Getting started

The desktop application manages the local 404 installation: profiles, STATIC, certificate trust, routing, and updates. On Windows it also provisions the Rose distribution in WSL2. Your browsing traffic still goes from your device to sites through the network route you choose; the app is not an exit network.

Start with Before you install for the local changes and platform expectations. Then get the current app through 404 Desktop pricing and downloads. The self-hosted CLI is a separate manual path.

Setup

  1. Download and install the desktop build offered for your platform.
  2. Open the app and complete any account or license activation requested by your build.
  3. Select a profile in the same family as the browser you will use: Chromium for Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Opera; Firefox for Firefox-family browsers.
  4. Let the app start STATIC and prepare its local certificate authority (CA). Approve the host trust change only for the certificate generated by this installation.
  5. Enable routing in the app, then open or launch the supported browser as directed by the app. Loading a page through STATIC requires both the local listener and browser/system proxy routing.
  6. Test an HTTPS page. If it fails, check engine status, CA trust, and proxy routing in that order.

Windows first run includes the managed WSL2 distribution named 404; you do not manually import the separate 404-cli operator distro. The platform notes explain the difference.

Daily use

  1. Open the app and check the selected profile, engine status, and CA trust state.
  2. Start the engine and enable routing before the browsing session.
  3. Disable routing when finished. Stop the engine when you no longer need the proxy.

If you leave a system proxy enabled after STATIC stops, requests using that proxy can fail. A selected profile alone does not change traffic until it flows through the local listener. See What 404 changes for trust, proxy, and file cleanup.

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