Mac App
Install Helix on Apple Silicon and run AI agents in local sandboxed desktops. Credentials and code never leave your machine.
The Mac app runs the entire Helix platform on your Mac — agents, sandboxes, control plane, and optionally local models. Your SSH keys, .env files, tokens, and development data never leave your hardware.
Requires Apple Silicon (M1 or later) with 16 GB+ unified memory and macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.
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What runs locally
- Helix control plane — the API and UI, running on your machine
- Agent sandboxes — up to 15 isolated desktop environments simultaneously, GPU-accelerated via Apple Silicon
- LAN sharing — give your team access without exposing anything to the internet
For inference, use your Anthropic or OpenAI API key, or run fully local models with Ollama on 64 GB+ unified memory.
First launch
- Download and open the Mac app
- Complete the initial setup wizard — it provisions a local UTM virtual machine for the sandboxes
- Sign in (local account or connect to Helix Cloud for team features)
- Open the Helix UI at http://localhost:8080
- Add an AI provider under Account → AI Providers
- Create a project and connect a repository
See the Quickstart for the full flow from project to pull request.
Memory and concurrency
| Unified memory | Concurrent agent desktops |
|---|---|
| 16 GB | ~2–3 |
| 32 GB | ~6–8 |
| 64 GB+ | 12–15, plus local model inference |
Operator settings
For disk expansion, VM management, updates, and LAN sharing configuration, see Mac App — operator settings.
Don't have Apple Silicon?
- Helix Cloud — managed, nothing to install
- Linux & Kubernetes — self-hosted on any server with NVIDIA or AMD GPUs