to help with a PR. If you'd like to contribute, please go ahead and submit one. That'd be super thrilled! I'd love to welcome your PR!