DOCS · INSTALL
Install & first run.
From download to a working first job. You’ll confirm a couple of requirements, install the native macOS app, sign in once to sync and manage your plan, add your own AI provider key, and then say what you want in plain language — and watch SynthOS dispatch an agent and file the work as a receipt in your vault.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
What you need first.
SynthOS is a real native app for the Mac — not a web wrapper, not a hosted service you log into. A few things have to be true before it will run.
macOS 15 or later. SynthOS targets current macOS. Older versions are not supported, and the app will not install on them.
Apple silicon. The app is built for Apple silicon Macs (M-series). It does not run on Intel Macs.
A native app, on your machine. SynthOS installs and runs locally. Your vault, your provider key, and the work agents do all live on the Mac in front of you — there is no remote workspace doing the work for you.
Your own AI provider key. SynthOS does not resell tokens. You bring a key from your AI provider, and that bill stays between you and them. You can paste it during first run — see the BYO-key details.
DOWNLOAD & INSTALL
Get it onto your Mac.
The download lives behind your account, so you’ll create one or sign in first. Then it’s the ordinary macOS install you already know.
WHERE TO GET IT
Go to the download page
The current build is at trusynth.com/download. An account is required to get the build and to manage your plan, so you’ll be asked to sign in or create one before the download starts.
INSTALL
Open it and move it to Applications
Open the downloaded file and drag SynthOS into your Applications folder, the same as any other Mac app. Launch it from there the first time so macOS registers it normally.
FIRST LAUNCH
Let it open
On first launch, macOS may ask you to confirm you want to open it — approve it from the prompt, or from System Settings → Privacy & Security if macOS held it back. After that it opens like any installed app.
SIGN IN — AND WHY
You sign in for two things.
The account is deliberately small. It exists to sync your settings across your devices and to manage your plan — nothing about how the app works depends on staying connected.
To sync across your devices. Signing in lets your account-level settings follow you from one Mac to another, so a second machine starts where the first left off.
To manage your plan. Your subscription, billing, and download access are tied to the account, so sign-in is how you keep the plan current and pull new builds.
Your data stays local. Your vault, your provider key, and the work agents do live on your Mac. The account is for sync and plan — it is not where your work happens.
ADD YOUR PROVIDER KEY
Bring your own key.
SynthOS calls your AI provider with a key you supply. There’s no token markup — that bill stays between you and your provider — and the key is stored locally on your Mac.
During first run, paste a key from your AI provider into the key field. SynthOS keeps it on your machine and uses it to do the actual work; it is not uploaded to us.
Usage is billed by your provider, at your provider’s rate. SynthOS adds no per-token markup on top of it.
YOUR FIRST RUN
Say what you want. Watch it work.
With a key in place, you don’t configure anything else. You ask in plain language, and SynthOS picks the tools and does the real work in front of you.
ASK
Type what you want done
Open the chat and describe the job the way you’d explain it to a capable assistant — “research these three companies and write me a one-page brief,” for example. No commands to memorize, no settings to tune first.
DISPATCH
It dispatches an agent
SynthOS reads the request, chooses the tools for it, and dispatches an agent to carry it out — running command-line tools, driving the browser, and editing your files as the job needs. It asks before anything risky.
WATCH
Each step lands as a card
As the agent works, every step shows up as a live card you can read — the action it took and the result it got. Nothing runs hidden; the work is on screen as it happens, not handed back as a black box.
WHAT YOU’LL SEE
Steps, receipts, and where it filed it.
A first run leaves three things behind: the steps you watched, a receipt for each action, and a note filed into your vault where you can find it later.
Live step cards. While the job runs, each step appears as its own card — the command or action, and what came back. You can follow the work as it goes.
Receipts. Every action leaves a receipt: what ran, what it touched, and what it cost. They build a local audit trail you can look back at on any run, any time.
Filed into your vault. The output lands as Obsidian-compatible markdown in your vault on disk, auto-linked into your graph — so the first job isn’t just done, it’s filed somewhere it compounds instead of disappearing.
For the skeptical: the vault is plain markdown files on your own disk — open the folder in Finder or in Obsidian and the notes are right there, no export step, no lock-in. The receipts are a local record on your machine, not a dashboard we host.
UPDATING SYNTHOS
Staying current.
SynthOS is in early access and ships often. Keeping it current is how you get fixes and new capabilities.
Update from within the app. When a new build is available, SynthOS lets you know and updates in place — you don’t have to reinstall from scratch.
Or re-download the latest build. You can always get the current build from trusynth.com/download with your account, and install it over the existing app.
Your vault and key carry over. Updating the app doesn’t touch your vault or your stored provider key — they stay where they are, on your Mac.
READY
Get it running in minutes.
Download the native macOS app, add your key, and give it a first job. The rest of the docs are one click away when you need them.
macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon · Bring your own key · Local-first.
Stuck on a step? [email protected]