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treeline

Installation

Treeline runs entirely on your machine. There are no accounts to create, no servers to connect to, and no data leaving your computer.

There are three ways to use Treeline. They all share the same local database, so you can use one or all three:

  • Desktop App — a visual interface for managing your finances
  • CLI — terminal commands, SQL queries, and the engine behind all AI agent integrations
  • Claude Desktop — ask Claude about your finances in natural language

Not sure? Start with the desktop app — you can add the others anytime.

Desktop App

Section titled “Desktop App”

Visit treeline.money/download to download the installer for your platform:

  • macOS — .dmg for Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3/M4) and Intel
  • Windows — .exe installer
  • Linux — .AppImage

After installing, launch Treeline from your Applications folder (macOS), Start menu (Windows), or application launcher (Linux).

On first launch, Treeline creates a data directory at ~/.treeline/ for your database and settings. No internet connection is required.

Platform notes

Section titled “Platform notes”
  • macOS: Open the .dmg, drag to Applications. On first run, right-click and select “Open” to bypass Gatekeeper.
  • Windows: Run the installer. Click “More info” then “Run anyway” if SmartScreen warns.
  • Linux: Make the AppImage executable (chmod +x) and run it.

CLI

Section titled “CLI”

The tl command-line tool lets you manage accounts, import data, query transactions, and automate workflows from your terminal. It’s also how AI agents like Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and OpenClaw connect to Treeline.

macOS and Linux

Section titled “macOS and Linux”
Terminal window
curl -fsSL https://treeline.money/install.sh | sh

This installs tl to ~/.treeline/bin/ and adds it to your PATH. Restart your terminal or run source ~/.zshrc (or ~/.bashrc) after installation.

Windows

Section titled “Windows”

Open PowerShell and run:

Terminal window
irm https://treeline.money/install.ps1 | iex

This installs tl.exe to ~/.treeline/bin/ and adds it to your PATH. Restart your terminal after installation.

Verify installation

Section titled “Verify installation”
Terminal window
tl --version

Claude Desktop

Section titled “Claude Desktop”

Give Claude Desktop direct access to your Treeline database. Great for querying and analysis — ask about spending, check budgets, tag transactions in natural language. You’ll still need the desktop app or CLI to connect your bank and import transactions.

There are two setup options:

Option 1: Extension (no terminal needed)

Section titled “Option 1: Extension (no terminal needed)”

Download the .mcpb extension from treeline.money/download and open it. Claude Desktop installs it automatically. The extension bundles its own copy of the CLI.

Option 2: Use the CLI

Section titled “Option 2: Use the CLI”

If you already installed the CLI above, open Settings > Developer > Edit Config in Claude Desktop and add:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "treeline": {
      "command": "tl",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. This way tl update keeps Claude Desktop’s connection current automatically — no re-download needed.

See the MCP Server docs for the full list of available tools.

What’s Next

Section titled “What’s Next”