KE Pen 0.4.6 — free for macOS, Windows, and Linux

A smoother first night with KE Pen

KE Pen 0.4.6 makes the first-use path much shorter while keeping the same local,
free, inspectable security boundary.

Download

• macOS: universal DMG or ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon, macOS 13+
• Windows: x64 installer or portable ZIP for Windows 10/11
• Linux: x64 AppImage, DEB, or tar.gz for X11/XWayland sessions

Every installer is built and boot-checked on its matching GitHub Actions runner.
Use KE-Pen-0.4.6-SHA256SUMS.txt to verify the exact files.

New: Copy AI setup

Install and launch KE Pen, open its tray/menu-bar menu, then choose Copy AI
setup. Paste that JSON into an MCP-capable AI host and restart the host. The
configuration runs the MCP server already embedded in the app, so the normal
path no longer needs a separate Node.js or npm installation.

The packaged bridge is exercised during the macOS, Windows, Linux installed,
and Linux AppImage release builds before the release is published. Version
0.4.6 launches the asar-less embedded server through the app's packaged Node
runtime, avoiding any hidden GUI or display dependency in the AI-host connection.
The AppImage stages its complete packaged runtime in KE Pen's owner-only local
data directory when the user chooses Copy AI setup, because Linux loads
supporting libraries from beside the executable and the AppImage mount wrapper
is not a transparent stdio transport.

Also included

• The branded Pen mark is now the app and tray identity.
• A plain macOS Dock click captures a screenshot; right-click exposes both
  Capture Screenshot and Draw with KE Pen.
• The existing KE Shot capture, clipboard-first behavior, local-only defaults,
  bounded upload protocol, and explicit Pen read/complete handshake are intact.

Safety boundary

KE Pen has no account, telemetry, ads, default upload host, or listening network
port. Fresh installs make no outbound request. The optional KE Shot upload stays
off until the user supplies both an endpoint and token. The copied AI setup does
not install software or transmit images; the configured AI host may send a
marked crop to its own model provider when the user asks it to read the Pen.

These builds remain unsigned. macOS may require right-click → Open, Windows
may show SmartScreen, and Linux may require chmod +x for the AppImage. Linux
overlay support requires X11 or XWayland; native Wayland behavior remains
compositor-dependent.

Download and setup guide ·
Security model ·
Applied-system card

KE Pen 0.4.0 — free for macOS, Windows, and Linux

KE Shot joins KE Pen — still completely free

KE Pen 0.4.0 ships KE Shot, the capture-and-share half of the same app, on
macOS, Windows, and Linux. There is still no paid tier, account, checkout,
telemetry, or feature gate. The app and source stay MIT licensed.

Download

• macOS: universal DMG or ZIP for Intel and Apple Silicon, macOS 13+
• Windows: x64 installer or portable ZIP for Windows 10/11
• Linux: x64 AppImage, DEB, or tar.gz for X11/XWayland sessions

Every installer is built and boot-checked on its matching GitHub Actions runner.
Use KE-Pen-0.4.0-SHA256SUMS.txt to verify the exact files.

What KE Shot does

Press ⌘⇧2 on macOS or Ctrl+Shift+2 on Windows and Linux, drag a region, and
the image is on your clipboard immediately — before any disk or network work —
so you can paste it straight into an AI chat. On macOS the Dock icon is also a
capture button and the selection UI is the native one. Windows and Linux get an
equivalent rubber-band overlay.

Everything after the clipboard is optional. A local PNG copy is on by default.
Uploading is off until you put your own endpoint and token in the settings
file.

What that means for the network posture

Through 0.3.0 the app made no outbound request of any kind. KE Shot makes two,
both to the endpoint you configured yourself and both started by you: the
upload when you take a shot, and a confirmed delete when you choose to unpublish
one from Recent shots. There is no default host — shotEndpoint ships
empty. Cleartext http endpoints are refused outside loopback, redirects are
refused, and the token lives only in an owner-only local settings file.

Uploading is publishing. Deleting a shot stops your endpoint serving it, but it
cannot recall bytes a chat app, an unfurl service, or a CDN already fetched.

KE Pen is unchanged

Draw around anything, ask your MCP-capable AI host to look at the Pen. pen_read
returns only the bounded marked crop, and the red ink remains visible until the
host calls pen_complete. Visual context informs the AI. It never grants
authority to edit, send, spend, deploy, purchase, or take another consequential
action.

Current boundaries

These builds are unsigned. macOS and Windows may show a first-launch warning.
Linux overlay support requires X11 or XWayland; native Wayland positioning
remains compositor-dependent. The MCP server requires Node.js 20+ and manual
host configuration. Deleting a shot depends on your own endpoint implementing
DELETE /<id>.

Download and setup guide ·
Applied-system card