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Personal Use Setup

This guide walks you through setting up reviewGOOSE for personal use. You'll install the GitHub App and desktop notifications to stay on top of PRs.

Time required: ~1 minute

GitHub App Required

The reviewGOOSE Real-Time GitHub App is required for:

  • Real-time notifications (under 1 second)
  • Slack integration (server needs to know which repos to track)
  • Private repository access (Pro/Flock plans)

Without it, the desktop app falls back to polling (slower, rate-limited).

Step 1: Install GitHub App

Free for Public Repositories

Access to public repositories is completely free. Start with 1-2 public repos to evaluate, then expand later if needed.

  1. Visit: reviewGOOSE Real-Time GitHub App

  2. Click Install

  3. Choose your installation scope:

    • Select Only select repositories
    • Pick 1-2 public repositories for testing
    • Click Install

    Why public repos? They're lower risk for evaluation and let you verify the functionality before expanding to private repositories.

    • Select All repositories (or choose specific repos)
    • Click Install

Verify Installation

Visit your dashboard, login with GitHub, and confirm PRs appear within seconds.

Step 2: Desktop Integration

What this enables: Native desktop notifications when PRs need your attention. Works on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Security: Goose runs on your machine using your GitHub credentials. It communicates with GitHub's API and reviewGOOSE's Turn API for PR state analysis.

Installation Methods

Recommended method for macOS users:

# Install reviewGOOSE
brew install --cask codegroove-dev/tap/reviewgoose

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth status || gh auth login

Launch: Open /Applications/reviewGOOSE.app

Auto-start: Click menu bar icon → Start at Login

For Linux distributions with Homebrew (e.g., Bluefin):

# Install reviewGOOSE
brew install codegroove-dev/tap/reviewgoose

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth status || gh auth login

reviewGOOSE will be available in your applications menu.

For traditional Linux distributions:

# Install dependencies
# Debian/Ubuntu:
sudo apt install golang-go gh

# Fedora:
sudo dnf install golang gh

# Arch Linux:
sudo pacman -S go github-cli

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

# Install reviewGOOSE
go install github.com/codeGROOVE-dev/goose/cmd/reviewgoose@latest

Binary installed to ~/go/bin/reviewgoose. Add to auto-start for persistent notifications.

# Install dependencies (FreeBSD)
pkg install go gh git

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

# Install reviewGOOSE
go install github.com/codeGROOVE-dev/goose/cmd/reviewgoose@latest

Binary installed to ~/go/bin/reviewgoose.

Prerequisites: Install Go 1.23.4+ and GitHub CLI

# Authenticate with GitHub
gh auth login

# Install reviewGOOSE
go install github.com/codeGROOVE-dev/goose/cmd/reviewgoose@latest

Binary installed to %USERPROFILE%\go\bin\reviewgoose.exe. Add to startup for persistent notifications.

For developers or custom builds:

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/codeGROOVE-dev/goose.git
cd goose

# Build and run
make run

macOS: Click menu bar icon → Start at Login for auto-launch.

Goose Credential Options

Default: Goose reuses credentials from your local gh tool (GitHub CLI).

For evaluation: Generate a GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT) with access to only public repositories:

  1. Create a token: github.com/settings/personal-access-tokens/new
  2. Grant permissions: Pull requests (Read), Metadata (Read)
  3. Select Public Repositories (read-only) for maximum security during evaluation
  4. Run: env GITHUB_TOKEN=your_token_here goose

This ensures Goose can only access public PRs during your evaluation period.

Verify It Works

Create a test PR in a repository where the GitHub App is installed. You should receive a desktop notification within seconds.

You're All Set! 🎉

You're now receiving desktop notifications for PRs that need your attention.

Next Steps

Explore Dashboard, Goose, or Team Setup documentation, or visit support for help.