AlphaSense for PowerPoint - IT Admin Guide: Individual Deployment

This guide covers the technical details of AlphaSense's individual (self-install) deployment path. Use this when users install AlphaSense themselves, or when IT distributes the installer without using Microsoft 365 Admin Center for add-in deployment.

• Architecture Overview
• What Gets Installed
• Distribution Options
• Network Requirements
• Policy Controls
• Monitoring and Support
• Upgrade Path to Centralized Deployment
• Uninstall Behavior

Architecture Overview

AlphaSense for Office consists of two components:

User's Machine
|
+-- AlphaSense App Manager (Electron desktop app)
|    +-- Python backend       (OS-assigned port)
|    +-- Excel backend        (OS-assigned port)
|    +-- Service discovery    (localhost:8100+)
|
+-- Office Add-in (PowerPoint; Excel coming soon)
     +-- Taskpane UI loaded from https://plugins.alpha-sense.org/...
     +-- Connects to local backends via service discovery

The add-in frontend is hosted externally on AlphaSense infrastructure. The local App Manager provides backend AI services (slide processing, document analysis) that the frontend connects to via localhost.

Note: The Excel add-in is not yet generally available. The App Manager UI currently only exposes a PowerPoint launch button. Excel support will be added when the Excel add-in reaches general availability.

In the individual deployment path, the installer also registers the add-in with Office via WEF Developer registry entries, so Office knows to load the add-in for the current user.

What Gets Installed

Installation Location

All files are installed under the current user's profile. No admin privileges are required.

Registry Entries

The installer creates these per-user registry entries:

Add-in IDs and Public Manifest URLs

Distribution Options

Option 1: Direct User Download

Users download the installer directly:

https://plugins.alpha-sense.org/app-manager/channels/stable/AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe

The user runs the installer, selects "Local registration" on the deployment mode page, and follows the prompts.

Option 2: Silent Installation

The NSIS installer supports silent mode:

AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe /S

In silent mode, the installer uses the default deployment mode (local registration). To override the deployment mode in a scripted install, set the environment variable before running:

$env:CAROUSEL_DEPLOYMENT_MODE = "local"
AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe /S

Option 3: Intune / SCCM Distribution

Package the installer EXE for deployment via Microsoft Intune or SCCM:

• Install command: AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-latest.exe /S
• Uninstall command: "%LOCALAPPDATA%\\Programs\\AlphaSense App Manager\\Uninstall AlphaSense App Manager.exe" /S
• Detection rule: File exists at %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Programs\\AlphaSense App Manager\\AlphaSense App Manager.exe
• Install behavior: User context (no admin required)
• Restart behavior: No restart required

Option 4: Offline Installer

For air-gapped or restricted network environments, use the offline installer variant. This bundles all backend components into the installer so no downloads are needed after install.

Contact AlphaSense for the offline installer package. The resulting file is named AlphaSense-App-Manager-Setup-{version}-offline.exe.

When the offline installer runs, it:

• Uses bundled component archives instead of downloading
• Disables automatic component updates (shows "Managed by your IT administrator" in the UI)

Network Requirements

Outbound HTTPS

Local Ports

App Manager discovery uses a predefined port range starting at 8100. The Python and Excel backends are assigned available ports by the OS at startup. All local services bind to localhost only. No inbound firewall rules are needed.

Policy Controls

Control App Manager behavior via environment variables. These can be set system-wide, per-user, or via Intune/GPO.

When component or shell updates are disabled, the Updates page in App Manager shows "Managed by your IT administrator" and the update button is disabled.

Monitoring and Support

Diagnostics

Users can open App Manager and navigate to the Diagnostics page to see:

• Helper status: Whether Python and Excel backends are running, with PID and port
• Frontend status: Whether the add-in's web origin is reachable
• Add-in registration: Whether WEF Developer entries are active

Report Export

Users can click Report Issue in App Manager to export a diagnostic report that includes:

• System information
• Component versions and state
• Backend health status
• Log excerpts

Log Locations

Component State File

The file at %LOCALAPPDATA%\\CarouselAppManager\\components\\installed-components.json contains:

{
  "schemaVersion": "1.0",
  "updatedAt": "2026-03-26T...",
  "deploymentMode": "local",
  "components": {
    "python-backend": {
      "version": "1.2.3",
      "path": "...",
      "installedAt": "..."
    }
  }
}

Upgrade Path to Centralized Deployment

If your organization later decides to move to Microsoft 365 Admin Center deployment:

1. Deploy the add-in manifest via M365 Admin Center (see IT Admin: Centralized Deployment).
2. On each machine, either:
   • Reinstall App Manager and select "Managed by IT through Microsoft 365 Admin Center," or
   • Set CAROUSEL_DEPLOYMENT_MODE=m365_admin_center as an environment variable.
3. App Manager will stop managing local Office registration and defer to the M365 deployment.

The existing App Manager installation and backend components remain in place -- only the Office registration method changes.

Uninstall Behavior

The uninstaller:

1. Removes WEF Developer registry entries for both add-in IDs.
2. Deletes %LOCALAPPDATA%\\CarouselAppManager\\ (components, manifests, state).
3. Removes the auto-start Run key.
4. Removes the Electron application files.

During upgrades (when electron-builder detects an update rather than a fresh uninstall), cleanup is skipped to preserve component caches and avoid unnecessary re-downloads.