01. Quick Start Guide

Downloading and Installing TreeHouse

TreeHouse runs natively on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The easiest way to install TreeHouse is to download a pre-built release from the project's GitHub releases page and follow the platform-specific installation steps.

macOS

The macOS release is shipped as a signed .pkg installer. Double-click the installer and follow the prompts; TreeHouse will be placed in /Applications. After installing, you can open TreeHouse from Launchpad, Spotlight, or Finder. macOS will recognize .newick, .tre, .nexus, and .nex files as TreeHouse documents. Double-click any of these options to open them in TreeHouse.

Windows

The Windows release is as an executable bundle. Place the application folder somewhere convenient (for example, C:\Program Files\TreeHouse) and create a shortcut to treehouse.exe. The first time you run TreeHouse, it will offer to register file associations for tree file types so that double-clicking a .newick, .tre, .nexus, or .nex file opens it in TreeHouse. You can register or unregister these associations at any time from the File menu.

Linux

Download the release archive, extract it, and run the treehouse binary. To open trees by double-clicking, you can install the provided .desktop file and icons; tree files of types .newick, .tre, .nexus, or .nex are advertised as supported MIME types so that desktop environments will offer TreeHouse as a default opener.

Building from Source (Optional)

TreeHouse is written in Rust. If you prefer to build from source, install the Rust toolchain (1.88 or newer is recommended) and clone the repository using:

git clone https://github.com/karolisr/treehouse.git

Then run: ./build-macos.sh, ./build-windows.sh,or cargo build --release for a generic build. The resulting binary is placed at target/release/treehouse. Building from source is not required for normal use of the application.

Dependencies

TreeHouse comes fully functional and should not run into dependency issues.

Running TreeHouse

To run TreeHouse, locate it in your file system and open the application.

Quick Start/Testing

TreeHouse comes pre-installed with test trees for your use in learning how to use TreeHouse (located in tests/data/).

There are three ways to open a tree:

1. Click the large “Open a Tree File” button in the empty window.
2. Choose File → Open File from the application menu, or press the keyboard shortcut Cmd+O (macOS) / Ctrl+O (Windows / Linux).
3. Select your file. TreeHouse supports .newick, .tre, .nexus, or .nex files. TreeHouse supports files that contain more than one tree (see Section 3).

Citation

If you use TreeHouse to create phylogenies or export them, please link to the GitHub page and include the release number in your citation. A formal preprint will be released soon.