Tester guide

Beta · Version 0.16.3 · Last updated: 11 November 2026

Baligh is an Arabic-first desktop app that runs on your computer: it rewrites your text in your own style with numbers and names kept intact, writes from your own sources with every sentence cited, and builds your thesis or paper section by section into one Word file. This page is for testers: how to join, install the app and activate your license, what we'd like you to try, and how to send feedback.

The beta runs for 30 to 90 days, depending on the feedback we receive, and the tester license is free for 90 days.

How to join

1. Email support@baligh.app with the subject “Join the beta”, and tell us your system (Windows or Linux) and what you'll use Baligh for (thesis, research, work, journalism…).
2. We'll email you a tester license key; then follow the install steps below.

What your computer needs

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit), or Linux (64-bit, see its section).
• 16 GB of memory recommended (8 GB works with a small model, more slowly).
• About 10 GB of free space for the app and models.
• On Windows: Node.js LTS (install it with the default options).
• Ollama to run language models on your computer. Or, if you prefer, a key for a cloud provider you choose (optional).

Install on Windows

1. Download the app: baligh-beta-latest.zip.
2. Extract it into a folder you own, such as Documents\Baligh. Avoid Program Files and folders synced by OneDrive.
3. Open the baligh-beta folder and double-click Baligh Beta.bat. If Windows shows a warning, choose “More info”, then “Run anyway”.
4. The first start installs packages and builds the app (5 to 15 minutes); a small window shows the progress until the Baligh window appears. Later starts take seconds. If it can't start, a message tells you why.
5. Follow the setup wizard: interface language and language model (the wizard suggests one per language that fits your memory), or a cloud provider you choose with your own key.

On Linux

A ready-to-run build that needs no Node.js and no building (Ubuntu 22.04 or later, and similar, 64-bit):

1. Download baligh-beta-latest-linux-x64.AppImage.
2. Make it executable: chmod +x baligh-beta-*.AppImage, then double-click it or run it from a terminal.
3. If it doesn't open on Ubuntu 22.04 or later, install: sudo apt install libfuse2.
4. For language models on your computer, install Ollama for Linux.

Updates on Linux: when a new version is ready, a bar shows the download link; download the new file and replace the old one. Your data in ~/.config/Baligh Beta stays as it is.

Activate your license

1. You'll get an email from license@mail.baligh.app with a key starting with BLGH-. If you can't find it, check spam.
2. In the app: Menu → License & subscription → paste the key → Activate.
3. The license is for one computer. The app checks it weekly and works offline for up to 14 days.

Updates

The app checks for a new version every 12 hours. When one is ready, a bar appears at the top: Download the update, then Restart to update. Your data and settings stay as they are, and every update is digitally signed, so only a version we published can be installed. The first start after an update may take a few minutes to rebuild. You can also check by hand from Admin panel → App updates.

What we'd like you to try

New: the review kit. Four short tasks with ready-made example files in about 30 minutes, then a feedback form. Start there if your time is short.

Use Baligh for your real work as much as you can; you don't need to finish the whole list.

Rewriting

• A paragraph in several registers: general, academic, professional, journalistic, simplified and literary.
• An academic text with terms, citations and numbers: were they kept?
• A whole Word file: did the formatting, tables, images and equations survive?
• “My style”: upload samples of your writing, then compare. Does the result sound like you?

Writing from your sources

• Add sources to “My sources” (PDF, Word or a link), or search for open-access papers and add them from the writing page.
• Write an academic section (the introduction or previous studies, say), then a professional, journalistic or simplified text, or an email reply.
• Review the report of removed sentences: was what got removed really unsupported? Was anything removed that should have stayed?

Research project

• Start with a “Journal article”, the smallest type: the study card, then the outline and its lengths, then your sources.
• “Literature matrix”: extract the cards, review the cells marked in orange, and assign sources to subsections.
• Write one or more subsections, then export the document to Word.

Tools

• An infographic from text, a table or an Excel file, exported as an image, PDF, Word and PowerPoint.
• Equations, APA tables, text elements and research figures: open them in Word and try editing them.

What helps us most: quality of the Arabic (is it correct and natural?), faithfulness (did any meaning change, or did a sentence say something the source doesn't?), and time (how long did a section take on your computer, and with which model?).

On models: writing from sources works with the suggested local models, and the best results so far come with a cloud provider you choose, using your own key.

How to send feedback

• After the review kit tasks, fill in the feedback form. It opens a ready message you send yourself.
• In the app: Menu → Feedback and support. A ready message to support@baligh.app opens in your mail app for you to review and send. Diagnostics are optional, shown in full before you send, and contain none of your texts.
• Or email support@baligh.app directly. A screenshot helps a lot.
• If the app won't start: take a screenshot of the error message and send the log files launcher.log and server.log from %APPDATA%\Baligh Beta\logs (they contain none of your texts).
• We'll email a few short questions each week (five minutes), and a final survey at the end.

Don't send confidential texts. To show us a paragraph that was rewritten badly, pick one you're comfortable sharing.

Privacy

• With local models (Ollama), your text never leaves your computer.
• If you add a cloud provider yourself, text goes to that provider only, and the app tells you before it does. Your text doesn't pass through our servers.
• Searching for open-access papers sends only your search words to OpenAlex and Crossref.
• Otherwise the app connects only for updates, model downloads, the license check (license key and a device fingerprint only), and a source link you add.

Details in the privacy policy.

Known notes

• The first start and the model downloads take time, and speed depends on the computer and model. Writing a section with a local model can take minutes; a timer and a Stop button show while it works.
• The app isn't signed by Microsoft yet, so Windows may warn when it starts.
• Baligh helps you write better in your own voice and from your own sources; it is not for hiding where a text came from. Follow your institution's disclosure rules; you remain responsible for how your sources are represented.

When the beta ends

The tester license ends after 90 days. New processing (rewriting and writing) stops; your data, history and exports stay on your computer. To remove the app, delete the baligh-beta folder. Your data is in %APPDATA%\Baligh Beta; delete it too if you want it gone.