diff --git a/lib/rclone/init.ts b/lib/rclone/init.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f8cd73
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/rclone/init.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,121 @@
+import { invoke } from '@tauri-apps/api/core'
+import { BaseDirectory, appLocalDataDir } from '@tauri-apps/api/path'
+import { tempDir } from '@tauri-apps/api/path'
+import { copyFile, mkdir, remove } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-fs'
+import { writeFile } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-fs'
+import { fetch } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-http'
+import { platform } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-os'
+import { Command } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-shell'
+
+/**
+ * Checks if rclone is installed and accessible from the system PATH
+ * @returns {Promise<boolean>} True if rclone is installed and working
+ */
+export async function checkRcloneInstalled() {
+    const output = await Command.create('rclone').execute()
+    // console.log('[checkRcloneInstalled] output', output)
+    return (
+        output.stdout.includes('Available commands') || output.stderr.includes('Available commands')
+    )
+}
+
+/**
+ * Checks if rclone is bundled with the application in the app's local data directory
+ * @returns {Promise<boolean>} True if bundled rclone is present and working
+ */
+export async function checkRcloneBundled() {
+    const output = await Command.create('./rclone', [], {
+        cwd: `${await appLocalDataDir()}`,
+    }).execute()
+    // console.log('[checkRcloneBundled] output', output)
+    return (
+        output.stdout.includes('Available commands') || output.stderr.includes('Available commands')
+    )
+}
+
+/**
+ * Downloads and provisions the latest version of rclone for the current platform
+ * @throws {Error} If architecture detection fails or installation is unsuccessful
+ * @returns {Promise<void>}
+ */
+export async function provisionRclone() {
+    const currentVersionString = await fetch('https://downloads.rclone.org/version.txt').then(
+        (res) => res.text()
+    )
+    console.log('currentVersionString', currentVersionString)
+
+    const currentVersion = currentVersionString.split('v')?.[1]?.trim()
+
+    if (!currentVersion) {
+        console.error('Failed to get latest version')
+        return
+    }
+    console.log('currentVersion', currentVersion)
+
+    const currentPlatform = platform()
+    console.log('currentPlatform', currentPlatform)
+
+    const currentOs =
+        currentPlatform === 'macos' ? 'osx' : currentPlatform === 'windows' ? 'win' : 'linux'
+    console.log('currentOs', currentOs)
+
+    let tempDirPath = await tempDir()
+    if (tempDirPath.endsWith('/')) {
+        tempDirPath = tempDirPath.slice(0, -1)
+    }
+    console.log('tempDirPath', tempDirPath)
+
+    const arch = (await invoke('get_arch')) as 'arm64' | 'amd64' | '386' | 'unknown'
+    console.log('arch', arch)
+
+    if (arch === 'unknown') {
+        throw new Error('Failed to get architecture, please try again later.')
+    }
+
+    const downloadUrl = `https://downloads.rclone.org/v${currentVersion}/rclone-v${currentVersion}-${currentOs}-${arch}.zip`
+    console.log('downloadUrl', downloadUrl)
+
+    const downloadedFile = await fetch(downloadUrl).then((res) => res.arrayBuffer())
+
+    await remove('rclone', {
+        recursive: true,
+        baseDir: BaseDirectory.Temp,
+    })
+
+    await mkdir('rclone', {
+        baseDir: BaseDirectory.Temp,
+    })
+
+    const zipPath = `${tempDirPath}/rclone/rclone-v${currentVersion}-${currentOs}-${arch}.zip`
+    console.log('zipPath', zipPath)
+
+    await writeFile(zipPath, new Uint8Array(downloadedFile))
+
+    await invoke('unzip_file', {
+        zipPath,
+        outputFolder: `${tempDirPath}/rclone/rclone-ui`,
+    })
+
+    console.log('Successfully unzipped file')
+
+    const unarchivedPath = `${tempDirPath}/rclone/rclone-ui/rclone-v${currentVersion}-${currentOs}-${arch}`
+    console.log('unarchivedPath', unarchivedPath)
+
+    // const unarchivedFolder = await readDir(unarchivedPath)
+    // console.log('unarchivedFolder', unarchivedFolder)
+
+    const rcloneBinaryPath = unarchivedPath + '/' + 'rclone'
+    console.log('rcloneBinaryPath', rcloneBinaryPath)
+
+    if (!rcloneBinaryPath) {
+        throw new Error('Could not find rclone binary in zip')
+    }
+
+    await copyFile(rcloneBinaryPath, `${await appLocalDataDir()}/rclone`)
+
+    const hasInstalled = await checkRcloneInstalled()
+
+    if (!hasInstalled) {
+        throw new Error('Failed to install rclone')
+    }
+}
diff --git a/main.ts b/main.ts
index 7544e5e..5037c69 100644
--- a/main.ts
+++ b/main.ts
@@ -1,9 +1,12 @@
+import { appLocalDataDir } from '@tauri-apps/api/path'
 import { getCurrentWindow } from '@tauri-apps/api/window'
-import { message } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog'
+import { confirm, message } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-dialog'
+import {} from '@tauri-apps/plugin-fs'
 import { debug, error, info, trace, warn } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-log'
 import { exit } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-process'
 import { Command } from '@tauri-apps/plugin-shell'
-import { listRemotes } from './lib/rclone'
+import { listRemotes } from './lib/rclone/api'
+import { checkRcloneBundled, checkRcloneInstalled, provisionRclone } from './lib/rclone/init'
 import { useStore } from './lib/store'
 import { initLoadingTray, initTray, rebuildTrayMenu } from './lib/tray'
 
@@ -31,23 +34,69 @@ console.log('main')
 console.error('main')
 
 async function startRclone() {
+    let hasLocalRclone = false
+    try {
+        hasLocalRclone = await checkRcloneInstalled()
+        console.log('hasLocalRclone', hasLocalRclone)
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.error('Failed to check if rclone is installed', error)
+    }
+    console.log('hasLocalRclone', hasLocalRclone)
+
+    let hasBundledRclone = false
+    try {
+        hasBundledRclone = await checkRcloneBundled()
+        console.log('hasBundledRclone', hasBundledRclone)
+    } catch (error) {
+        console.error('Failed to check if rclone is bundled', error)
+    }
+    console.log('hasBundledRclone', hasBundledRclone)
+
+    if (!hasLocalRclone && !hasBundledRclone) {
+        try {
+            await provisionRclone()
+        } catch (error) {
+            await confirm(error?.message || 'Failed to provision rclone, please try again later.', {
+                title: 'Error',
+                kind: 'error',
+            })
+            return await exit(0)
+        }
+    }
+
     try {
         const remotes = await listRemotes()
-        console.log('rclone already running', remotes)
+        console.log('rclone rcd already running')
         useStore.setState({ rcloneLoaded: true })
         useStore.setState({ remotes: remotes })
         return
-    } catch (e) {
-        console.error('Failed to start rclone', e)
-    }
+    } catch {}
 
-    const command = Command.sidecar('binaries/rclone', [
-        'rcd',
-        '--rc-no-auth',
-        '--rc-serve',
-        // '-rc-addr',
-        // ':5572',
-    ])
+    //! this works
+    // const command = Command.sidecar('binaries/rclone', [
+    //     'rcd',
+    //     '--rc-no-auth',
+    //     '--rc-serve',
+    //     // '-rc-addr',
+    //     // ':5572',
+    // ])
+
+    //! sidecar does not work with global or appdata binaries
+    const command = Command.create(
+        hasLocalRclone ? 'rclone' : './rclone',
+        [
+            'rcd',
+            '--rc-no-auth',
+            '--rc-serve',
+            // '-rc-addr',
+            // ':5572',
+        ],
+        hasLocalRclone
+            ? undefined
+            : {
+                  cwd: `${await appLocalDataDir()}`,
+              }
+    )
 
     command.addListener('close', async (event) => {
         console.log('close', event)
@@ -65,11 +114,11 @@ async function startRclone() {
         console.log('error', event)
     })
 
-    // console.log('command', command)
+    //! so we have to do this:
+    //! not await the call
+    const childProcess = command.execute()
 
-    const childProcess = await command.spawn()
-
-    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 100))
+    await new Promise((resolve) => setTimeout(resolve, 200))
 
     useStore.setState({ rcloneLoaded: true })
 
@@ -94,7 +143,3 @@ getCurrentWindow().listen('rebuild-tray', async (e) => {
 initLoadingTray()
     .then(() => startRclone())
     .then(() => initTray())
-
-// await initLoadingTray()
-// await startRclone()
-// await initTray()
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
index c63b259..540a6d4 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.lock
@@ -17,6 +17,17 @@ version = "2.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "512761e0bb2578dd7380c6baaa0f4ce03e84f95e960231d1dec8bf4d7d6e2627"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "aes"
+version = "0.8.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b169f7a6d4742236a0a00c541b845991d0ac43e546831af1249753ab4c3aa3a0"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "cipher",
+ "cpufeatures",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ahash"
 version = "0.7.8"
@@ -113,6 +124,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tauri-plugin-shell",
  "tauri-plugin-single-instance",
  "tauri-plugin-store",
+ "zip",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -347,6 +359,12 @@ version = "0.22.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "72b3254f16251a8381aa12e40e3c4d2f0199f8c6508fbecb9d91f575e0fbb8c6"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "base64ct"
+version = "1.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8c3c1a368f70d6cf7302d78f8f7093da241fb8e8807c05cc9e51a125895a6d5b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bitflags"
 version = "1.3.2"
@@ -522,6 +540,27 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bzip2"
+version = "0.4.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bdb116a6ef3f6c3698828873ad02c3014b3c85cadb88496095628e3ef1e347f8"
+dependencies = [
+ "bzip2-sys",
+ "libc",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "bzip2-sys"
+version = "0.1.11+1.0.8"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "736a955f3fa7875102d57c82b8cac37ec45224a07fd32d58f9f7a186b6cd4cdc"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "libc",
+ "pkg-config",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cairo-rs"
 version = "0.18.5"
@@ -595,6 +634,8 @@ version = "1.2.7"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a012a0df96dd6d06ba9a1b29d6402d1a5d77c6befd2566afdc26e10603dc93d7"
 dependencies = [
+ "jobserver",
+ "libc",
  "shlex",
 ]
 
@@ -656,6 +697,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-targets 0.52.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "cipher"
+version = "0.4.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "773f3b9af64447d2ce9850330c473515014aa235e6a783b02db81ff39e4a3dad"
+dependencies = [
+ "crypto-common",
+ "inout",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "cocoa"
 version = "0.26.0"
@@ -705,6 +756,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "crossbeam-utils",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "constant_time_eq"
+version = "0.1.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "245097e9a4535ee1e3e3931fcfcd55a796a44c643e8596ff6566d68f09b87bbc"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "convert_case"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -953,6 +1010,7 @@ checksum = "9ed9a281f7bc9b7576e61468ba615a66a5c8cfdff42420a70aa82701a3b1e292"
 dependencies = [
  "block-buffer",
  "crypto-common",
+ "subtle",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -1771,6 +1829,15 @@ version = "0.4.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7f24254aa9a54b5c858eaee2f5bccdb46aaf0e486a595ed5fd8f86ba55232a70"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hmac"
+version = "0.12.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6c49c37c09c17a53d937dfbb742eb3a961d65a994e6bcdcf37e7399d0cc8ab5e"
+dependencies = [
+ "digest",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "home"
 version = "0.5.11"
@@ -2112,6 +2179,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "cfb",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "inout"
+version = "0.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a0c10553d664a4d0bcff9f4215d0aac67a639cc68ef660840afe309b807bc9f5"
+dependencies = [
+ "generic-array",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ipnet"
 version = "2.10.1"
@@ -2194,6 +2270,15 @@ version = "0.3.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8eaf4bc02d17cbdd7ff4c7438cafcdf7fb9a4613313ad11b4f8fefe7d3fa0130"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "jobserver"
+version = "0.1.32"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "48d1dbcbbeb6a7fec7e059840aa538bd62aaccf972c7346c4d9d2059312853d0"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "js-sys"
 version = "0.3.76"
@@ -2942,12 +3027,35 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-targets 0.52.6",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "password-hash"
+version = "0.4.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7676374caaee8a325c9e7a2ae557f216c5563a171d6997b0ef8a65af35147700"
+dependencies = [
+ "base64ct",
+ "rand_core 0.6.4",
+ "subtle",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pathdiff"
 version = "0.2.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "df94ce210e5bc13cb6651479fa48d14f601d9858cfe0467f43ae157023b938d3"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "pbkdf2"
+version = "0.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "83a0692ec44e4cf1ef28ca317f14f8f07da2d95ec3fa01f86e4467b725e60917"
+dependencies = [
+ "digest",
+ "hmac",
+ "password-hash",
+ "sha2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "percent-encoding"
 version = "2.3.1"
@@ -6391,6 +6499,55 @@ dependencies = [
  "syn 2.0.95",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "zip"
+version = "0.6.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "760394e246e4c28189f19d488c058bf16f564016aefac5d32bb1f3b51d5e9261"
+dependencies = [
+ "aes",
+ "byteorder",
+ "bzip2",
+ "constant_time_eq",
+ "crc32fast",
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+ "flate2",
+ "hmac",
+ "pbkdf2",
+ "sha1",
+ "time",
+ "zstd",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zstd"
+version = "0.11.2+zstd.1.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "20cc960326ece64f010d2d2107537f26dc589a6573a316bd5b1dba685fa5fde4"
+dependencies = [
+ "zstd-safe",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zstd-safe"
+version = "5.0.2+zstd.1.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1d2a5585e04f9eea4b2a3d1eca508c4dee9592a89ef6f450c11719da0726f4db"
+dependencies = [
+ "libc",
+ "zstd-sys",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "zstd-sys"
+version = "2.0.13+zstd.1.5.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "38ff0f21cfee8f97d94cef41359e0c89aa6113028ab0291aa8ca0038995a95aa"
+dependencies = [
+ "cc",
+ "pkg-config",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "zvariant"
 version = "4.0.0"
diff --git a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
index d3c68a9..ea68429 100644
--- a/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
+++ b/src-tauri/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ tauri-plugin-process = "2"
 tauri-plugin-notification = { version = "2.0.0", features = [ "windows7-compat" ] }
 tauri-plugin-os = "2"
 fix-path-env = { git = "https://github.com/tauri-apps/fix-path-env-rs" }
+zip = "0.6.6"
 
 [target.'cfg(not(any(target_os = "android", target_os = "ios")))'.dependencies]
 tauri-plugin-single-instance = "2.2.0"
diff --git a/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json b/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json
index 9663700..2f103f2 100644
--- a/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json
+++ b/src-tauri/capabilities/default.json
@@ -167,6 +167,11 @@
         {
             "identifier": "shell:allow-execute",
             "allow": [
+                {
+                    "name": "./rclone",
+                    "cmd": "./rclone",
+                    "args": true
+                },
                 {
                     "name": "rclone",
                     "cmd": "rclone",
@@ -181,21 +186,6 @@
                     "name": "mount",
                     "cmd": "mount",
                     "args": true
-                },
-                {
-                    "name": "qjs",
-                    "cmd": "qjs",
-                    "args": true
-                },
-                {
-                    "name": "fuse",
-                    "cmd": "go-nfsv4",
-                    "args": true
-                },
-                {
-                    "name": "mount_nfs",
-                    "cmd": "mount_nfs",
-                    "args": true
                 }
             ]
         },
@@ -206,6 +196,16 @@
                     "name": "binaries/rclone",
                     "args": true,
                     "sidecar": true
+                },
+                {
+                    "name": "./rclone",
+                    "args": true,
+                    "sidecar": true
+                },
+                {
+                    "name": "rclone",
+                    "args": true,
+                    "sidecar": true
                 }
             ]
         },
@@ -235,6 +235,22 @@
                 }
             ]
         },
+        {
+            "identifier": "fs:allow-mkdir",
+            "allow": [
+                {
+                    "path": "/**"
+                }
+            ]
+        },
+        {
+            "identifier": "fs:allow-remove",
+            "allow": [
+                {
+                    "path": "/**"
+                }
+            ]
+        },
         "opener:default",
         "positioner:default",
         {
@@ -245,6 +261,12 @@
                 },
                 {
                     "url": "https://www.google.com"
+                },
+                {
+                    "url": "https://downloads.rclone.org/**"
+                },
+                {
+                    "url": "https://github.com/**"
                 }
             ]
         },
diff --git a/src-tauri/src/lib.rs b/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
index 040b96e..d3c784e 100644
--- a/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src-tauri/src/lib.rs
@@ -6,6 +6,65 @@
 //     cwd: String,
 // }
 
+
+
+use std::fs::{self, File};
+use std::path::Path;
+use zip::ZipArchive;
+
+#[tauri::command]
+fn unzip_file(zip_path: &str, output_folder: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
+	// Open the zip file
+	let file = File::open(zip_path).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+	
+	// Create output directory if it doesn't exist
+	fs::create_dir_all(output_folder).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+	
+	// Create ZIP archive reader
+	let mut archive = ZipArchive::new(file).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+	
+	// Extract everything
+	for i in 0..archive.len() {
+		let mut file = archive.by_index(i).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+		let outpath = Path::new(output_folder).join(file.name());
+		
+		if file.name().ends_with('/') {
+			fs::create_dir_all(&outpath).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+		} else {
+			if let Some(p) = outpath.parent() {
+				fs::create_dir_all(p).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+			}
+			let mut outfile = File::create(&outpath).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+			std::io::copy(&mut file, &mut outfile).map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+		}
+		
+		// Get and set permissions (Unix only)
+		#[cfg(unix)]
+		{
+			use std::os::unix::fs::PermissionsExt;
+			if let Some(mode) = file.unix_mode() {
+				fs::set_permissions(&outpath, fs::Permissions::from_mode(mode))
+					.map_err(|e| e.to_string())?;
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	
+	Ok(())
+}
+
+#[tauri::command]
+fn get_arch() -> String {
+    let arch = std::env::consts::ARCH;
+    
+    match arch {
+        "aarch64" => "arm64".to_string(),
+        "x86_64" => "amd64".to_string(),
+		"i386" => "386".to_string(),
+        _ => "unknown".to_string(),
+    }
+}
+
+
 #[cfg_attr(mobile, tauri::mobile_entry_point)]
 pub fn run() {
     let mut app = tauri::Builder::default()
@@ -30,6 +89,7 @@ pub fn run() {
         .plugin(tauri_plugin_log::Builder::new().build())
         .plugin(tauri_plugin_shell::init())
         .plugin(tauri_plugin_opener::init())
+		.invoke_handler(tauri::generate_handler![unzip_file, get_arch])
         .setup(|_app| Ok(()))
         // .setup(|app| {
         //     if cfg!(debug_assertions) {