Get started on Mac

Disable two macOS security features, reboot, then paste one line into Terminal. Ten minutes, one-time.

macOS 13 (Ventura) or newer, Apple Silicon or Intel.

Tavra needs SIP and AMFI disabled to arm target apps. Both are user-toggleable from Recovery Mode. This weakens macOS's default protections — only run Tavra on a Mac you own.

Step 1 — Boot into Recovery Mode

Apple Silicon (M1 / M2 / M3 / M4): shut down. Then press and hold the power button until you see "Loading startup options". Click Options → Continue. Enter your admin password when prompted.

Intel Mac: shut down. Then power on and immediately hold Cmd + R until the Apple logo appears.

You'll land on the Recovery macOS Utilities screen.

Step 2 — Disable SIP

From the top menu bar, click Utilities → Terminal. Paste each command and press return:

csrutil disable

On Apple Silicon, also run:

csrutil authenticated-root disable

Both should say "System Integrity Protection is off." Reboot from the Apple menu.

Step 3 — Relax AMFI

Once you're back in normal macOS, open Terminal (Cmd + Space → "Terminal") and paste:

sudo nvram boot-args="amfi_get_out_of_my_way=1 amfi_allow_any_signature=1 amfi_allow_research=1"

Enter your password. Then reboot one more time.

What these do.

SIP is the kernel-level lock on system files. AMFI is the code-signature gate that decides which binaries the kernel will run. Turning them off is what lets Tavra inject its hook into a target exam browser. Reboots are required because both settings are checked at boot.

Step 4 — Install Tavra

Paste this into Terminal:

curl -fsSL https://app.trytavra.com/mac/install.sh | sudo bash

Enter your password when asked. Takes a few seconds — the script downloads Tavra.app, drops it into /Applications, strips the Gatekeeper quarantine flag, and launches it.

Step 5 — Sign in

The Tavra window opens straight to a sign-in screen. Use the same email and password as your Tavra dashboard account.

If you haven't bought a plan yet, do that first at trytavra.com — Tavra AI won't run without an active subscription.

Step 6 — Arm your first target

After signing in, Tavra scans /Applications for exam browsers. Click Arm next to any target (LockDown Browser, Respondus, Examplify, etc.) — Tavra patches it once and remembers.

The next time you launch that browser, Tavra's overlay comes up on Cmd + Shift + G. Never touches the browser's actual UI.

Undoing an arm.

Click Disarm on the same card to restore the target from Tavra's byte-for-byte backup. Original code signature intact. No trace.

Optional — Pre-grant TCC permissions

By default, macOS pops "allow Tavra to record your screen / control other apps" prompts the first time features are used. If you'd rather skip every prompt (SIP has to be off, which it already is), run:

cd ~/Downloads/re_mac  # or wherever your source lives
sudo bash install.sh --tcc

Optional and only relevant if you're building from source.