Miragon BPMN Modeler

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Getting Started — Standalone Desktop App ​

The Miragon BPMN Modeler is also available as a standalone desktop app built on Eclipse Theia. Same modeler as the VS Code extension, packaged as a native Electron app for when you don't want to run a full IDE.

The standalone app currently ships for macOS on Apple Silicon. Windows and Linux builds may follow.

Install ​

Head to the Download page for the latest macOS .dmg and the Homebrew tap snippet. Both options install the same signed and notarized build; the app auto-updates from GitHub Releases on each launch, regardless of how it was installed.

Upgrade later ​

If you installed via Homebrew:

bash
brew upgrade --cask miragon-bpmn-modeler

For the manual install, the in-app auto-updater handles new versions on launch — there's nothing to do.

Build from source ​

If you'd rather build it yourself, see apps/standalone/README.md. A locally-built .dmg (without the Apple credentials the release pipeline uses) is unsigned. macOS Gatekeeper will block the first launch — right-click the app in /Applications → Open → confirm. After that one-time bypass, the app launches normally.

Open a diagram ​

Use File → Open… to open any .bpmn or .dmn file, or drop it onto the app window. The modeler opens automatically as the default editor for those file types.

To work with a folder of diagrams, use File → Open Folder….

Opening files from the terminal ​

macOS already lets you open files with any installed app. To open a .bpmn or .dmn file in the standalone modeler from a shell:

bash
open -a "Miragon BPMN Modeler" path/to/diagram.bpmn

You can also open a folder of diagrams as a workspace:

bash
open -a "Miragon BPMN Modeler" path/to/diagrams/

For convenience, drop a short alias into your shell config (~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc):

bash
alias bpmn='open -a "Miragon BPMN Modeler"'

Then:

bash
bpmn diagram.bpmn

Features ​

Feature behaviour matches the VS Code extension one-to-one — same modeler engine, same element templates, same diff view, same deploy flow. Explore:

A few things differ from the VS Code surface — no Extensions view and no Command Palette keybindings for VS Code-specific commands. The modeler itself behaves identically.

Auto-save ​

The standalone saves every change ~1 second after the last edit, so the file on disk always matches what you see in the canvas and the Source Control view reflects modifications immediately. Disable or change the delay in Settings → Files: Auto Save.

Source Control ​

The standalone ships with the same VS Code Git extension that powers the Source Control view in VS Code, including BPMN-aware diffs for modified diagrams. Git operations rely on the system git binary:

If git --version works in your terminal, the standalone app will pick it up on launch.