Alpha Boffin Portable: Run From a USB Drive

Why go portable

Your work travels with you

Everything that makes Alpha Boffin yours (your chats, settings, agent files, and knowledge) is stored on the drive. Plug it into your computer at home, at the office, or anywhere else, and it all comes with you.

Nothing stays on the computer

Your data is written to the drive, not to the computer you happen to be using. When you unplug the drive, your conversations and files go with you. That makes it a good fit for shared or borrowed machines.

No installation, no admin rights

The portable version does not run an installer, so it works on computers where you are not allowed to install software. Extract it to the drive, open the folder, and launch the app.

Easy to try, easy to remove

Want to evaluate Alpha Boffin without touching your system? Run the portable version from any folder. When you are done, delete the folder and it is gone.

How it works

The portable download unpacks into two folders that sit side by side:

Your drive
├── Alpha Boffin (the app itself)
└── AlphaBoffinData (your settings, chats, and files)

When the app starts, it looks for the AlphaBoffinData folder next to it. If the folder is there, all of your data is read from and saved to that folder instead of the computer. That is the whole trick: keep the two folders together and Alpha Boffin is portable.

One thing stays on each computer: the secure sandbox that Alpha Boffin uses to run code and tools. It is rebuilt automatically the first time you use the drive on a new computer (this one-time setup takes a few minutes and needs an internet connection). It is a disposable workspace, not your data, so nothing of yours is lost or left behind.

You can check that portable mode is active at any time: open Settings, then Directories inside the app. When the app is running from the drive you will see a green banner reading "Portable mode is on".

Before you start: choose the right drive

Alpha Boffin runs a real database from the drive, so the drive's format and speed matter more than they would for plain file storage.

You use	Format the drive as	How to format
Windows	NTFS	Right-click the drive in File Explorer, choose Format, pick NTFS
Mac	APFS	Open Disk Utility, select the drive, choose Erase, pick APFS
Linux	ext4	Use Disks (GNOME) or your distribution's disk tool, format as ext4

Most new USB drives will not work out of the box. They usually come formatted as exFAT or FAT32, which cannot store app data safely, so you will need to reformat the drive first. Formatting erases everything on the drive, so copy anything you want to keep off it beforehand. If you launch the app from an exFAT or FAT32 drive it will tell you, then start normally with your data kept on the computer instead.

One drive, one operating system. Because each system needs its own drive format (and its own build of the app), a portable drive works across computers running the same operating system: Mac to Mac, Windows PC to Windows PC, or Linux to Linux. It cannot hop between a Mac and a Windows PC.

A few practical tips: use a USB 3 drive or, better, a small portable SSD (the app feels much snappier), and pick one with at least 16 GB free, more if you plan to keep large files or download local AI models onto it.

Set up your drive

Download the portable version for your system, extract it onto the drive, and launch. The steps below walk through each platform.

Windows

Download portable (.zip)

Plug in your NTFS-formatted drive.
Right-click the downloaded .zip and choose Extract All, picking the drive as the destination.
Open the Alpha Boffin folder on the drive and double-click Alpha Boffin.exe.

First-launch SmartScreen warning

Windows may show a "Windows protected your PC" dialog the first time. Click More info, then Run anyway. The publisher shows as "Alpha Boffin Inc".

macOS

Download portable (.zip)

Intel Mac version

Plug in your APFS-formatted drive.
Double-click the downloaded .zip to extract it, then move both the app and the AlphaBoffinData folder onto the drive, side by side.
Right-click the app and choose Open, then click Open again.

Why right-click, then Open?

On the first launch on each new computer, macOS runs downloaded apps in a special quarantine that hides the drive's data folder. Opening via right-click clears it. If the app ever starts without your data, quit and relaunch it this way.

Linux

Download portable (.tar.gz)

ARM64 version

Plug in your ext4-formatted drive.
Extract the archive onto the drive: tar -xzf alphaboffin-*-portable.tar.gz -C /path/to/drive
Double-click the AppImage on the drive (or run it from a terminal) to launch.

If the app does not start

AppImages need FUSE, which a few distributions do not ship by default. On Ubuntu and Debian: sudo apt install libfuse2, then launch again.

Moving between computers

Quit Alpha Boffin, eject the drive safely, and plug it into the next computer. Launch the app from the drive as usual (on a Mac, remember the right-click, Open routine the first time on each new computer).

The first launch on a new computer takes longer than usual: the app sets up its secure sandbox on that machine, which is a one-time step per computer. After that, startup is quick and everything (your chats, settings, agents, and files) is exactly as you left it.

Two habits keep things safe: keep the drive connected the whole time the app is running, and use the drive on one computer at a time.

Staying up to date

On Windows, the portable app updates itself in place, just like the installed version. Nothing to do.

On Mac and Linux, the portable app tells you when a new version is available but does not modify itself on a removable drive. Updating takes a minute: download the latest portable version, then replace only the app on your drive (the Alpha Boffin app on Mac and Windows, the .AppImage file on Linux) with the new one. Leave your AlphaBoffinData folder untouched: that is where your data lives, and the new version picks it up automatically.

Good to know

How do I know portable mode is actually on?

Open Settings, then Directories in the app. A green "Portable mode is on" banner shows the exact folder on the drive where your data is stored. If you do not see it, the app is storing data on the computer instead: check that the AlphaBoffinData folder sits right next to the app, and on a Mac relaunch via right-click, Open.

How do I back up my portable setup?

Copy the AlphaBoffinData folder somewhere safe. It contains everything: settings, chats, agents, and files. To restore (or to clone your setup onto a second drive), place that folder next to a fresh copy of the app.

The app says "Portable mode unavailable". What now?

Your drive is formatted as exFAT or FAT32, which cannot store app data safely. Copy anything you need off the drive, reformat it (NTFS for Windows, APFS for Mac, ext4 for Linux), then extract the portable download onto it again. Until then the app runs normally with data kept on the computer.

Can I use the portable version without a USB drive?

Yes. The portable version runs from any folder, including one on your computer's own disk. As long as the AlphaBoffinData folder sits next to the app, your data stays in that folder, which makes the whole setup easy to move or remove later.

Is anything left on the computers I use?

Your data (chats, settings, files) stays on the drive. The app does leave its secure sandbox on each computer it has run on: a disposable technical workspace that contains no personal data and is rebuilt automatically wherever it is missing.

Do I still get the Free plan on the portable version?

Yes. The portable version is the same app as the installer, including the Free plan with open models running entirely on your machine.