Code signing policy

How eVi's desktop installers are signed, who approves releases, and how to verify a download.

Free code signing provided by SignPath.io, certificate by SignPath Foundation.

What is signed

eVi's Windows desktop installers — the NSIS *-setup.exe and the .msi, published on the GitHub Releases page — are code-signed. The digital signature identifies the publisher as SignPath Foundation on behalf of the eVi project.

Rollout status. eVi's SignPath Foundation subscription is being set up (application submitted July 2026). Until Authenticode signing is live in the release pipeline, Windows installers are distributed unsigned — verify them with the SHA-256 checksums and the update signatures described below. macOS and Linux builds are not covered by this certificate (see Scope).

Project roles

eVi is maintained by a single developer. Following SignPath's role model, the maintainer holds all signing roles:

Authors — trusted to modify source in version control without additional review: @dmang-dev (see the evi-assistant organization owners).
Reviewers — review changes proposed by non-committers: @dmang-dev.
Approvers — authorize each release for signing: @dmang-dev.

Every release is built on a trusted build system (GitHub Actions) from the public source at github.com/evi-assistant/evi-ai, and each signing request is manually approved by an Approver before the artifact is signed.

Privacy

eVi is a local-first application. It will not transfer any information to other networked systems unless specifically requested by the user or the person installing or operating it. eVi runs language models on the user's own hardware, or connects only to the model backends and services the user explicitly configures (for example, a local LLM server or a CLI agent the user points it at). Those user-selected third-party services are governed by their own privacy policies. eVi ships with no telemetry enabled by default.

Verifying a signed installer

Publisher	SignPath Foundation
Hash algorithm	SHA-256
On Windows	right-click the installer → Properties → Digital Signatures

All release artifacts are additionally covered by minisign signatures for eVi's in-app updater, and PyPI packages are published with Sigstore attestations via PyPI Trusted Publishing.

Signing infrastructure

Signing keys are generated and held in SignPath's Hardware Security Module (HSM); the eVi project never has direct access to the private key. Builds are produced in public CI and signed only after a maintainer manually approves the release.

Reporting

To report a suspicious or unsigned binary claiming to be eVi, open a private report via GitHub Security Advisories.

Scope

This certificate covers eVi's Windows installers only. macOS and Linux artifacts are not signed under this certificate — macOS notarization requires an Apple Developer ID, and Linux packages are distributed unsigned with published checksums. Auto-updates on all platforms are verified with minisign.