ATAK Terminal

Beta. Real ATAK, the Android app with its real plugins, running in a window on your Mac or Windows PC on its graphics chip. Train, build data packages and plan from a desk with a mouse and a big screen. Free, open source, and nothing leaves your machine.

Two steps

Install it

Two steps. Download ATAK-CIV from tak.gov, then paste one line.
Plugins built in. TAKwerx Market comes installed, and Cursorwerx makes the mouse and trackpad just work.
Nothing leaves your machine. No account, no telemetry, no paid tier.

Mac: Apple Silicon (M1 or newer), macOS 13+ · Windows 10 (2004+) or 11, 64-bit, a supported graphics chip · 16 GB memory recommended

Install guide on GitHub Get ATAK-CIV on tak.gov

Mac · Terminal

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/takwerx/atak-terminal/main/install.sh | bash

Windows · PowerShell (not as Administrator)

irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/takwerx/atak-terminal/main/install.ps1 | iex

First run downloads about 2 GB and takes a few minutes. After that ATAK opens in about half a minute from its own icon.

Only with ATAK TerminalCursorwerxATAK with a mouse or trackpad: wheel zoom, scrolling panes, drag to pan, Back.

01 First run

Accept ATAK’s EULA and answer its first-start questions.
Wait a moment. TAKwerx Market installs itself, and ATAK asks to load it. Say yes.
Open the toolbar menu (☰), tap Market, and install Cursorwerx. Then the mouse and trackpad work: wheel zoom at the cursor, scrolling in menus and panes, clicks in text fields.
Install any other plugins you want the same way.

After the first run, ATAK opens in about half a minute from its own icon: in Applications and the Dock on a Mac, in the Start Menu and on the desktop on Windows.

02 What works

ATAK 5.7 and 5.8 with plugins, at full screen resolution and about 50–58 frames a second.
Mouse and trackpad, with Cursorwerx.
Your position from the computer’s location, an exact coordinate, or a rough fix from your IP.
ATAK updates from inside ATAK. The Market offers the newest ATAK-CIV and moves your plugins over.
TAK Portal enrollment: open the portal in Chrome inside Android, sign in, and ATAK connects to the server.
On a Mac, drag a plugin APK onto the window to install it.

03 What you need

Mac: Apple Silicon (M1 or newer), macOS 13 or newer. 16 GB of memory is comfortable.
Windows: Windows 10 (2004 or newer) or 11, 64-bit, Intel or AMD. 16 GB of memory recommended. A graphics chip that Google’s Android emulator accepts: current NVIDIA, AMD, Intel Iris Xe or Arc. Most 6th and 7th generation Intel laptop graphics are too old.
Both: about 23 GB of free disk, internet for the first run, and the ATAK-CIV APK from tak.gov (a free login).

Nothing else. No Docker, no Android Studio, no developer account. Linux is next.

04 Known limits in the beta

No multicast. TAK servers over TLS work; mesh situational awareness on 239.2.3.1 does not.
Nothing is code-signed yet. That is why the install is a line you paste instead of an app you download.

Full guide on GitHub Report a problem More from TAKwerx