Desktop engine installer ignores existing FreeToken engine path and always installs a new venv in AppData

[MSM-App]

Before you start

• I have read the FAQ and my problem is not answered there.
• I have read the Roadmap and this is not already planned there.
• I have searched existing issues and found no duplicate.
• I have restarted the Desktop app to pick up the latest update and the problem still happens.

What happened

Problem

FreeToken Desktop does not detect or reuse an already installed and working FreeToken engine when it is located outside the default AppData path.

I already had a working FreeToken installation here:

F:\AI\FreeToken\venv

It was fully functional and was already being used to serve models.

After updating FreeToken Desktop to v0.2.0-beta.17, Desktop showed:

Install the FreeToken engine

I expected it to detect the existing engine or at least let me select its location.

Instead, the installer automatically created a completely new environment here:

C:\Users\1\AppData\Local\FreeToken\venv

The installer did not ask for an installation path and did not detect the existing FreeToken environment.

Why this is a problem

This causes:

• duplicate Python environments;
• duplicate PyTorch / CUDA / inference kernel installations;
• several additional GB of unnecessary disk usage;
• confusion about which FreeToken engine Desktop is actually using;
• existing custom installations on another drive being ignored;
• unnecessary downloads after Desktop updates or migrations.

For users who keep AI software and models on a dedicated disk, installing several GB into the system drive without asking is especially inconvenient.

Expected behavior

FreeToken Desktop should provide at least one of these options:

1. Detect an existing valid FreeToken engine installation and offer to reuse it.
2. Allow the user to select the engine installation directory.
3. Allow configuring the engine path in Settings.
4. If a new engine is required after an update, offer:
   • Update existing engine
   • Select existing engine
   • Install new engine
5. Clearly show which engine/venv path Desktop is currently using.

Current behavior

Desktop always creates:

%LOCALAPPDATA%\FreeToken\venv

even when a working FreeToken engine already exists elsewhere.

Environment

• FreeToken Desktop: v0.2.0-beta.17
• OS: Windows
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080
• Existing engine: F:\AI\FreeToken\venv
• New engine created by Desktop: C:\Users\1\AppData\Local\FreeToken\venv

Please add support for custom/existing engine paths. The current behavior makes managing FreeToken installations unnecessarily difficult.

Desktop app version

v0.2.0-beta.17

OS

Windows 11

OS details

No response

GPU and driver

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 16 GB VRAM, driver 610.88

CPU and system RAM

AMD Ryzen 7 7500, 96 GB RAM

Checkpoint

N/A - Desktop engine installer issue, not model-specific

Model settings

N/A - issue occurs during Desktop engine installation before any model is loaded.

Engine log

Anything else

No response