Desktop app setup — first-time configuration

After you install the desktop app (install guide) and launch it, you'll see the Setup window before the live overlay can run. This walks you through mic test, system-audio test, and login. ~60 seconds total.

What the Setup window covers

A 3-step wizard:

Step	What you do	What we check
1. Sign in	Email + password (or click "Open browser" → sign in on web)	We mint a desktop refresh token tied to your account
2. Microphone test	Speak into your mic; we show a waveform	Mic permission granted + audio levels arriving
3. System audio test	Play a sound from another app (e.g., YouTube tab)	System-audio loopback is working so we can hear the interviewer

Once all three steps are green you're done — click "Open Live Window" → the transparent overlay launches and you're ready for a session.

Step 1 — Sign in

Two ways:

Email + password (fastest if you have it):

• Enter credentials → click Sign in
• If you signed up with Google, you'll need to first set a password on the web app

Browser sign-in (Google SSO users):

• Click "Open browser to sign in"
• Your default browser opens /auth/desktop?code=…
• Click "Authorize this desktop" on the web page
• The desktop app picks up the token automatically via custom protocol handler

Step 2 — Microphone test

We list every microphone Windows/macOS exposes. Pick the one you'll use in the interview.

A real-time waveform displays — speak normally and you should see green spikes. If you see nothing:

• Wrong mic selected — try the dropdown
• Mic muted at the OS level — check Windows Sound settings / macOS System Preferences
• Permission denied — uninstall + reinstall the app, OR grant permission manually (Windows: Settings → Privacy → Microphone; macOS: System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Microphone)

Step 3 — System audio test

System audio is how we hear the interviewer through your Zoom/Meet/Teams. This is the trickiest part — it's not "your mic," it's "your speakers, captured back."

We use OS-level loopback:

• Windows — WASAPI loopback (built-in). No driver install. Should work out of the box.
• macOS — requires a virtual audio device. On first run we prompt to install BlackHole (free, open-source). After install + restart, system audio works.

Test step: open a YouTube tab in your browser, play any video. The system-audio waveform in the wizard should show green spikes matching the audio. If it doesn't:

• (macOS) BlackHole not installed → click "Install BlackHole" in the wizard, restart, retest
• (Windows) WASAPI loopback failed → check apps/desktop/main.js log at %APPDATA%\InterviewChamp\logs\main.log
• Audio routing — make sure system audio is going to your speakers (not Bluetooth headphones with no loopback support)

After setup

The Setup window closes and the Live overlay window opens. From there, see the Live session topbar guide for everything in the overlay.

Re-running setup

If your mic/system-audio gets broken later (driver update, new headphones, etc.):

• Right-click the tray icon → Re-run setup
• OR delete %APPDATA%\InterviewChamp\storage\settings.json and relaunch

Both will force the wizard to run again.

Common questions

Q: I'm stuck on Step 2 — mic test shows no waveform. A: Three checks: (1) is the right mic selected in the dropdown? (2) is it muted at OS level? (3) did you grant the app mic permission? On Windows, go to Settings → Privacy → Microphone → enable for InterviewChamp. On macOS, System Preferences → Security & Privacy → Microphone → check InterviewChamp.

Q: BlackHole install is failing on Mac. A: BlackHole requires admin password during install. If your Mac is school/work-managed, IT may block kernel extensions. Workaround: ask IT to whitelist com.existential.BlackHole, or use the web app instead (Chrome's tab-share captures system audio natively).

Q: What's BlackHole? Why do I need it? A: macOS doesn't have built-in audio loopback (Apple security choice). BlackHole is a free, open-source virtual audio device that adds it. We bundle a one-click installer; the app is open-source at github.com/ExistentialAudio/BlackHole — read the source if you're security-conscious.

Q: I signed in but the desktop app says "Not signed in." A: Token sync issue. Quit the app fully (right-click tray → Quit, not just close window), relaunch. If still broken, delete %APPDATA%\InterviewChamp\storage\auth.json and re-sign-in.

Q: Can I skip the system-audio step? A: No — without it, the AI can't hear the interviewer. The whole product depends on this channel.

Q: The setup wizard keeps re-opening every launch. A: Means your settings.json isn't writing. Check disk permissions on %APPDATA%\InterviewChamp\. If it's read-only, fix permissions (right-click → Properties → Security on Windows; chmod on macOS).

Q: Setup window is blank / white. A: Renderer failed to load. Quit fully + relaunch. If persistent, check the log at %APPDATA%\InterviewChamp\logs\renderer.log and message support with the log attached.

Q: I want to use a different mic mid-interview. A: Live overlay → topbar Settings (gear) → Microphone selector. Hot-swappable. No need to re-run setup.

Where it lives in code

Setup wizard: apps/desktop-react/src/setup/. Auth handoff: apps/web/app/auth/desktop/page.tsx (custom protocol interviewchamp://). System-audio probe: apps/desktop/main.js → audio-capture module. macOS BlackHole installer: bundled in apps/desktop/resources/.

Still stuck?

Help & Feedback → Contact us with category "Something is broken" + attach %APPDATA%\InterviewChamp\logs\main.log (Windows) or ~/Library/Logs/InterviewChamp/main.log (macOS).

Video walkthrough

Coming soon.