macOS
Mac builds are signed with the Developer ID of Mahryan Rakhmatullah and notarized by Apple, so macOS opens them without warnings. Each Mac release is signed only after the approver has approved it.
Windows
The Windows installers (<App>-Setup-<version>.exe) are not code-signed yet. They are full, stable releases —
the same version as the Mac builds, offered on this site and through the apps’ in-app updates — just without a
signature, so Windows SmartScreen shows a warning the first time: choose More info → Run anyway.
How they are made:
- Every Windows installer is built by GitHub Actions from the public source of its repository on
GitHub (the
release-windows.ymlworkflow), from the release’s tag. Nothing is built on a personal machine. - Each release is checked and approved by the approver before it is published.
- The release on GitHub, the download on this site and the in-app update are the same file.
Why they are not signed: a code signing certificate costs money every year, and Catzoid is free with no paid tier. The free route — the SignPath Foundation, which signs open-source projects — asks for a project that is already well known. Catzoid is young, so we will apply again once the cats are better known.
You can help with that: star the apps on GitHub, report what breaks, send a pull request, or write about the cats. That is exactly the recognition a free signature is given for.
Team and roles
| Role | Who | What they do |
|---|---|---|
| Author (committer) | Mahryan Rakhmatullah | Writes and merges the code; trusted to commit to the repositories. |
| Reviewer | Mahryan Rakhmatullah | Reviews every change from contributors outside the team before it is merged. |
| Approver | Mahryan Rakhmatullah | Approves every release before it is signed and published, for macOS and Windows. |
Everyone with access to the repositories and the release tooling uses multi-factor authentication.
Privacy
The apps send nothing about you or your projects. What they do send — update checks and, only if you turn them on, crash reports — is listed in what the apps send and in the privacy policy. Both can be turned off in each app’s settings. AI features are off until you choose a provider; your requests then go straight to that provider under its own terms.
Software the apps install for you on request (runtimes, databases, servers) comes from its own projects under their own licences and policies; see licences.
Changes to your system
The apps never change system settings on their own. Each change — trusting DevCatz’s local certificate authority, forwarding ports 80 / 443, DNS rules for local domains — is explained in a dialog first and asks for your approval (an administrator prompt on Windows, a password on macOS). Each can be undone in the app, and uninstalling removes all of them.
Reporting a problem
If you think a Catzoid build misbehaves or was not built from our source, write to us through security or open an issue on GitHub. Every release lists its files on GitHub, so you can compare what you downloaded with what the workflow built.
Last updated 2026-11-01