Getting Started

TumbleTrove Desktop is a launcher for Houdini that manages projects (Houdini environments with pinned package sets), discovers your Houdini installations, and runs package-declared scripts directly from the UI.

This page walks you through installing the app, signing in, and preparing your first project.

Install

Download the latest release for your platform from tumbletrove.com:

• macOS — .dmg (Apple Silicon and Intel)
• Windows — .msi installer
• Linux — .AppImage and .deb

The app auto-updates on launch; no manual upgrade steps required once installed.

First launch

On first launch the app will:

1. Create ~/.tumbletrove/ — its data directory (credentials, licenses, downloads, logs).
2. Scan for existing Houdini installations.
3. Prompt you to sign in.

Sign in

Click Sign in on the launcher. The app opens your browser for an OAuth flow against tumbletrove.com. After approval, the browser hands the token back to the desktop app and the launcher loads your library.

Credentials are stored locally at ~/.tumbletrove/credentials.json with 0600 permissions. To sign out, open Settings → Account → Sign out, which clears the credential file.

Discovering Houdini

The launcher looks for Houdini in the default install paths for your platform:

• macOS — /Applications/Houdini/HoudiniX.Y.ZZZ/
• Windows — C:\Program Files\Side Effects Software\Houdini X.Y.ZZZ\
• Linux — /opt/hfsX.Y.ZZZ/

Any install that validates (executable binaries present, version parseable) appears in Settings → Houdini. If you manage installs through SideFX's Houdini Launcher, TumbleTrove detects the launcher CLI and can route new installs through it — this respects your existing SideFX-managed layout rather than competing with it. The Houdini Launcher app must be signed in to your SideFX account for this to work; if it isn't, an install routed through the Launcher fails and TumbleTrove asks you to sign in to the Launcher and retry.

Your first project

A project is a named Houdini working directory bound to a specific Houdini version and a list of packages from the TumbleTrove registry.

1. On the Projects tab, click New Project.
2. Pick a Houdini version, set the working directory, and optionally add packages. The version picker lists builds available to download from SideFX, not only the ones already installed — if your SideFX account isn't linked it shows a Link SideFX prompt instead (linking happens on the TumbleTrove website). Choosing a version you don't have installed reveals an Install button that fetches and installs it (through the Houdini Launcher when it's set up, otherwise a direct download).
3. Click Prepare to materialize the project: HPM resolves and installs packages into the project directory, Python venvs are provisioned, and any TT_CLAUDE_PLUGINS from those packages are aggregated into a Claude Code marketplace (see Claude Code Plugins).
4. Click Launch to start Houdini with the project's environment loaded.

See Projects for the full lifecycle.

Where things live

Path	Contents
~/.tumbletrove/	App data: credentials, licenses DB, downloads, logs
~/.hpm/	HPM package cache (content-addressable) and Python venvs
<projects_dir>/<project_id>/	Prepared project directory for launch

Open any of these quickly via Settings → Advanced → Open logs / Open app data folder.

Next

• Projects — how projects, scopes, and sync work
• Scripts — running pre-declared scripts from packages
• Claude Code Plugins — auto-configured Claude integration per project