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You can build Nook from source to test the latest features, contribute to development, or customize the browser for your needs.

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Prerequisites

Nook requires macOS 15.5 or later and Xcode to build from source.
Before you begin, ensure you have:
  • macOS 15.5+: Nook uses modern macOS APIs that require at least macOS 15.5 (Tahoe)
  • Xcode: Download from the Mac App Store

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Clone the repository

1

Clone Nook

git clone https://github.com/nook-browser/Nook.git
cd Nook
2

Open the project

open Nook.xcodeproj
No Swift Package Manager setup is needed. All dependencies are embedded locally in Nook/ThirdParty/ — no swift package resolve required.

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Set up code signing

You must set your personal Development Team in Xcode Signing settings to build locally.
1

Select the Nook target

In Xcode, select the “Nook” target in the project navigator.
2

Go to Signing & Capabilities

Click on the “Signing & Capabilities” tab.
3

Select your team

Under “Team”, select your personal Apple Developer account or team.

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Build commands

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Debug build

For development and testing: 
# Build and run in Xcode
# Press Cmd + R

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Release build

For production use with universal binary support: 
xcodebuild -scheme Nook -configuration Release -arch arm64 -arch x86_64 -derivedDataPath build
Release builds create a universal binary that supports both Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x86_64) Macs.

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Platform compatibility

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Intel Macs

Some Objective-C libraries may not play nice with Intel Macs, though there should technically be full interoperability. You can use any number of resources to debug if you encounter issues.

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Older macOS versions

For macOS versions older than Tahoe (26.0), you may need to delete a couple lines of code that use APIs only available in newer versions. Look for @available annotations in the codebase.

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Next steps

Once you’ve successfully built Nook, you can:
  • Set up your development environment for contributing
  • Run the test suite to verify your build
  • Start exploring the codebase
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